Issuu

Intelligent Orchestration for Smart Cities of Tomorrow

Complex operations? We make them work. Powered by tech. Perfectly in sync.

In a world of rising complexity, resilience depends on how well people, systems and technology come together — seamlessly, intelligently, and in real time. At Certis, we see the future of operations as one where technology works in tandem with people — empowering them to see more, respond faster, and act with conﬁdence. From Automation to Intelligence in Motion

Designed for the Real World

The concept of operations today demands constant awareness and adaptability. With MozartTM, our AI-powered intelligent orchestration platform unites people, processes, and technology into one connected engine for smarter operations.

At Certis, technology is built for live environments where stakes are high: ▪ ▪

As an extension of our workforce, robotics adds a dynamic layer of intelligence — patrolling environments, supporting frontline teams, detecting anomalies, and generating real-time insights. But the real shift is this – teams move from reacting to anticipating. Every action becomes more informed, more precise, and more proactive.

▪

Integrated surveillance systems combine mobility and AI-driven analytics Humanoid concierge robots engage while sensing surroundings Quadruped patrol units navigate complex terrain with precision

All are connected into a uniﬁed command layer — delivering a single, real-time view of operations where every alert and response is orchestrated.

A Workforce, Reimagined The future workforce hinges on the human-robot collaboration. Robots take care of the routine, feeding back to the system for response. People focus on judgment, service and critical decisions that matter. This elevates the frontline, with: ▪ Wider visibility across operations ▪ Real-time insights at their ﬁngertips ▪ Greater control in complex environments ▪ Technology extends their reach — while people remain at the centre of every decision.

Built for Tomorrow At Certis, we are advancing how operations are designed and delivered — bringing together people, intelligent platforms and robotics solutions into one cohesive system. Because the future of operations isn’t just automated. It’s orchestrated.

The Future of Operations. Powered by Certis. SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEW | Q4 2026

PERMIT NO. MDDI (P) 040/07/2025

FROM THE EDITOR

About Us

roperty investors are putting their money back into offices and retail. In the first half, the two sectors accounted for 33% and 18% of investment sales, overtaking residential and industrial as lower borrowing costs, tight supply, and stronger income visibility brought prime commercial assets back into focus. By midyear, transaction volumes had already exceeded all of 2025. We examine the shift on page 24.

CIRCULATION: 18,000 ONLINE READERSHIP: 410,000 monthly unique clicks through Google Analytics The Singapore Business Review is the highest circulating and best read business magazine in Singapore. Our online readership has an average of 215,000 unique viewers, according to Google Analytics. We won the Business Trade Media of the Year Award at the 2017 MPAS Awards. Do reach out to us if you would like us to tell your story to our readers via print and online advertising or events. PUBLISHER & EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Tim Charlton EDITORIAL MANAGER Tessa Distor PRINT PRODUCTION EDITOR Vienna Verzo LEAD JOURNALIST Vincent Mariel Galang JOURNALISTS Gwyneth Marie Bejer Frances Gagua Jilliane Rae Manuel Djan Magbanua Alec Maquiling-Cruz Jaleen Ramos Sam Bernardo Miguel Dumlao EDITORIAL RESEARCHER Shiena Viene Sur GRAPHIC ARTIST Simon Engracial EDITORIAL ASSISTANT Dylan Afuang COMMERCIAL MEDIA TEAM Jenelle Samantila Dana Cruz Danielle Goh ADVERTISING CONTACTS Shairah Lambat shairah@charltonmediamail.com AWARDS Julie Anne Nuñez-Difuntorum awards@charltonmediamail.com ADMINISTRATION Eucel Balala accounts@charltonmediamail.com

The pressure on supply is also changing how occupiers behave. Some companies are committing to Grade A office space as much as 18 months before completion, rather than waiting for buildings to open. Turn to page 6 for the report. Capital is moving differently elsewhere too. Private equity activity increased in Singapore even as deal volume fell across Southeast Asia, with $6.35b invested in the technology sector in the first half. Read more on pages 18 and 19. Food and beverage manufacturers, meanwhile, are moving mass production to Malaysia whilst keeping research, quality control, and headquarters here. See page 7. These stories point to a more selective market: investors are favouring assets with dependable income, occupiers are securing scarce space earlier, and companies are deciding more carefully which functions still make sense to keep in Singapore.

EDITORIAL sbr@charltonmediamail.com

SINGAPORE Charlton Media Group 101 Cecil St. #17-09 Tong Eng Building Singapore 069533 +65 3158 1386 HONG KONG Room 1006, 10th Floor 299 QRC, 287-299 Queen’s Road Central, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong +852 3972 7166 www.charltonmedia.com

Tim Charlton Singapore Business Review is a proud media partner and host of the following events and expos:

MIDDLE EAST FDRK4467, Compass Building, Al Shohada Road, AL Hamra Industrial Zone-FZ, Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates

PRINTED BY Times Printers Private Limited 18 Tuas Avenue 5, Singapore 639342 www.timesprinters.com A member of Times Publishing Limited +65 6383 5290

Can we help?

Editorial Enquiries: If you have a story idea or press release, please email our news editor at sbr@charltonmediamail.com. To send a personal message to the editor, include the word “Tim” in the subject line. Media Partnerships: Please email sbr@charltonmediamail.com with “Partnership” in the subject line. Subscriptions: Please email subscriptions@charltonmedia.com.

Singapore Business Review is published by Charlton Media Group. All editorial materials are covered by copyright and may not be reproduced without consent. Contributions are invited but copies of all work should be kept as Singapore Business Review can accept no responsibility for loss. We will, however, take the gains. Sold on newsstands in Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, London, and New York. Also out in sbr.com.sg with an online readership of 215,000 monthly unique visitors*. Google Analytics 2 *Source: SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEW | Q4 2026 **If you’re reading the small print, you may be missing the big picture

caveat

emptor

Singapore Business Review is available at the airport lounges or onboard the following airlines:

Singapore Business Review is available at the following clubs and hotels: American Club Hollandse Club Laguna National Orchid Country Club Raffles Country Club Raffles Town Club RSYC Seletar Club Sentosa Golf Club Singapore Cricket Club Singapore Island Country Club Swiss Club The Tanglin Club The China Club The Legends Fort Canning Park The Pines Club

Tower Club Singapore Fullerton Hotel Grand Plaza Park Royal Hotel Inter-Continental Le Meridien Orchard New Park Hotel Pan Pacific Raffles Hotel The Hilton The Regent Singapore The Ritz Carlton The Swiss Hotel Stamford Traders Hotel Singapore Darby Park And at 16 serviced residences

SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEW | Q4 2026

CONTENTS

ARCHITECTURE LUMINARIES

COVER STORY

STANDOUT 32 SINGAPORE’S ARCHITECTS UNDER 40

24 OFFICES, RETAIL DRAW INVESTORS ON LOW COSTS FIRST 06 Global companies rent unbuilt offices just to stay in Singapore 07 Food companies move muscle abroad but keep brains local 08 SG, HK take rival paths to bag global gold trade 09 Kling AI absorbs nearly 60% of Q3 2026 funding

REAL ESTATE LUMINARIES MOST NOTABLE REAL ESTATE AGENTS UNDER 40

FINANCIAL INSIGHT 18 PE market defies regional slowdown

INDUSTRY INSIGHT

CEO INTERVIEW 48 SGX newcomer JustCo courts corporates 56 Tsuklio bets on time-poor families

INTERVIEW

10 Akro AI cuts data work to 15 minutes in regulated sectors

20 Hydrogen power plans face supply and land hurdles 38 High fleet costs put AI in driver’s seat 42 Locals overtake foreigners in shophouse deals 44 Retailers shift from points to realtime loyalty models

SPACE WATCH

REAL ESTATE OUTLOOK

LEGAL BRIEFING

30 Why are property buyers harder to please?

60 Data centre bill raises outage stakes

STARTUPS

12 MORROW opens first SG flagship clinic 14 Arcc Spaces opens largest SG workspace 16 Addepar sets up Asia-Pacific headquarters Published Quarterly by Charlton Media Group Pte Ltd 101 Cecil St. #17-09 Tong Eng Building 4 SINGAPORE SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEW | Q4 2026 BUSINESS REVIEW | MARCH 2018 Singapore 069533

ARCHITECTURE OUTLOOK 34 Buildings blur lines on home and industrial use

50 Domino’s Singapore targets impulse orders 52 RE&S takes Shinpachi beyond Japan 54 Western Union looks beyond remittances 58 Nasty Cookie builds for overseas growth

COMMENTARY 64 Solving the production problem behind Singapore’s ‘pilot purgatory’

For the latest business news from Singapore visit the website

www.sbr.com.sg

News from sbr.com.sg Daily news from Singapore MOST READ

CARDS & PAYMENTS

UOB upgrades 300,000 Visa cards to new premium tiers across ASEAN United Overseas Bank (UOB) has partnered with Visa to relaunch several of its card products under Visa’s new premium card tiers, Visa Infinite Privilege and Visa Infinite Private. Over 300,000 cards across five markets—Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, and Vietnam— will be upgraded to higher card tiers, UOB said.

MARKETS & INVESTING

FOOD & BEVERAGE

Singapore stocks most popular amongst young investors at 56% Singapore stocks are the most popular investment amongst young investors, with 56% investing in them, according to a report published by Trust Bank. Global exchange-traded funds followed at 45%, US or overseas stocks at 37%, unit trusts or managed funds at 27%, cryptocurrency at 25%, and bonds or T-bills at 23%.

Casual dining faces cuts as 43% eye Johor Bahru switch Forty-three percent of diners expect to spend less on casual dining, cafés, and takeaway in Singapore once the RTS Link opens, according to a Blackbox survey. Premium and specialoccasion dining registers a smaller drop at 14%, whilst bars, nightlife, and evening entertainment record the smallest share at 8%.

Where does value creation really happen? BY Muniza Askari Singapore firms are accelerating digital and AI adoption, but technology alone does not create value. Sustainable success depends on how well firms connect three stakeholders: Owners, customers, and employees. Value is often associated with the point of sale: A customer buys, and the firm earns. Yet much of that value has already been created through decisions about how reliably the promise is delivered.

Singapore’s tourism economy depends on security infrastructure most never see BY Rajat Gupta From blockbuster sports to headline stadium concerts, experience-led travel is reshaping tourism, with 66% of APAC travellers increasingly planning trips around once-in-a-lifetime experiences rather than traditional sightseeing. The World Cup is a testament to this phenomenon, surpassing 5.5 million spectators, making it the highestattended in FIFA history.

MOST READ COMMENTARY The future of crossborder commerce isn’t faster shipping – it’s better discovery BY Jaewha Choi A graded Pokémon card was recently sold to a buyer in Singapore for roughly $5,130. Not a rare first-edition holographic from the 1990s, but a modern card made valuable by its condition, scarcity, and the fact that it could not simply be picked up off a shelf in Singapore. A pattern starts to emerge, and it has less to do with the K-wave as we’ve typically understood it.

SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEW | Q4 2026

FIRST Costs report, Singapore ranks 10th globally for annual net effective occupier costs, with Hong Kong and Tokyo remaining AsiaPacific’s most expensive office markets. The city-state’s annual net effective occupier cost stands at $202.81 (US$158.52) per square foot. “Coupled with the limited supply of new office developments, premium office buildings continue to record healthy occupancy levels and rental growth,” Cheong said. He added that leasing activity has also been supported by pockets of expansion demand from the financial services and hedge fund sectors. Expansionary leasing accounted for 58% of major office transactions globally in the first half of 2026, signalling growing occupier confidence. Only 5% of top office deals involved occupiers reducing space, whilst the share relocating or renewing at a similar footprint fell to 37% in the first half of 2026, down from 44% in the same period in 2025.

Grade A CBD rents will increase 3% to 4% by year-end, with vacancy remaining below 5%

Global companies rent unbuilt offices just to stay in Singapore

COMMERCIAL PROPERTY

ingapore’s shortage of prime office space is pushing some companies to lease space up to 18 months before it is built. Others are turning to older, smaller, or city-fringe offices to keep costs down. Grade A central business district (CBD) office rents are expected to keep rising through 2027 as little additional office space enters the market before 2028, according to property consultants. “There’s a lack of new Grade A CBD office buildings that can reduce the rental pressure in the market,” Alan Cheong, executive director of research and consultancy at Savills, said. The director noted that most premium Grade A offices are almost fully occupied, pushing rents higher. He expects 455,000 square feet (sq. ft.) of office space to be completed in 2026 before supply drops to just 180,000 sq. ft. in 2027. He said completions are expected to rebound to 1.9 million sq. ft. in 2028, assuming projects are delivered on schedule. Christine Sun, chief researcher and

SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEW | Q4 2026

strategist at Realion (OrangeTee & ETC) Group, said that after Shaw Towers is completed in the second quarter, no major Grade A office project will be completed in the CBD until 2028. The two firms expect rents to keep rising this year, although by different amounts. Sun forecasts Grade A CBD rents will increase 3% to 4% by year-end, with vacancy remaining below 5%. Cheong expects rents to rise 5% to 7% from end-2025 levels. Ashley Swan, executive director of commercial and industrial at Savills Singapore, attributed the acceleration in quarterly rental growth to a severe shortage of premium office space, with more tenants renewing leases instead of relocating and leaving space available. According to Savills’ latest Prime Office

Biggest risk The shortage is also changing how vacancy is measured. Cheong said Savills counts newly completed buildings only after six months to avoid including space that has already been leased but not yet occupied. “In today’s market, it may take up to a year after completion for the building to be substantially filled,” he said, adding that this could temporarily lift reported vacancy rates even when demand remains strong. Sun said tenants are adapting by signing leases up to 18 months before upcoming buildings are completed, moving into slightly older or smaller offices within the CBD or relocating to city-fringe areas to reduce costs. Cheong said rents for older CBD buildings are also rising because of the shortage of premium space, although they continue to record higher vacancy than Grade A offices. Sun said financial institutions, professional service firms, and artificial intelligencerelated businesses continue to underpin demand, with multinational corporations continuing to favour premium office space. “The biggest risk to the tightening trend lies outside the property market itself,” Cheong told the magazine. He noted that companies facing higher costs could reduce their Singapore footprint by keeping customer-facing operations in the city whilst moving support functions elsewhere.

Coupled with the limited supply of new office developments, premium office buildings continue to record healthy occupancy levels and rental growth

FIRST That’s value-chain fragmentation; this is what gave us huge economic gains from trade in the globalisation era

Malaysia offers lower labour costs and more affordable industrial land

Food companies move muscle abroad but keep brains local

Hugo Texier

FOOD & BEVERAGE

ood manufacturers are moving more of the factory floor overseas to cut costs and strengthen supply chain resilience, whilst keeping the work that determines what gets made, how it is made, and whether it meets standards at home. Ben Charoenwong, an associate professor of finance at INSEAD, said the changes represent a reorganisation of the value chain rather than a decline in Singapore’s manufacturing base. “That’s value-chain fragmentation; this is what gave us huge economic gains from trade in the globalisation era,” he told Singapore Business Review.

Labour- and space-intensive production is moving overseas, whilst headquarters, branding, research and development, and quality control remain in Singapore. Recent moves illustrate the shift. Asia Pacific Breweries (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. is transferring production to facilities in Malaysia and Vietnam under an import-based supply model. Yeo Hiap Seng Ltd. has consolidated can manufacturing in Malaysia, whilst QAF Ltd. said its Gardenia bakery business would move production to Johor Bahru, with its Pandan Loop factory closing on 30 June. Le Jia Chong, CEO at FoodPlant

Ben Charoenwong

Le Jia Chong

Pte. Ltd., said manufacturers are responding to structural cost differences, market proximity, and the need for more resilient supply chains. “High-volume manufacturing may be regionalised, but highervalue activities—product development, process design, and quality systems—continue to be anchored here,” she said. According to Hugo Texier, a partner at Roland Berger Pte. Ltd., Malaysia offers lower labour costs and more affordable industrial land, making it easier for manufacturers to expand production. Singapore also faces structural challenges. Charoenwong said shorter industrial lease terms could discourage companies from making long-term automation investments because they face uncertainty over future rental costs. Labour costs further widen the gap. Data from the Ministry of Manpower showed median monthly manufacturing wages reached $5,850 in 2024, compared with $788 (RM2,490) in Malaysia, according to the Department of Statistics Malaysia. Texier expects more manufacturers to adopt dual-hub models over the next five years, keeping research, quality control, and commercial functions in Singapore whilst locating large-scale production elsewhere in the region. Chong said Singapore’s competitive advantage would increasingly lie in innovation, advanced food manufacturing, and technical expertise rather than mass production.

THE CHARTIST: SINGAPOREANS TURN TO AI FOR LIFE EVENTS BUT SCAM CONFIDENCE LAGS

early seven in 10 Singaporeans use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to navigate significant life events and experiences, but fewer than one in five feel highly confident identifying AI-generated scams and deepfakes, according to a TrendLife study. The study found that Singaporeans use AI more actively than respondents in other surveyed markets. About 56% use AI tools to write emails or documents, compared with the global average of 33%. Another 49% use AI for travel planning, more than double the global average of 22%, whilst 40% use AI for online shopping, compared with 30% globally. However, the same life events are also seen as periods of heightened vulnerability to scams, fraud, and identity theft.

Respondents ranked big-ticket purchases and investments, such as cars and real estate, as well as job searches and starting a business, as amongst the most vulnerable moments. About 55% of Singapore respondents said they share sensitive personal information online during significant life events, including national registration identity card numbers, dates of birth, and phone numbers. Awareness of digital risks is high, with 98% expressing concern about exchanging personal data online and 92% saying they understand the risks of sharing personal information with AI tools. Singaporeans also reported stronger basic online protection habits than the global average. Around 66% use two-factor authentication, 57% check and access only secure URLs, and 53% monitor bank accounts for suspicious activity.

Confidence in detecting AI-generated scams

Source: TrendLife “Digital Life and AI Experiences” Study

SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEW | Q4 2026

FIRST

stored and settled in Singapore and will be backed by DBS Bank Ltd., Deutsche Bank AG, ICBC Standard Bank Plc, JPMorgan Chase & Co., Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. Ltd., and United Overseas Bank Ltd. Gan also said the Monetary Authority of Singapore would begin offering gold vaulting services to foreign central banks and sovereign entities from October 2026. Singapore will remove the 5% cap on physical investment precious metals under selected tax incentive schemes for eligible funds and single-family offices, whilst Singapore Exchange is studying a physically deliverable gold futures contract.

Uncertain future Maestro in a survey of 117 fractional leaders across the AsiaPacific region found that Singapore is still an early-stage market. About 59% of respondents have worked in fractional roles for less than two years, it said in a February report. Engagements are usually short, often lasting one to three months. Bill Padfield, founder and CEO at Salamander Advisory Services, said companies are using fractional executives as they deal with uncertain business conditions. “So many companies are uncertain about the future,” he said in a separate interview. “They say: ‘Let’s just bring in somebody with experience who can hit the ground running.’” He said these executives are also used in digital transformation and restructuring work. Demand is strongest for chief financial officers and chief operating officers, especially in technology firms.

Long-term wealth preservation Joshua Rotbart, founder of J. Rotbart & Co., said regulations are no longer the main factor separating Singapore and Hong Kong. “The regulations are almost the same,” he told Singapore Business Review. “It’s more about the nature of the market and the perception of risk.” He said investors typically choose Singapore for long-term gold storage and wealth preservation, whilst Hong Kong has developed into a trading centre serving mainland China. Singapore’s latest measures build on work launched in March, when the Monetary Authority of Singapore and the Singapore Bullion Market Association formed the Gold Market Development Working Group to review clearing, settlement, storage, logistics, custody, and investment products. Hong Kong has also stepped up efforts this year, but with a stronger focus on the mainland. The Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau (FSTB) signed a cooperation agreement with the Shanghai Gold Exchange in January to develop a gold central clearing system and deepen cooperation between the two markets. The government also plans to expand Hong Kong’s gold storage capacity to more than 2,000 tonnes within three years. The state-owned Hong Kong Precious Metals Central Clearing Company Ltd. held its first board meeting in April. Financial Services and Treasury Secretary Christopher Hui said preparations for the clearing system were progressing, with trial operations scheduled to begin this year.

FIRMS CUT SENIOR HIRING COSTS WITH FRACTIONAL EXECS HR & EDUCATION

ompanies are turning to shortterm senior executives to plug leadership gaps and tackle transformation work, but HR teams risk being left behind if their hiring systems cannot accommodate them. “If HR people are not doing enough, they will be dinosaurs and they will be left behind,” Karunesh Prasad, founder and CEO at Bridge Et Al Pte. Ltd., told Singapore Business Review. “They need to consciously work towards making fractional executives part of their talent agenda.” Priya Rao, chief operating officer at Bridge Et Al, said many companies want to modernise hiring but lack systems that can support fractional executives—fixed-term, outcomebased senior leaders. “A lot of companies want to be future-oriented, but their internal system controls may not support that,” she said in the same interview.

SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEW | Q4 2026

Singapore will remove the 5% cap on physical investment precious metals

SG, HK take rival paths to bag global gold trade ECONOMY

ingapore and Hong Kong are pursuing different strategies to bolster their positions as precious metals hubs, with Singapore expanding clearing and vaulting services for international investors and Hong Kong building on its ties to mainland China’s bullion market. Singapore is viewed as a neutral jurisdiction with established storage facilities and a strong wealth management sector, said Dick Poon, general manager at Heraeus Precious Metals Hong Kong. He said Hong Kong’s advantage lies in its connection with mainland China’s bullion market through its integration with the Shanghai Gold Exchange. Clearing system Singapore’s strategy gathered pace in June when Deputy Prime Minister and Monetary Authority of Singapore Chairman Gan Kim Yong announced at the Asia-Pacific Precious Metals Conference that Singapore Exchange Ltd. would launch an over-thecounter clearing system for Loco Singapore gold by the end of 2026. The system will clear physical gold

The regulations are almost the same. It’s more about the nature of the market and the perception of risk

Joshua Rotbart

FIRST NUMBERS

KLING AI ABSORBS NEARLY 60% OF Q3 2026 FUNDING

Source: Tracxn Technologies Note: 1. We have only considered equity rounds and tech companies 2. Q3-2026 is considered from 1 July 2026 to 26 August 2026 3. All currencies are in USD

SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEW | Q4 2026

STARTUP AKRO AI CUTS DATA WORK TO 15 MINUTES IN REGULATED SECTORS INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

Earlybird AI targets SME accounting PROFESSIONAL SERVICES/LEGAL

E Marcus Quek, co-founder and CEO at Akro AI

kro AI Pte. Ltd. is helping regulated industries deploy artificial intelligence (AI) by organising unstructured data into automated workflows, reducing tasks that typically take days to as little as 15 minutes. “We solved interesting problems… but a lot of time was still spent consolidating documents and pulling information together in an accurate and timely manner,” Marcus Quek, co-founder and CEO at Akro, told Singapore Business Review. Founded in 2025 by Quek and chief technology officer Brian Tang, the Singapore-based startup builds AI workflows for regulated industries such as defence, finance, and logistics. After leaving the defence sector, Quek said he realised the same challenge existed across industries where sensitive information limits the use of conventional AI tools. “At Akro, we came to a clear conclusion: Before you can trust AI to automate anything reliably, you must first solve the data problem and the context layer underneath it,” he said. Clients upload documents, including scanned records and handwritten files, from which Akro extracts information from unstructured data. Users then define a workflow, letting AI agents learn the process from sample data before clients verify the output prior to deployment. In finance, Akro is focused on automating customer onboarding verification and invoice reconciliation workflows by training AI agents on a sample of client data to assess documents and replicate the full process end-to-end. In logistics, the focus is on aggregating data across large volumes of spreadsheets and automatically generating reports for both internal leadership and external clients. Trusted data layer In finance, the platform automates customer onboarding verification and invoice reconciliation. In logistics, it consolidates data from large volumes of spreadsheets and generates reports for management and clients. Quek said Akro is also working with defence customers but declined to identify them. The platform can be deployed without an internet connection, making it suitable for organisations with strict security requirements. According to the CEO, the system could reduce work that typically takes five to 10 days to about 15 to 30 minutes, saving roughly 90% of the time. Akro raised $904,000 (US$700,000) in pre-seed funding in June, which Quek said would fund AI and machine learning engineering hires and expand graphics processing unit capacity for in-house model development. “We want Akro to become that trusted data layer and automation layer for regulated industries,” he said. Although Akro is focused on regulated sectors, Quek told the magazine that the company ultimately aims to help organisations build specialised AI systems that could handle sensitive work securely and at scale. 10

SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEW | Q4 2026

arlybird AI Pte. Ltd. is using artificial intelligence (AI) agents to automate accounting for small businesses, turning bank and point-of-sale (POS) data into financial Bhavana Ravindran, CEO at Earlybird AI statements within minutes. “What we provide them is full-service consumer brands with multichannel accounting and full-service financial sales and high transaction volumes operations,” founder and CEO Bhavana that often lack the staff to support Ravindran told Singapore Business growing finance operations. Review. “You can think of us as an AIEarlybird AI combines its software native service where 90% or more of our with an in-house team of certified public solutions are technology-powered.” accountants and chartered accountants Founded in 2024, the Singapore-based to review and support client accounts. startup provides finance operations for The startup has raised about $1.1m commerce-led businesses. and is prioritising revenue growth over Its AI agents handle tasks such as raising more capital. reconciliation and monthly financial “At this stage, we are quite heavily closing, reducing reconciliation time by focused on customers and growing our more than 90% and shortening monthly revenue,” Ravindran said. “But I think we close cycles by as much as 80%. will soon reach a stage where we want to Ravindran said the idea emerged expand and grow faster.” after nearly a decade at Visa, Inc., where She said the company is targeting she worked with banks and financial Dubai and the United Kingdom for its institutions on digital payments and saw next phase of expansion. that many small and medium enterprises Earlybird AI is also adding features lacked modern finance tools. that let users interact directly with “We take data from banks, from POS financial ledgers through AI assistant machines and embed accounting very Claude and is introducing bank-toseamlessly at that last mile, which makes ledger agents that automatically convert it very user-friendly for SMEs,” she said. bank statements into accounting ledgers The company focuses on direct-to- and profit-and-loss statements.

Rumavi takes aim at relocation, property advice COMMERCIAL PROPERTY

umavi Pte. Ltd. is building an fixed packages for an initial assessment. advisory service for foreigners It also works with licensed local partners looking to move, invest, or buy that handle tasks such as visa applications, property in Southeast Asia, seeking to whilst Rumavi retains oversight. distinguish itself from property portals by Linton said the idea came from his own screening developers and providing advice experience encountering misinformation before clients commit funds. when buying property and exploring “I’m essentially the first barrier, providing relocation options in the region. a sense check on what is feasible and He cited developers that sold unfinished realistic and helping people decide projects after misusing buyers’ funds and whether to invest or live somewhere that is agents in Thailand and Indonesia who genuinely right for their situation,” Rumavi promoted ownership arrangements that founder and CEO Alexander Linton told were ultimately unenforceable. Singapore Business Review. He said the service is aimed at retirees, families, investors, relocators, and digital nomads who need help assessing property, visa, and business options across Southeast Asia. Rumavi CEO Alexander Linton Rumavi, founded in December 2025, charges clients by the hour or through

PROPOSED

-LEVEL

ORCHARD CAMPUS

SCAN TO LEARN MORE

PARTNERS

Subject to regulatory approval for Orchard Gateway 2nd Campus expansion on level 1, 2 and B1 SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEW | Q4 2026 PEI Registration Number: 200606974C | Registration Validity Period: 18 Jul 2023 to 17 Jul 2027

SPACE WATCH

MORROW opens first SG flagship clinic The flagship spans 45,000 sq. ft. across two floors at Longevity World. HEALTHCARE

atients can now move from medical testing and a doctor’s consultation straight into exercise, recovery, or nutrition programmes without leaving the same facility in MORROW’s first health clinic in Singapore. “MORROW serves as the anchor of a broader ecosystem designed to make preventive healthcare more accessible and integrated into everyday life,” Allen Law, founder and CEO at MORROW, said in an exclusive interview. The clinic occupies 45,000 square feet across two floors at 10 Coleman Street within Longevity World, an 80,000-sq.-ft. wellness complex. MORROW operates the site through two units: MORROW Medical, which provides testing and consultations, and MORROW, which provides exercise, recovery, nutrition, and coaching services. “This isn’t a clinic with a gym attached, but a single

Allen Law

environment where a diagnostic insight can be acted on immediately, in the same visit, rather than referred elsewhere,” Law told Singapore Business Review. Members can access health screenings, biomarker tests, functional assessments, and doctor consultations. The facility also includes a gym, Pilates and yoga studios, sound therapy rooms, hydrotherapy, thermal therapy, cryotherapy, hyperbaric oxygen facilities, and spa services. Food and beverage outlets include Folium Restaurant, Nectarium, and Caesura Grab & Go. Technology features include artificial intelligence-enabled Technogym equipment, wearable device integration, and the MORROW App, which tracks assessments and health data. The cryotherapy system operates without nitrogen. Hong Kong is expected to be MORROW’s next market.

1 The lobby entrance to

MORROW, which occupies 45,000 sq. ft. across two floors at 10 Coleman Street within the Longevity World wellness complex.

2 Hyperbaric oxygen

therapy facilities. Other recovery suites include hydrotherapy, thermal therapy, cryotherapy, and spa services.

3 The hydrotherapy

area at MORROW Health’s Singapore flagship, one of several recovery facilities at the 45,000 sq. ft. site at 10 Coleman Street.

4 The Pilates reformer

studio at MORROW Health’s Singapore flagship, which also includes yoga studios as part of its integrated preventive health offering.

5 A functional

assessment in progress at MORROW Medical, the clinical unit within MORROW Health that provides testing, biomarker screening, and doctor consultations.

6 The gym floor at

MORROW Health, where exercise facilities sit alongside medical testing and recovery services under a single integrated model.

SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEW | Q4 2026

Trusted for 90 years. Empowering businesses for what’s next.

For 90 years, Fujitsu has been driven by innovation and solving real-world problems. We empower businesses with comprehensive technology solutions, spanning consulting, cyber security, data, AI, cloud, modern workplace, SAP, ServiceNow, and managed services. We help organisations by understanding their challenges and delivering innovative technology solutions, supported by the world’s leading technology partners.

Connect with our experts Address: 1 Fusionopolis Link, #04-01 Nexus @ One North, Singapore 138542 Email: apac_marketing@fujitsu.com Tel: +65 6512 7555

SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEW | Q4 2026

SPACE WATCH

Arcc Spaces opens largest SG workspace Nature-focused design and acoustic features aim to ease workplace fatigue. COMMERCIAL PROPERTY

rcc Spaces Pte. Ltd. has opened its fourth and biggest Singapore location at Bank of Singapore Centre, spanning three floors with private offices, coworking areas, and spaces for meetings and events. Arcc Spaces CEO Justin Chen said the 25,782-squarefoot workspace was designed as a calmer alternative to screen-heavy workdays. Located at 63 Market Street, the site is the company’s ninth location across Asia and houses more than 300 members. Private offices are furnished to premium Grade A standards, whilst co-working and flexible spaces are available across the floors. Designed with The Afternaut Group, the workspace gives each floor a different layout and purpose. Level 7 centres on The Landing Room, named after the architectural landing where the floors meet. Around it sit Helio Hall (conference hall), Mimosa (meeting room), and

Justin Chen

Luna (private lounge), along with a common lounge, an event stage, private booths, private offices, and two pantries. Chen described Level 6 as the “quieter of the fitted floors.” It has open co-working areas, private offices, a pantry, and a wellness room beside floor-to-ceiling windows. It also overlooks a 54-metre outdoor terrace that Arcc has turned into a permanent landscape garden for members. “That level of intention is what sets this project apart from anything we’ve done before,” Chen said in an interview. Level 5 serves as an enterprise floor for up to two tenants, with dedicated suites and private office clusters designed by Arcc’s in-house team. Live plants are placed throughout the workspace, with grow lights used where natural light is limited. Nature-inspired murals, woven screens, and artwork complement views of a neighbouring linear park.

1 Helio Hall’s conference

room, framed by sliding timber doors, pairs a long meeting table and cognac leather chairs with a blue classical-ruins mural.

2 Level 6’s co-working

studio features woven rattan desk dividers and dome pendant lamps, with floor-to-ceiling glass looking directly onto the 54-metre outdoor terrace garden.

3 The Level 6 entrance

corridor opens from a botanical-walled focus nook through curved timber archways toward the co-working floor beyond.

4 The Social Bar on Level

7 features a living tree centrepiece and curved seating in cream and terracotta, with full-height views of the neighbouring linear park.

5 A wider view of The

Landing Room’s stepped lounge and reading corner on Level 7, with Helio Hall’s conference space visible through the timber-framed opening.

6 The Landing Room’s

social bar on Level 7 features arched alcoves with tropical botanical murals, rattan-backed chairs, and a marble bar counter.

SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEW | Q4 2026

Empower Human Interactions With AI Seamless collaboration, AI-powered bots and empowered agents for faster, consistent and smarter Customer eXperiences AI-POWERED AGENTS

MX BOTS Al-Powered. Human-Like. Always On.

