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ECONOMY
10 most in-demand jobs in Singapore revealed Manpower Singapore has released the results of 8th Talent Shortage Survey, which found that as the 47% of employers in Singapore are experiencing difficulty finding staff with the right skills. Global results of ManpowerGroup’s Talent Shortage Survey reveal 35% of employers worldwide are reporting shortages, the highest level since prior to the global economic crisis.
ECONOMY
Hong Kong is world’s third most competitive country The IMD World Competitiveness Center in Switzerland said Asian nations are the most competitive in its rankings. Hong Kong placed third, Singapore fifth and Taiwan 11th. Malaysia and Australia both dropped one place to 15th and 16th respectively, while South Korea stayed at 22nd and New Zealand slipped one spot to 25th. USA regained its No. 1 ranking.
FROM THE BLOG
After the NTUC May Day Rally 2013, what now Singapore? BY SEE WEE HENG When I first received the invitation to celebrate Labour Day at NTUC May Day Rally 2013 with government and union representatives at D’Marquee, Downtown East, I was a little hesitant. I expected a solemn, formal and probably pretty boring event.
6 THE ASIAN BUSINESS REVIEW | AUGUST 2013
RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY
How Ben Bernanke’s shocking statements affected Singapore REITs SREITs saw a broad-based selldown, alongside rising bond yields after Ben Bernanke’s statements left the market speculating that QE measures may be withdrawn earlier than expected, according to CIMB. “The defensive nature of the sector will hold up well in a tactically cautious environment while debt maturity is fairly well-staggered to minimise the impact of any spike in interest costs on refinancing.”
Finance
STOCKS
Here’s how CEOs of largest companies in Singapore are paid Singapore Business Review compiled the published annual reports of Singapore’s largest publicly traded companies for 2012. We looked for the total remuneration of the chief executive officers found out that DBS’ Piyush Gupta receives the highest compensation package at $9.33 million. He has a basic salary of $1.2 million but received a cash bonus amounting to $3.5 million.
RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY
How Hong Kong banks are benefiting from spiking US interest rates Banks benefit from more net interest income initially as interest rates rise, according to Barclays. The analyst looks at other potential consequences, including system liquidity, deposit competition, loan growth, asset quality, property prices and offshore RMB growth, including stress-testing our estimates under upside and downside scenarios.
Here’s why home prices in Hong Kong are creeping up again While residential property prices are still 2.8% below the peak recorded in mid-March, prices are creeping up again since mid-May (1.38% cumulative increase over four weeks). DBS noted that the most fundamental reason is the demand-supply imbalance. Even discounting investment demand, pent-up demand from end-users is enormous.
8 types of annoying colleagues in Singapore BY ADRIAN TAN There is a saying that you choose your friends but not your family. So where do colleagues fit in? No one likes being manipulated, so what happens when you have to deal with the office jerk day in day out? There is no escaping the people you spend 40 hours a week with.
Here is a totally different angle on Singapore property investment BY ALEXANDER KNIGHT It’s no secret that the average price of property in Singapore is one of the highest in the world, no less than seven rounds of cooling measures implemented in recent years by the government in order to prevent a fully-fledged bubble from forming.