Singapore digest news (04.10-08.10)

Photo by S. Pronin

---

Singapore’s property investment deals rise 38.7% in Q3

Singapore recorded a quarterly increase in its real estate investments, with $7.5b deals secured for the third quarter (Q3) of 2021.
According to the Knight Frank, the bulk of Q3’s investment volume was driven by the sale of four Government Land Sales (GLS) sites.
Sold were land sites at the Marina View ($1.5b), Jalan Anak Bukit ($1.0b), Lentor Central ($650.997m), and Tampines Street 62 ($422m).
With Singapore’s encouraging pace of investment deals for the past nine months, Knight Frank analysts forecasted that the country will be able to achieve its projected transaction volume for 2021 at $30b.

Source

---

Trade Minister Gan makes official US visit to strengthen ties

Singapore Minister for Trade and Industry Gan Kim Yong is in Washington DC and New York as part of an official visit to the USA from 6 to 9 October 2021.

Minister Gan will meet officials from the US administration in Washington DC, including Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and Trade Representative Katherine Tai. They will exchange views on opportunities promoting stronger bilateral collaborations and better trade and investment flows through new and existing partnerships. 

In New York, he will meet Singapore companies with operations in the US as part of a closed-door roundtable organized by Enterprise Singapore.

Source

---

ST Engineering Accelerates Smart City Growth with Acquisition of TransCore for US$2.68b

Singapore Technologies Engineering Ltd (ST Engineering) today announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire all the ownership interests in TransCore Partners, LLC and TLP Holdings, LLC (collectively TransCore) from an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of Roper Technologies, Inc. (the Acquisition). The aggregate purchase price for the Acquisition is US$2.68 billion (S$3.62 billion).
The Acquisition will accelerate ST Engineering’s Smart City growth and position it as a market leader in Smart Mobility. TransCore is a leader in the transportation industry in North America. It provides innovative technical solutions and engineering services for applications encompassing next-generation electronic toll collection, congestion pricing, Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS), back office solutions and RFID products.
The Smart City space has been an important strategic focus area for ST Engineering. TransCore is a strong strategic fit and its road transportation solutions will complement and enhance suite of Smart Mobility rail and road solutions.

Source

---

Singapore to remain as key data hub in Southeast Asia — Fitch Solutions

Singapore will still be the “preferred choice of investors” to build their data hubs in Southeast Asia (SEA), as the region sees a rapid rise in data center construction in the coming years, analytics firm Fitch Solutions (FS) said.
FS said Singapore will remain as key data center hub in SEA, outperforming other countries in the region in terms of infrastructure “due to its highly attractive business and regulatory environment.”

Source

---

New regional cybersecurity training center opens in Singapore

А new regional cybersecurity training center that will see ASEAN member states work together to conduct research, share knowledge and train to respond to cyber threats, opened on Oct 6.
Located in the city center at North Bridge Road, the ASEAN-Singapore Cybersecurity Centre of Excellence (ASCCE) has two training labs that can hold up to 100 participants, and other conference rooms and amenities to facilitate capacity building efforts, said the Cyber Security Agency of Singapore (CSA).
Communications and Information Minister S Iswaran had said that the center would spend S$30 million over five years to help ASEAN member states develop their cybersecurity capabilities.
The center will focus on conducting research and providing training in areas including international law, cyber strategy, and other cybersecurity policy issues, said CSA.
It will also provide technical training and facilitate the exchange of open-source cyber threat and attack-related information and best practices.
Virtual cyber defence training and exercises will also be conducted, CSA added.

Source

---

NParks developing forest fire detection and monitoring system for nature reserves

The National Parks Board (NParks) is developing a forest fire detection and monitoring system for Singapore's nature reserves, said Minister for National Development Desmond Lee.
The system uses closed-circuit television cameras, drones and video analytics to help NParks officers quickly detect a fire and obtain real-time information on the incident.
Other measures are also in place to prevent vegetation fires in nature reserves and parks, particularly during dry periods, said Mr Lee. This includes trimming vegetation, clearing wood debris and maintaining firebreaks – a gap in vegetation to slow or stop a fire from spreading.
Signs have also been put up to educate the public on preventing vegetation fires, such as not smoking in nature reserves and not leaving fires unattended at camping and barbecue sites.

Source