Real-Time Guidance. Smarter Agents. Agent Assist Co-Pilot, Sentiment Detection, Summarization

Agent Desktop Unified workspace for Enhanced Productivity

Tetherfi MX

Omnichannel

Al-Powered Customer Experience Platform

Engage Customers Across Every Channel - voice & digital

AI-enabled Orchestration

Interaction Workflows that Drive Outcomes

AI Analytics

Operations Control, Management and Analytics

AGENT SENSEI - AI-POWERED QUALITY MONITORING

Monitor 100% of Interactions Automating Quality, Accelerating Success.

Al-Powered Insights Detect patterns, risks, opportunities & sentiments

Intelligent Call Routing

Quality & Compliance Ensure adherence with automated evaluations

Coaching & Improvement Actionable feedback to boost agent performance

TETHERFI INTELLICALL

TETHERFI TEAM COLLABORATION

AI-powered voice. Smarter conversations.

Connect teams. Collaborate seamlessly.

Real-time Transcription

AI-Powered Summaries

Sentiment Insights

Real-time Messaging

Audio / Video Meetings

File Sharing & Co-creation

Tasks and Workflows

Blend AI Automation With Human Expertise to Deliver Faster, Smarter, and More Meaningful Customer Experiences SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEWvisit | Q4Tetherfi.com 2026 15 For more information

or write to us at info@tetherfi.com

SPACE WATCH

Addepar sets up Asia-Pacific headquarters

The office has warm, neutral tones with sage green and turquoise furnishings.

The office was designed around communal spaces rather than traditional cubicles

Addepar opened an office on Level 11 of Tower 1 at Marina Bay Financial Centre

The office has a warm, neutral palette with sage green and turquoise furnishings

The firm also received backing from EDBI, an investment arm of SG Growth Capital

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

ddepar, Inc. has established its Asia-Pacific headquarters in Singapore as the New Yorkbased wealth management software and data platform expands its regional team. The company opened an office on Level 11 of Tower 1 at Marina Bay Financial Centre, formalising a presence it has maintained in Singapore since 2019. Peter O’Brien, chief revenue officer at Addepar, said Singapore was chosen as the regional hub because of its proximity to clients and its role in supporting the company’s data and artificial intelligence platform. “Being in Singapore brings us closer to our clients so we can better understand their evolving needs, provide local support and continue investing in research and development that powers our data and artificial intelligence platform,” he said in an interview. Addepar also received backing from EDBI, an investment arm of SG Growth Capital, which operates under the Economic Development Board and Enterprise Singapore, O’Brien said. 16

SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEW | Q4 2026

Peter O’Brien

The Singapore office houses sales, client management, solutions, forward-deployed engineering, product, as well as engineering teams. O’Brien said the office was designed around communal spaces rather than traditional cubicles to encourage interaction amongst employees. “Across Addepar’s global offices, we aim for a consistent look and feel that is modern, minimal and rooted in our brand, whilst still giving each space a sense of place,” O’Brien added. In Singapore, he said that meant pairing the company’s core design principles with local materials and a warm, neutral palette with sage green and turquoise furnishings. O’Brien said the communal coffee bar is his favourite part of the office because it gives employees a place to gather informally. The Singapore office serves as the base for Addepar’s regional team and has room for more employees. “We’re continuing to invest in our team across the region and hiring across a range of roles,” O’Brien said.

SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEW | Q4 2026

FINANCIAL INSIGHT: PRIVATE EQUITY

PE market defies regional slowdown Technology deals helped lift capital deployed to $6.35b in the first half. MARKETS & INVESTMENT

rivate equity investors put more money to work in fewer, larger deals across Southeast Asia, but Singapore went the other way, posting both higher transaction volume and capital deployment in the first half. More than $6.35b (US$5b) was invested in Singapore’s technology sector in the first six months, exceeding the level recorded a year earlier, Neha Singh, chairperson and managing director at Tracxn Technologies Ltd., told Singapore Business Review. Deal volume rose to 16 rounds from 13 a year earlier, whilst average deal size nearly doubled to $254m (US$200m), she said in an interview. Across Southeast Asia, private equity transaction volume fell to 29 deals in the first half from 36 a year earlier. Capital deployed, however, rose to about $12.8b (US$10.1b) from $5.3b (US$4.2b), driven by a handful of deals valued at more than $1.3b (US$1b), Luke Pais, ASEAN private equity leader at EY-Parthenon, said. “Many of the region’s largest transactions were centred in Singapore, reinforcing its position as the leading hub for private equity activity in Southeast Asia,” he said in an exclusive interview with the magazine. KPMG International’s Asia Pacific Private Equity Barometer 2026 said that “Singapore is less about sheer scale and more about quality and strategic access to Southeast Asia’s rising economies. “PE firms are likewise increasingly being drawn to the city-state’s deepening startup and growth-stage tech scene, particularly in fintech, AI, and healthtech,” the report read. Technology and digital infrastructure attracted

Neha Singh

Luke Pais

DEAL #1: DAYONE DATA CENTERS RAISED OVER $5.7B IN A FUNDING ROUND LED BY COATUE MANAGEMENT AND HILLHOUSE INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT LTD.

SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEW | Q4 2026

significant investor interest during the period. Singapore-based DayOne Data Centers raised more than $5.7b (US$4.5b) in a funding round led by Coatue Management, LLC. and Hillhouse Investment Management Ltd. KKR & Co., Inc. also led a group in the partial acquisition of ST Telemedia Global Data Centres. According to Pais, investors continued to favour sectors supported by long-term growth trends, including data centres, education assets, and real assets linked to regional economic expansion and increased adoption of artificial intelligence. Singh attributed Singapore’s performance partly to measures aimed at strengthening the city-state's capital markets, including proposals for a Global Listing Board linking Singapore Exchange and Nasdaq listings. She also cited rising fund registrations in Singapore and government-backed investment programmes. Singapore-based managers captured most of the capital raised in Southeast Asia in 2025, supported by regulatory clarity, tax-efficient fund structures, an established institutional investor base, and government-supported investment initiatives, Pais said. “Within Southeast Asia, Singapore and Malaysia accounted for 73% of total deal volume, reinforcing their importance as key investment markets for regional private equity firms,” he said. Singapore also continues to attract fund managers through its variable capital company (VCC) framework, a fund structure designed to make it easier to establish and manage investment funds.

DEAL #2: KRR & CO., INC. ALSO LED A GROUP IN THE PARTIAL ACQUISITION OF ST TELEMEDIA GLOBAL DATA CENTRES

FINANCIAL INSIGHT: PRIVATE EQUITY Singapore PE rises as Hong Kong turns to control deals

ASPAC private equity investment: Target geographies by volume

MARKETS & INVESTING

Boyu Capital acquired a 60% stake in Starbucks China that valued the business at about $5.1b

Source: AVCJ. Note: Within data trends, undisclosed deals and deals valued below US$15m account for a significant share of activity in many Asian markets. Including these transactions provides a more complete and accurate picture of overall deal flow and market behaviour, in addition to identifying meaningful trends

More than 1,400 VCCs and 3,000 sub-funds had been set up or moved to Singapore by the end of 2025, Singh told Singapore Business Review. Private credit also gained momentum during the period. SeaTown Holdings International Pte. Ltd.’s Private Credit Fund III raised $1.1b (US$900m), whilst CapitaLand Investment Ltd. raised $407m (US$320m) for its Asia-Pacific Credit Programme II. Andrew Thompson, a partner and head of asset management and private equity for the Asia-Pacific region at KPMG in Singapore, said private credit has benefited from tighter banking regulation and demand for more flexible financing structures. Private credit providers could offer financing arrangements that combine debt and equity and provide repayment terms that traditional lenders might not offer, he told the magazine in a separate interview. Sources of PE capital in Singapore were led by sovereign wealth funds, with anchor limited partners such as GIC Private Limited or Temasek participating either directly or indirectly, followed by global pension funds and insurance capital such as Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, pan-Asian mega-funds such as Baring Asia or Blackstone, and private wealth and family offices, Singh said. Despite strong fundraising and investment activity, Thompson said private equity firms continue to face challenges exiting investments. A backlog of unsold assets has persisted across the Asia-Pacific region, leaving some fund managers holding investments longer than originally planned, he said. Singh expects capital deployment in Singapore to more than double this year from 2025 levels, although transaction volumes may remain relatively stable. “Singapore will continue to account for between 75% and 90% of the total deal volume and deal value in terms of Southeast Asian investment,” she said. On the risk side, Singh noted a potential AI valuation reset, which could dampen demand for data centres and weigh on the most heavily funded sectors, and possible government restrictions on AI investments.

Many of the region’s largest transactions were centred in Singapore, reinforcing its position as the leading hub for private equity activity in Southeast Asia

Andrew Thompson

rivate equity activity is rising in Singapore, whilst Hong Kong managers are shifting towards buyouts and controlling stakes as pressure builds to return cash to fund investors after several years of slower exits. Managers are increasingly looking for businesses they can improve rather than relying on higher valuations to generate returns, Yuki Ishida, director and group CEO at YCP Holdings (Global) Ltd., said. Hong Kong-based private equity funds have raised $22b (US$17.3b) across three buyout funds in 2026, with EQT AB’s BPEA Private Equity Fund IX accounting for $19.91b (US$15.6b), Melanie Tng, an analyst for Asia-Pacific private capital at PitchBook Data, Inc., said in a separate interview. Private equity investors have participated in $26.9b (US$21.1b) of buyout transactions this year, compared with $13.1b (US$10.3b) of growth investments, she said. Firms are focusing more on acquiring controlling stakes in mid-sized companies and expanding them through acquisitions, Ishida told the magazine. Recent deals reflect the trend. Funds managed by Boyu Capital Investment Management Co. Ltd. acquired a 60% stake in Starbucks Corporation’s China retail business in April in a deal that valued the business at about $5.1b (US$4b). Templewater Hong Kong Ltd. has also expanded its healthcare platform through acquisitions, including The Women’s Clinic Group Ltd. and Ascensus Health Group Pte. Ltd. Investors are placing greater emphasis on receiving cash distributions after a prolonged slowdown in exits across the region, Tng said. Business-to-business companies have attracted $14.67b (US$11.5b) from private equity investors this year, whilst information technology companies drew $12.3b (US$9.7b), she added. Ishida said data centres and semiconductor companies remain attractive as artificial intelligence (AI) drives demand for computing power. Henry Chui, head of private wealth for Asia-Pacific at Partners Group Holding AG, said the firm has become more cautious on data centres as valuations rise. “Instead, we focus on adjacent areas of infrastructure,” he said, citing power generation and storage. “Power usage in the US is expected to increase significantly compared with the last 20 years as the data centre build-out continues.” SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEW | Q4 2026

INDUSTRY INSIGHT: ENERGY & OFFSHORE

Electricity demand is expected to grow 2.4% to 4.8% annually from 2025 to 2034

Hydrogen power plans face supply and land hurdles

PacificLight’s 670-MW plant is under construction for completion in 2029.

ingapore’s push to use hydrogen-ready gas turbines to meet rising electricity demand faces hurdles in fuel supply, storage, land availability, and higher hydrogen blends, even as the technology is already proven at 30% hydrogen compatibility. The Energy Market Authority (EMA) has asked private developers to build, own, and operate hydrogenready combined-cycle gas turbine (CCGT) units, with projects targeted for operation in 2031 and 2032. Darwin Chia, director of the Electricity Network and Generation Department at EMA, said they expect to award the proposal for the 2031 unit in the third quarter and the 2032 unit in the fourth. The request for proposal calls for capacity that can help maintain a required reserve margin of at least 27% as electricity demand rises. “EMA’s 27% required reserve margin threshold is actually structurally sound and also follows the so-called best global practices,” Teo Tee Hui, a senior lecturer for Engineering Product Development at the Singapore University of Technology and Design, told Singapore Business Review.

SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEW | Q4 2026

Yu Tat Ming

Teo Tee Hui

Darwin Chia

EMA expects electricity demand to grow 2.4% to 4.8% annually from 2025 to 2034, driven by economic growth, data centres, semiconductor manufacturing, and other advanced manufacturing activities. Teo said the required reserve margin is based on Monte Carlo simulations that account for peak demand forecasts and planned and unplanned power failures, including those affecting intermittent solar photovoltaic generation. The margin is based on a target of three hours of lost load a year, when available generation is insufficient to meet demand because of maintenance, repairs, or forced brownouts. Singapore’s isolated electricity grid and single interconnection with Malaysia also limit its ability to obtain emergency power if a local plant fails, Teo said. The request for proposal is already translating into construction. PacificLight Power Pte Ltd.’s 670-megawatt (MW) hydrogenready CCGT plant, which will include a battery energy storage system, is under construction and scheduled for completion in 2029. The project will be owned by

PLM Pte Ltd., a 100% subsidiary of PacificLight, PacificLight CEO Yu Tat Ming, told Singapore Business Review. “The company has secured financing from a consortium of local and international banks,” he said in a separate interview. Singapore’s 30% hydrogencompatibility benchmark is based on technology that has been tested at utility scale, Teo said. Mitsubishi Power Ltd., Siemens Energy AG, and GE Vernova, Inc. have validated 30% hydrogen blending and tested blends as high as 50%. “The first advanced units, such as the Keppel Sakra Cogen Pte. Ltd. plant and the YTL PowerSeraya Pte. Ltd. cogeneration facility, utilise fully tested, pre-tested OEM (original equipment manufacturer) turbine configurations designed to handle 30% blending,” Teo said. Possible hurdles Higher hydrogen blends remain harder to achieve. A 100% hydrogen blend needs a turbine design that is not commercially available, he pointed out. Fuel supply is another constraint. Teo identified Australia as a potential source of green hydrogen, citing Singapore’s memorandum of understanding and green economy agreement with the country, although neither provides a confirmed operating import arrangement. Storage could be a bigger hurdle because hydrogen requires more infrastructure than natural gas, he said. Land is another constraint, with hydrogen-ready CCGT projects including PacificLight’s and Keppel Sakra’s units concentrated on Jurong Island. Chia said land use is an evaluation criterion under the request for proposal as Singapore balances energy security and reliability against limited land availability. Teo said replacing power plants doesn’t happen quickly because consumers and businesses couldn’t remain without electricity for extended periods. “We cannot change the power plant completely overnight,” he said. “No one wants to stay for three months, six months, or even one year without power. So this kind of transition is a reasonable approach.”

Grow your membership. Not your headcount. Amplify Health breaks the structural link between claims volume and operational cost – without the integration complexity that has held back scalable health insurer modernisation in APAC. Amplify Health’s platform uses AI to encode health claims data across 50+ clinical schemas at scale – creating a unified semantic layer that enables every component of the claims system to operate in a single shared vocabulary, from intake to adjudication. Systemic Flexibility – our breakthrough architectural approach – resolves the integration paradox at the heart of health payor modernisation: a fully integrated modern claims

Business impact by first year of deployment:

~35% ~50%

improvement in detection of claims leakage

increase in automated claims processing

system, without the cost, disruption, or risk typically associated with large-scale claims modernisation. The result: operational capacity that scales with membership growth – not against it.

Transform your health claims system with us. info@amplifyhealth.com

www.amplifyhealth.com

SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEW | Q4 2026

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP ARTICLE

Five reasons Singapore businesses are insuring their receivables Read insights from Ronnie Lau, Chief Executive Officer, Singapore, National Credit Insurance (NCI). risk. Insurers assess and reassess buyers across entire economies. Coface rates Singapore A2 for country risk and A1 for business climate, amongst the strongest assessments it issues, but the export book is concentrated, with China, Hong Kong, and Malaysia together taking roughly a third of outward flows. Strength at home tells a business nothing about the buyer abroad. Insurer intelligence does.

Trade credit insurance turns an uncertain exposure into a known one

ost Singapore businesses insure their warehouse, the stock inside it, and the trucks that leave it. Then they ship on 60-day terms and carry the resulting debtor book, often the single largest asset they own, entirely uninsured. Trade credit insurance closes that gap. It covers a business against the risk that a buyer it has sold to on credit does not pay, whether through insolvency or protracted default. Here is what it actually delivers. 1. It protects the largest unsecured asset on the balance sheet For most businesses trading on credit, receivables are worth more than plant, property, or stock. They are also the only major asset sitting with no security behind it. One failure in a concentrated debtor book can take out a year of profit and margins. In a high-cost market like Singapore, it leaves very little room to trade back from that loss. Cover turns an uncertain exposure into a known one. 2. It makes the receivables book fundable This is the benefit most businesses underestimate. An insured receivable is a better asset than an uninsured one, and lenders treat it that way. When cover is in place, a bank can usually advance a higher percentage against the book, often at a lower cost, and will look far more favourably at overseas debtors it has no

SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEW | Q4 2026

means of assessing itself. For an exporter whose three largest accounts represent most of its turnover, that is frequently the difference between funding the next shipment and turning it away. The principle is well established in trade finance: credit is extended more freely when someone credible carries the non-payment risk.

Trade credit insurance is not a defensive purchase for businesses expecting to fail 3. It lets a business grow without taking on more risk Growth almost always means larger orders, longer terms, or new markets, and each of those adds exposure. Without cover, a credit manager protects the business by saying no, or by demanding terms that push the buyer to a competitor. With cover, the conversation changes. A business can take the bigger order, extend the terms the deal needs and move into markets it has no trading history in, because the downside is insured rather than absorbed. 4. It brings credit intelligence no single business can build alone A policy is not just an indemnity; it is access to a continuously monitored view of debtor

5. It puts a process behind bad debt instead of a scramble When a debtor fails, an uninsured business starts from nothing, chasing information, working out where it ranks among creditors and deciding whether legal action is worth the cost. An insured business follows a defined path. The claim is notified, NCI works with you and your insurer, and the claim is paid. Cash flow is preserved, and the finance team is not diverted for months chasing an account that may never pay. What it costs, and what it is worth Premium is usually a fraction of turnover. The better comparison is not premium against profit, but premium against the volume of extra sales the business can safely write with cover in place. In most cases, the funding and growth benefits alone justify the policy before a single claim is ever made. Trade credit insurance is not a defensive purchase for businesses expecting to fail. It is bought by businesses that intend to grow and want to do so without betting the balance sheet on every large order. NCI has arranged trade credit insurance since 1985 and works with clients across Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, and the UK. We work with all businesses to find the best cover at the best price, whilst ensuring they’re covered in the event one of their customers doesn’t pay.

SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEW | Q4 2026

COVER STORY

Offices, retail draw investors on low costs Prime commercial assets gain favour as tight supply supports rents and yields. COMMERCIAL PROPERTY

alling borrowing costs and constrained supply are making office and retail assets the focus of Singapore’s property investment market, attracting buyers seeking stable income. Office and retail accounted for 33% and 18% of first-half investment sales, respectively, shifting from 2025, when residential and industrial properties led the market, said Wong Xian Yang, head of research for Singapore and Southeast Asia at Cushman & Wakefield Plc. “This shift reflects growing investor confidence in offices and retail, which offer strong income visibility, underpinned by limited new supply and resilient tenant demand, particularly for high-quality assets such as CBD Grade A offices and Tier 1 retail malls,” he said in an exclusive interview. Wong said office and retail yield spreads over the Singapore 10-year government bond have widened beyond pre-pandemic levels, offering investors an attractive entry point for stable income and potential capital appreciation.

Standout sector Catherine He, head of research at Colliers International (Singapore) Pte Ltd., said capital is concentrating in prime commercial assets. Retail, office, and residential properties led second-quarter activity, excluding government land sales, she added. Prime office and retail assets are trading at net yields of about 3.5% to 4.5%, with capital values remaining stable, He said. Office remains the standout sector, with capital shifting towards the segment on favourable supplydemand conditions, said Chua Yang Liang, head of research and advisory for Southeast Asia at Jones Lang LaSalle, Inc. (JLL). “Singapore’s property market remains on solid footing heading into the second half of 2026, broadly consistent with sentiment a year ago. Existing macroprudential measures and the Government Land 24

SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEW | Q4 2026

The tone has shifted from broad recovery to disciplined, income-focused deployment concentrated in prime assets

Sales programme continue to keep private residential demand and prices on a sustainable path,” Chua said. “In retail and F&B, ongoing tenant churn is drawing local and regional capital into valueadd opportunities, whilst capital recycling and strategic ownership realignment continue amongst stronger core assets,” he added. Singapore’s property market remains broadly robust, with investment sales this year outperforming expectations, according to experts. Cushman & Wakefield said the investment sales market has exceeded expectations in 2026, with transaction volumes reaching $35.2b in the first half of 2026, already surpassing the $33b transacted in the whole of 2025. Falling borrowing costs have supported the increase. The threemonth Singapore overnight rate average had fallen to about 1.08% at end-June from about 1.18% at the start of the year, Wong said.

“At current borrowing costs, many office, retail, and industrial assets are able to generate positive cashon-cash returns whilst operating fundamentals remain resilient,” he told the magazine. The market is also benefiting from a constrained supply pipeline, expectations of rental growth, and Singapore’s appeal as a safe haven amid war and macroeconomic uncertainty, Wong said. Colliers’ data, meanwhile, showed investment sales easing 5.9% quarter-on-quarter to $15.6b in the second quarter (Q2), following a record $16.6b the previous quarter, with Q2 volumes still up roughly 106% year-on-year. “The tone has shifted from broad recovery to disciplined, incomefocused deployment concentrated in prime assets,” He said. Alan Cheong, executive director for research and consultancy at Savills Singapore Pte. Ltd., said the commercial property sector continues to be supported by

Transaction volumes reached $35.2b in the first half of 2026, surpassing the $33b transacted in the whole of 2025

COVER STORY CBD Grade A supply, demand, and vacancy

Investors eye mid-term rental gap RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY

Source: Cushman & Wakefield Research

easing borrowing costs relative to the elevated rates of two years ago, alongside substantial amounts of capital raised in recent years that continue to seek deployment. “Demand for private commercial real estate has also been supported by mild supply constraints in the Grade A CBD office market, relatively attractive yields offered by retail assets, and investment restrictions affecting private residential and JTC Corporation-managed industrial properties, which have channelled capital towards the commercial sector,” he added. Chua pointed to Hongkong Land Holdings Limited’s debut private real estate fund as a standout deal this year, the Singapore Central Private Real Estate Fund, which debuted in February 2026 as the city-state’s largest office-focused private investment vehicle, backed by $8.2b in assets. Savills expects 2026 investment sales of $55b to $60b, with Cheong saying the second half is likely to maintain the growth trajectory seen in late 2025, although first-quarter volumes are unlikely to be repeated.

Government land sales could provide another boost. The Town Hall Link whitesite tender, scheduled to close in November, could generate a multibillion-dollar transaction before year-end, Cheong said. Colliers expects full-year investment sales to exceed $40b, potentially making 2026 the highestvolume year since 2007. Interest rates remain the main uncertainty, Wong said. A sustained increase in global borrowing costs could raise domestic financing costs and affect asset pricing. Investors are likely to favour high-quality, income-producing properties with strong tenant demand and limited supply risk, where rental growth can help offset higher borrowing costs, he said. “Geopolitical risk and its knock-on effect on the global economy are key areas we are watching. Energy price volatility has a lasting impact — not just on domestic consumption, but on real estate operating costs. Investors are increasingly factoring these risks into their underwriting assumptions,” Chua said.

ingapore’s rental market has limited options for tenants staying three to 24 months, creating an opening for investors targeting stays longer than hotels but shorter than conventional residential leases. “Singapore’s private residential leases carry a minimum stay of three months, HDB flats require six, and shortterm rental platforms are effectively barred,” Maureen Li, CEO at ABIEL Property Investment Fund, said in an exclusive interview with Singapore Business Review. Li said the rules defined the gap but did not create demand. “That’s precisely why no existing product was ever designed for the three-to-24-month resident,” she pointed out to the magazine. Emily Fell, senior director for living sectors in the Asia-Pacific capital markets at Savills Plc, said Singapore’s co-living sector, one of the few formats serving this length of stay, has fewer than 10,000 rooms. Government data cited by Li showed Singapore citizens accounted for just 15% of tenants in private residential leases in 2018 and 2019, indicating the importance of foreign renters to the market. Returns in the segment have also outpaced conventional residential property, according to research commissioned by ABIEL. “Individual Singapore shophouses compounded at roughly 15% a year in capital value over 30 years, versus about 2.28% a year for residential condominiums over the same timeframe,” Li said. ABIEL began acquiring properties in Geylang when institutional investors had limited exposure to the segment. Interest from professional and institutional investors has since increased. Fell said large transactions involving extended-stay portfolios or purpose-built developments would provide stronger evidence of institutionalisation. “Today, most of the market remains fragmented and operator-led,” she said in a separate interview. The sector will mature when institutions begin competing consistently for these assets, rather than treating them as exceptions, she added.

Office rents

Source: Cushman & Wakefield Research

The co-living sector, one of the few formats serving mid-term stays, has fewer than 10,000 rooms

SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEW | Q4 2026

REAL ESTATE LUMINARIES

SG’s most notable real estate agents under 40

even women and eight men made the final cut from PropNex Realty Pte Ltd, JLL, Huttons, and OrangeTee & Tie Pte Ltd. Leading the pack is OrangeTee, with five representatives; the youngest on this list is from Huttons. Realtors in the private residential market took the lead, taking seven spots. This year’s honourees are million- and billion-dollar sellers, with clients including ChiMei Global and major players across trading, insurance, fintech, and media. Notable transactions include the leasing of 47,000 sq. ft. at IOI Central Boulevard Towers, one of Singapore’s newest landmark CBD developments. Here are this year’s honourees, arranged from youngest to oldest. 1

Aela Lim, 26 Huttons

Aela sold a three-room HDB flat at 37 Margaret Drive for $908,000 in two viewings, despite its west-facing aspect and minimal renovation, one of four three-room flats to cross $900,000 in 2025. She also moved a five-bedroom unit at Park Natura for $300,000 above valuation, holding firm on pricing despite full west sun and an unpopular unit number. Aela entered the industry in 2021, building her business solo before rising to Division Director. During her years in the industry, she has closed nearly 100 transactions, with clients including ChiMei Global. 4

Vevien Ong, 30 PropNex Realty Pte Ltd

Vevien sold two of a client’s properties before securing an $8.3m detached home at Faber Walk, closing almost $2m below asking. A tenancy with another client grew into four deals over five years, including a Sentosa home. Vevien entered the industry at 23 and leads nearly 250 agents at VevienOngDistrict, transacting over $500m in eight years; her district crossed $1b across 1,700-plus deals in 2025. She was named PropNex Gen’s top agent under 30 and became one of its youngest millionaire realtors at 26, and acquired two properties before the age of 30. 26

SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEW | Q4 2026

Jervis Isaiah Ng, 30 PropNex Realty Pte Ltd

Jervis represented a buyer in a $36m Good Class Bungalow acquisition on Cornwall Road, resolving a year-long deadlock between two heirs’ legal teams by treating it as structural, not price, and closing $10m below valuation, which inspired Steward Asia, JNA’s GCB and shophouse arm. He also grew a client’s $650,000 HDB position into a portfolio worth over $10m in four years, generating over S$3m in capital gains. Jervis founded JNA Real Estate in 2017, aged 21, and now leads over 335 realtors. He was PropNex’s overall champion producer in 2024 and 2025. 5

Enos Yip, 34 JLL

Enos advises a fintech scaling at Guoco Tower, securing space in a fully leased building with zero inventory. For a media group consolidating five Singapore offices into three, she secured an anchor lease at One George Street and delivered all transitions on schedule. At Asia Square Tower 1, she structured an early lease break for a firm tripling to 18,000 sq. ft., using landlord incentives to offset relocation costs. Enos has 11 years in commercial real estate, advising both occupiers and landlords. She also represents shophouse assets alongside Grade A office work.

Alexis Quek, 30 OrangeTee & Tie Pte Ltd

Alexis represented the buyers of a 191 sq m residence at Klimt Cairnhill valued at $7.6m, managing the deal from negotiation through completion in a segment where pricing judgment matters most. She also represented the seller of a four-bedroom unit at Leonie Parc View for $6.43m, achieving a record price per square foot for the development. Alexis has completed 115 transactions in her first two years, advising homeowners, buyers and investors across the residential market, and shares property insights and homeownership guidance with a following of close to 18,000. 6

Cherie Lee, 36 Huttons

Cherie sold a Jalan Besar shophouse for $4.6m, $250,000 above expectations, and guided a newlywed couple through a ten-year plan beginning with their $1.73m Parc Esta home, now worth roughly $800,000 more after five years. A mathematics graduate from the UK, she worked in finance at J.P. Morgan and APAC marketing at Microsoft before entering real estate in 2020, since covering HDB upgrading, private resale, new launches and shophouses. She has built a portfolio of over 100 private rental properties and recorded multiple six-figure commission months, including one topping $250,000.

REAL ESTATE LUMINARIES 7

Teng Hui Li, 36 Huttons

Teng sold an inter-terrace house at Loyang Villas for $2.2m, above comparable transactions at the time, through pricing strategy and targeted marketing that drew competing interest in a difficult market. She also took over an HDB flat at Tampines Greenweave, unsold for six months under two agents, repositioning it to secure a buyer within a month above the seller’s expectations by $10,000. Teng has spent seven years in the industry, working with over 200 families across homeownership, upgrading, investment and first-time purchases. She was named a Rising Millionaire at Huttons in 2025. She is active in both HDB resale and landed property types. 10 Jun Kiat Koh, 37

OrangeTee & Tie Pte Ltd

Jun Kiat brokered a coffeeshop sale in Ang Mo Kio for more than $10m alongside his team leader. He also guided buyers through a competitive launch period to a home at River Green, weighing location, unit mix, pricing, and growth potential. In another, he turned a ten-month-stale listing into a sale within three weeks, closing a week later. Jun Kiat has won Super Gold and Super Platinum Awards, ranked 16th on OrangeTee’s Top 50 and made its Top 300 in 2025, with his team runner-up for Outstanding IC Team in the first quarter of 2025. Clients commend him for his responsiveness and dedication to results.

Hansen Ng, 37 OrangeTee & Tie Pte Ltd

Hansen sold a low-floor Executive HDB flat in Ang Mo Kio for $1.208m in June 2024, a town record for Executive flats, positioning it on its rarity and floor area to reach family buyers. He also sold a converted 1950s landed home on Everitt Road North, marketed on architectural character rather than as a conventional listing. Hansen entered the industry in 2014 and has won Super Platinum and Super Gold Awards, Top 50 Achiever placings, among OrangeTee’s Top 200 Achievers in 2024 and 2025, and its 10year long service award. He shares his experience with fellow agents, known for integrity and client responsiveness. 11 Bryan Tan, 37

PropNex Realty Pte Ltd

Bryan leads a division of more than 330 consultants at PropNex and works with developers on sales strategy for new launches including Emerald of Katong, Lentor Central Residences, River Green and Tengah Garden Residences, running training on project marketing and negotiation. He also sold a Shanghai Road condo after one viewing at $1.75m, a record for the development, then advised the seller into a $2.68m Havelock launch, and, when a client’s marriage ended mid-transaction, structured a $2.2m joint acquisition with her sister rather than the $1.3m purchase she had planned.

Matthew Lam, 37 PropNex Realty Pte Ltd

Matthew brokered a record $6.8m Serangoon Gardens semi-detached sale for a multi-generational family, and a $5.7m Kovan inter-terrace sale within a month via TikTok and Instagram Reels. In commercial, he closed an $11m sale of three PLUS units on Cecil Street via a tender marketed to 48,000 companies and 30,000 professionals in a low-volume market. An engineer by training, Matthew founded MattLamAdvisory, PropNex’s champion advisory for five years, with 2,000-plus members transacting 2,144 new launches and 4,137 resale units. He developed The Essentials framework and was PropNex’s 2025-26 champion millionaire. 12 James Short, 38

JLL

James advised a trading firm’s 47,000 sq. ft. acquisition at IOI Central Boulevard Towers as transaction representative, securing scalable expansion clauses in Singapore’s CBD. He advised a Singapore insurer on consolidating four offices at Marina One, taking fitted space to cut costs while coordinating exits against tight timelines. At 108 Robinson Road he structured a turnkey leasing programme filling the building, pricing fitted space to support the landlord’s strata sale through financial modelling. Originally from the UK, James has spent 12-plus years at JLL across Shanghai, Malaysia, and Singapore. SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEW | Q4 2026

REAL ESTATE LUMINARIES 13 Lincoln Heng, 39

Huttons

Heng sold a 4,036 sq. ft. penthouse at Waterfall Gardens on Farrer Road for $8m, a niche unit needing sustained negotiation to close. He also sold a $5.5m landed home in Serangoon Gardens Estate for a retired couple downsizing to an HDB flat after years in the property, unlocking its value to fund the move. Heng has 15 years in the industry, advising first-time buyers, investment portfolios, and upgraders with a data-led approach across sales, leasing, and asset progression. He was named a Rising Millionaire at Huttons in 2025. He is recognised for his meticulous attention to detail and sharp negotiation across markets.

14 Zoie Teo, 39

OrangeTee & Tie Pte Ltd

Zoie sold a low-floor residence at Nassim Lodge for $14.5m through strategic marketing and negotiation, navigating Singapore’s competitive luxury market despite being new to the industry, and handled the leasing of a Tomlinson Road residence at $37,000 a month, coordinating negotiations across multiple stakeholders. Zoie obtained her salesperson certification in November 2024, entered the industry in February 2025, and within her first year won OrangeTee’s Super Platinum Award for a six-figure single month, was named a Top 50 Achiever, Top Resale Rookie runner-up for 2025, and a Top 200 Achiever.

15 Jonathan Zhuang, 39

OrangeTee & Tie Pte Ltd

Jonathan represented buyers acquiring a semi-detached home at Grace Park in District 19 for $5m, guiding it from opportunity to completion in an established landed neighbourhood. He also advised buyers securing a $1.7m unit at Bloomsbury Residences during a competitive new launch, evaluating unit options against their budget and long-term plans. Jonathan specialises in linked sale-and-purchase transactions on fixed timelines. He has won multiple Super Gold Awards at OrangeTee, made Top 50 and Top 300 Achievers in 2025, with his team second runner-up for Outstanding IC Team in the fourth quarter of 2025.

Trip.Biz Agent ONE AI built for your business trip.

www.trip.biz 28

SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEW | Q4 2026

Scan to learn more

Innovation with Purpose Impact without Borders Discover More：www.frontieresg.com As Featured In New York Weekly SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEW | Q4 2026

REAL ESTATE OUTLOOK

Why are property buyers harder to please? Wider data access and lower loan costs are making buyers more selective.

Transaction volumes in the first half surged more than two-fold to $34.74b

RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY

ingapore property buyers are gaining bargaining power as lower borrowing costs and wider access to market data make them more selective on price and property quality. “Whilst liquidity is improving and investors remain keen to deploy capital, the price gap between buyer and seller expectations continues to be a key obstacle,” Tricia Song, head of research for Singapore and Southeast Asia at CBRE Group, Inc., said in an exclusive interview. Lower borrowing costs have encouraged sellers to bring more assets to market, whilst recent large transactions have boosted confidence in liquidity, she said. Nuris Alicia, an associate senior director at OrangeTee & Tie Pte. Ltd., said transactions have become more calculated as buyers scrutinise prices and property quality more closely. “A desirable unit that is correctly priced can move very quickly, whilst another property in the same estate may remain on the market simply because buyers do not see sufficient value at the asking price,” she said. August data from CBRE showed that transaction volumes in the first half (H1) of 2026 surged more than two-fold to $34.746b, surpassing 2025 full-year volumes of $34.284b. Growth was spread across the majority of sectors, thanks to low domestic interest rates and

SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEW | Q4 2026

Alexis Quek

Tricia Song

Nuris Alicia

Singapore’s safe haven status, despite the Middle East conflict and broader macroeconomic headwinds. CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust bought Paragon mall for $3.9b, whilst IOI Properties Group acquired Asia Square Tower 2 for $2.476b, CBRE said. Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) data showed office and retail price indexes rose to 111.3 and 104.4 in the second quarter from 110.9 and 103.6, respectively, a quarter earlier. Private residential prices also increased, with the URA index rising to 219.4 from 218.3. The Housing and Development Board resale index, however, fell 0.3% to 202.8, marking a second straight quarterly decline. Alicia said buyers are scrutinising properties more closely, considering factors such as access to public transport, renovation costs, remaining lease, space for future family needs, and resale prospects. Alexis Quek, group associate director at OrangeTee & Tie Pte Ltd., said demand remains strong amongst homeowners upgrading from two-bedroom private properties to three-bedroom homes as their families grow. Connectivity remains a major consideration for both owneroccupiers and investors. More information is also making negotiations harder, Alicia told the magazine, since buyers and sellers can more easily compare prices and

assess financing, policy changes, and market conditions. Industrial assets continue to attract investors because of their yields relative to other asset classes, Song said. Office and retail transactions are also expected to remain active on expectations of rental growth and sustained tenant demand. Resale properties are also drawing buyers, particularly HDB flats and private condominiums, Alicia said. The removal of the 15-month wait-out period has allowed eligible private property owners to move directly into HDB resale flats when right-sizing. Private residential resale transactions increased to 3,813 in the second quarter from 3,225 in the first, URA data showed. Quek expects three- and fourbedroom private homes to remain popular, particularly among HDB upgraders who are accustomed to having more space. Attarcting investors Bigger units could also attract buyers seeking greater flexibility because of their more limited supply, Quek told the magazine. Private residential resale should also remain relevant as buyers compare the space, location, and overall value offered by existing properties against new launches, Alicia added. Private residential resale transactions rose to 3,813 in Q2 from 3,225 in Q1, indicating continued healthy demand in this segment. In the private residential market, Quek expects three- and fourbedroom units to remain active, as many HDB upgraders, already accustomed to having three bedrooms, may be less inclined to compromise on space when moving into their next private property. “Buyers are also becoming more aware of supply and demand dynamics. As a result, larger units with more limited availability could attract greater interest from buyers who value space and longer-term flexibility, also from an investment perspective,” she said.

118 years. 30,000 financial representatives. 16,000,000 dreams represented. One future. Driven by you. Great Eastern has brought trusted insurance and employee beneﬁts to regional businesses for over a century. Today, we are a leading Group insurer delivering ﬁnancial security, healthcare support, and workforce wellbeing solutions for many organisations. Life | Health | Wealth | General Insurance | Group Insurance

Ensuring business continuity with comprehensive protection against property damage and business interruption.

Safeguarding workforce wellbeing through comprehensive Work Injury Compensation coverage.

Flexible employee beneﬁts solutions designed to protect and support a modern workforce.

Trusted group insurance solutions supporting businesses and employees across every stage of growth.

Scan here to ﬁnd out more

SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEW | Q4 2026

ARCHITECTURE LUMINARIES

Singapore’s standout architects under 40

n search of the most notable architecture professionals under 40, Singapore Business Review reached out to various architecture firms in Singapore. After rigorously reviewing submissions from the firms, eight made it to the final cut. Architects on this year’s list come from DP Architects, SAA Architects, CPG Consultants, RSP Architects Planners & Engineers, and Chang Architects. Leading the pack is DP Architects, with three representatives. The youngest on the list is from DP Architects. This year’s honourees designed and managed major projects such as Woodlands Hospital, Funan Redevelopment, The Cathay, i12 Katong, and One Punggol's Regional Library. Women make up five of the eight on this year’s list. Their portfolios span healthcare, civic infrastructure, education, hospitality, and heritage conservation, reflecting the full breadth of Singapore's built environment. Two honourees are also connected to the Goh Keng Swee Centre for Education — Liao Muqiong as Superintending Officer Rep on the project, and Kelvin Ng, whose portfolio includes work on the same development. Here are this year’s honourees, arranged from youngest to oldest.

Chung Yen Ling, 31 CPG Consultants Pte Ltd

Jacqueline Tjen, 30 DP Architects

Siqi Zhang, 31 RSP Architects Planners & Engineers 2

Photo by Rory Daniels, courtesy of DP Architects

Photo by RSP Architects Planners & Engineers

Jacqueline worked on Dairy Farm Residences & Dairy Farm Mall, a $125m, 460-unit integrated development with views of Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, tackling a sloping site by tucking the basement car park into the slope to fit its 1,500 PPVC modules. She also worked on The Verandah Residences, a $37m, 170-unit low-rise development inspired by neighbouring black-and-white bungalows, using deep eaves, louvred screens and verandahs for natural ventilation. A core member of DP Architects’ residential typology group, she advances standardised, scalable residential delivery, and digital coordination tools.

Siqi worked on the i12 Katong Major A&A, a $30m-plus revitalisation repositioning the mall as a premier East Coast lifestyle destination with new retail concepts, delivered entirely through the COVID-19 pandemic. As Project Architect on West Mall’s $40m-plus redevelopment, she led design development and technical coordination for a new communal gathering space with sheltered MRT access, an upgraded public library and a basement food hall. A Registered Architect with a Master’s from NUS, Siqi has been with RSP since 2019, also contributing to Resorts World Sentosa’s Adventure Dining Playhouse.

Melissa Tsang Hiu Ching, 34 Chang Architects

Liao Muqiong, 36 SAA Architects Pte Ltd

Photo by Finbarr Fallon, courtesy of CPG Consultants

Photo by KHOOGJ, courtesy of Chang Architects

Photo by Ministry of Education. An artist’s impression of the Goh Keng Swee Centre for Education

Yen Ling worked as Design/Project Architect on Lentor Health Nursing Home (West Coast), a project under Ministry of Health research initiatives, reinterpreting the institutional model into a home-like environment and addressing resident concerns in a mature estate through feasibility studies. She played the same role on Lentor Health Nursing Home (Macpherson), a project grounded in “Kampong Spirit” values, delivering onebed-one-window layouts and communal spaces for rehabilitation. She mentors young architects and leads BIM coordination at CPG’s Integrative Wellness Studio.

Melissa worked on Maple House, a $1.5m-$2m Singapore home that preserved its original single-storey character with natural materials rather than maximising floor area. On Moongate House, she assisted the lead architect from concept through completion, developing a modular concrete language for its bespoke precast moongate form, balancing family living with large gatherings. She also worked with Studio Grain on the Low-Resolution Pavilion for Singapore Design Week 2025, using upcycled plastic. She practises under Chang Yong Ter whilst co-founding spatial design practice Nous Nous.

Muqiong was responsible for design execution, project management, and delivery on The Chevrons, a clubhouse redevelopment kept operational through phased TOP strategies. She managed Pei Chun Public School’s redevelopment from design development through completion, delivering a new annex to meet its fixed relocation deadline. As Superintending Officer Rep on the Goh Keng Swee Centre for Education, a 30-storey office tower under construction, she oversees design coordination, stakeholder management, and the integration of architectural interfaces with the adjacent Ministry of Education Headquarters.

SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEW | Q4 2026

ARCHITECTURE LUMINARIES 6

Tan Wen Jun, 36 DP Architects

Kelvin Ng Si Hoa, 38 SAA Architects Pte Ltd

Loh Zhu Ping, 38 DP Architects

Photo by Bai Jiwen, courtesy of DP Architects

Photo by SAA Architects

Photo by Masterz, courtesy of DP Architects

Wen Jun led design development for One Punggol’s Regional Library and community spaces, part of a multi-agency civic development. As design lead and project architect on the library, Wen Jun oversaw development from concept to tender, integrating assistive technologies to set a new benchmark for inclusive public libraries. The result is a human-centred space for all ages. At The Greenhouse at Dulwich College, a net-zero facility, Wen Jun led passive design and façade optimisation from concept through development. Wen Jun also contributes to DP Architects’ research groups and is a guest critic at NUS.

Kelvin played a key role in the design and delivery of Woodlands Hospital, Singapore’s first healthcare campus to fully integrate an acute hospital, community hospital, medical centre, and nursing home within a single development, despite expressway noise and rocky terrain. It was shortlisted at the 2024 World Architecture Festival and recognised with a Merit Award at the 2025 CREDAWARD. He also worked on Lentor Health Nursing Home, where landscaped buffers and layered greenery help mitigate airbase noise, and the ongoing Tengah General and Community Hospital, drawing on Tengah’s brickworks.

Zhu Ping worked on design resolution, project management and cost control for Funan Redevelopment, a $354m vertically integrated development combining retail, offices, serviced apartments and a rooftop urban farm. He also worked on Mercure ICON Singapore City Centre, a $790m hotel that is the Mercure brand’s largest property worldwide and Singapore’s first full concrete PPVC hotel. At The Cathay A&A, a $70m heritage repositioning, he handled design resolution and stakeholder coordination through a conservation review. Zhu Ping holds a Master of Architecture from National University of Singapore and is a guest reviewer there.

SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEW | Q4 2026

ARCHITECTURE OUTLOOK

Buildings blur lines on home and industrial use

Integrated projects create more convenient and liveable neighbourhoods. COMMERCIAL PROPERTY

ingapore’s architects are seeing more developments combine residential, healthcare, workplace, community, and transport functions as the city seeks to make better use of limited land. Siah Puay Lin, Singapore lead of Architecture and Design at SJ Group, said transport-oriented and mixed-use projects are changing how urban density is planned. “Integrating residential, healthcare, wellness, and community uses within connected, walkable precincts creates more convenient and liveable neighbourhoods,” she said in an exclusive interview. Purpose-built developments are also combining workplace, lifestyle, community, and green spaces within single design frameworks, she told the magazine. Geneo at No. 1 and 7 Science Park Drive and Bulim Square are examples, reworking industrial and business park formats with more amenities. “In those places, the programme mix, public realm, connectivity, and inclusivity are designed together rather than appended on,” Siah said. Healthcare projects are following a similar model. Chung Yen Ling, a senior

Bulim Square (Photo by SJ Group)

SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEW | Q4 2026

These projects reflect a broader shift towards a more integrated healthcare ecosystem

Siah Puay Lin

Chung Yen Ling

architect at the Integrative Wellness Studio of CPG Consultants Pte. Ltd., said demand is growing across acute hospitals, facility renewal, mental healthcare, and community-based long-term care. “These projects reflect a broader shift towards a more integrated healthcare ecosystem, one that expands acute capacity whilst strengthening specialised, rehabilitative, and long-term care closer to the communities being served,” said Chung, who was named one of Singapore Business Review’s honourees in this year's most notable architecture professionals under 40. CPG designed the new Eastern General Hospital and the redevelopment of National University Hospital. In mental healthcare, the firm’s projects include the Vanguard Care Home (Hougang) and Vanguard Compass Home (Hougang). Chung’s team is also the architect for Alexandra Care Home, located within the Alexandra Hospital campus and adjacent to the Rail Corridor, designed to serve residents in Queenstown, which has one of Singapore’s oldest populations. Digital regulation is also changing project delivery. Construction and

Real Estate Network (CORENET X), Singapore’s national platform for building regulatory submissions, uses building information modelling to coordinate project information. The Urban Redevelopment Authority said CORENET X became mandatory for projects of at least 30,000 square metres of gross floor area from October 2025 and will cover upcoming projects from October 2026. Outlook According to Siah, the wider adoption of building information modelling is improving coordination and reducing construction-stage revisions. She expects healthcare and transport investment to remain areas of focus in the second half. Chung said assisted living is also gaining traction as seniors seek to remain independent. Examples include Community Care Apartments, Commune@ Henderson and Perennial Living, a private assisted-living development scheduled to open this year. Central to the platform is the Building Information Modelling (BIM) model, a coordinated 3D digital representation of a building carrying all information about its structure, from materials and dimensions to mechanical systems and fire safety requirements. “As this approach becomes more widely adopted, it is helping to improve coordination, reduce construction-stage revisions and deliver more reliable outcomes for our clients,” Siah said. For the second half of 2026, Siah expects investments in healthcare and transportation to address Singapore’s long-term care demands and continued focus on mobility and connectivity. “The second half of 2026 looks steady and purposeful. Investments in healthcare and transportation respond to the needs of an ageing population and the continued importance of strengthening mobility and connectivity. They also provide the sector with a meaningful pipeline of complex, long-term projects that will shape how Singaporeans live and move,” Siah said.

INTENT MATERIALIZED

LEARN MORE

Connecting the world to embedded protection Headquartered in Singapore with a presence across 39 markets, bolttech is transforming how insurance is bought, sold and experienced. Our insurtech platform connects 250+ insurance providers and over 7,000 product connections globally, helping businesses deliver protection when and where customers need it most. The result: new growth opportunities for our partners and more accessible, convenient protection for millions of customers around the world.

Scan to learn more

SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEW | Q4 2026

SUSTAINABLE TECH - DATA CENTRE

K2 Strategic wins at Singapore Business Review Technology Excellence Awards 2026 Its hyperscale data centre facility supports high-density AI and cloud computing workloads.

K2 Strategic at the Singapore Business Review Technology Excellence Awards 2026

2 Strategic won Sustainable Tech - Data Centre in the Singapore Business Review Technology Excellence Awards 2026. The company secured the accolade for its innovative hyperscale data centre project, which reached completion in March 2026. This development represents a strategic expansion for K2 Strategic as it delivers high-performance digital infrastructure whilst maintaining strict safety and sustainability standards. The project team delivered the 24MW state-of-the-art facility within an accelerated 13-month schedule. By mid-January 2026, the development achieved its Certificate of Completion and Compliance. This milestone underscores the operational excellence of K2 Strategic amidst a compressed timeline. A hybrid cooling strategy A defining technical achievement involves the deployment of the first water-based cooling system for K2 Strategic. The facility utilises a hybrid cooling strategy designed for adaptability. Its architecture allows for a seamless transition from 100% air-cooled configurations to a balanced 50% air-cooled and 50% liquid-cooled environment. Such flexibility enables the data centre to manage next-generation high-density workloads, including advanced cloud computing and artificial intelligence. Modular design and prefabrication K2 Strategic also redefined conventional cooling strategies through a fully modular chiller block. This integrated unit consolidates

SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEW | Q4 2026

This development represents a strategic expansion for K2 Strategic the chiller, chilled water pump, and water treatment systems into a single containerised solution. The company conducted comprehensive off-site testing, including a Factory Acceptance Test at 100% load, to ensure quality assurance. This prefabrication strategy reduced on-site risk and optimised the installation sequence through greater design standardisation. Health and safety remained a priority throughout the construction phase. The project achieved a Zero Incident HSE

K2 Strategic Johor Data Centre

performance, which reflects a proactive safety culture amongst all teams and contractors. Rigorous risk management and strict compliance monitoring ensured that the large-scale operations proceeded without a single lost-time incident. Supporting the local community Beyond technical innovation, the project supported local economic activity. Over 1,000 individuals received inductions during the construction period, which contributed to regional employment and skills development. This engagement fostered knowledge transfer and professional growth within the local community. The successful execution of this facility establishes a resilient and sustainable framework for future digital infrastructure.

SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEW | Q4 2026

INDUSTRY INSIGHT: FLEET MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS

High fleet costs put AI in driver’s seat Operators improve productivity without adding more vehicles. TRANSPORT & LOGISTICS

igh vehicle ownership costs are pushing logistics companies to get more work out of existing fleets, using artificial intelligence (AI)-powered systems to track vehicles, optimise routes, and monitor performance instead of buying more vehicles. “Vehicles are very expensive in Singapore... it places a huge amount of importance on making sure that your assets are being utilised efficiently and to their maximum capacity,” Roger Calisto, CEO at Cartrack Technologies Asia Pte. Ltd., told Singapore Business Review. Calisto said some companies have been able to downsize their fleets after adopting fleet management systems, even as their workload increased. He said the platform helps businesses track workload trends across their fleet, then reassign underused vehicles to areas with higher demand, lease out spare capacity, or reorganise routes between depots. Doing business better Mark Goh, director for industry research at the Logistics Institute-Asia Pacific at the National University of Singapore Business School, said many vehicles in Singapore operate at just 50% to 60% of their carrying capacity. Analysts said AI and real-time fleet data are helping companies reduce idle time, improve route planning, and keep vehicles carrying cargo instead of travelling empty. “Connected vehicle technology doesn’t really help logistics firms to grow, but basically helps them to do business better,” Goh said. “The last thing you want is the vehicle to be on the move looking for cargo,” he continued. Sugoutam Ghosh, head of the Graduate Diploma in Logistics and Supply Chain Management programme at the Singapore University of Social Sciences, said AI-powered route planning and live traffic information offer one of the biggest opportunities to improve fleet performance. Ghosh said fleet technology can also

SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEW | Q4 2026

Many vehicles operate at just 50% to 60% of their carrying capacity, Goh said

automate dispatching, scheduling, and other administrative tasks that would otherwise be handled manually. He added that fleet technology also supports sustainability goals by cutting fuel consumption and carbon emissions, in line with Singapore’s Green Plan. Mark Goh

Roger Calisto

Sugoutam Ghosh

Supply chain planning Goh said companies could also use historical shipment data to forecast demand, improve load planning, and decide when vehicles should be dispatched. “Your supply chain planning becomes even more critical with the help of AI,” he pointed out. Calisto said AI also improves driver safety through cameras that detect fatigue, distraction, and mobile phone use, whilst helping fleet managers identify underused vehicles and predict maintenance needs. According to Ghosh, companies should measure success by vehicle use, on-time deliveries, fuel or energy cost per delivery, maintenance costs, downtime, and

driver safety rather than fleet size. Funding opportunities High implementation costs remain a hurdle for some companies, particularly small and medium enterprises, whilst smaller operators often lack the scale to test these systems across multiple operations, Goh told the magazine. Calisto, however, said the biggest barrier is often not cost but mindset. “The reality is... it’s more or less a mindset,” he said. “They do need to adopt new technologies that will make them more efficient.” According to Calisto, the Singapore government has helped ease the cost burden, particularly for smaller operators, by offering funding schemes that co-fund some fleet technology upgrades needed to move away from paper-based processes. “There’s always funding opportunities where the government will actually co-fund some of these kind of upgrades that you might need,” he said.

The Future Workplace Is Human-Centric. And finally, measurable.

Work today is no longer defined by desks filled or rooms booked. It is shaped by how people collaborate, how technology supports them, and how outcomes are understood. Logitech’s AI-driven collaboration solutions help organizations create workplaces that perform better and feel more human.

Enhanced Meeting Experiences AI removes common meeting frustrations, creating conversations that feel natural and inclusive.

Supercharged Productivity With fewer distractions, meetings stay focused and decisions happen faster.

Inclusivity at the Core Intelligent framing and thoughtful design help everyone participate fully.

Optimized IT Resource Allocation

Design your ideal video conferencing room with our Room Configurator.

www.logitech.com

Centralized management and real-time insights simplify operations, with clear visibility into usage, performance, and efficiency.

Adaptable Anywhere Collaboration stays consistent across offices, hybrid spaces, and remote environments. SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEW | Q4 2026

INDUSTRY INSIGHT: INSURANCE

Government targets captive insurance growth Smaller companies could gain a lower-cost way to manage risk. INSURANCE

ingapore’s proposed insurance structure could make captive insurance and insurancelinked securities easier and cheaper to establish by lowering costs and reducing administrative work, according to analysts. George Ong, regional director at Aon Insurance Managers (Singapore) Pte Ltd., told Singapore Business Review in an interview that the proposal could make captive insurance more accessible by lowering entry costs and giving companies an alternative to establishing standalone captive insurers. He said demand could come from mid-sized companies seeking lower-cost ways to manage risk, bigger organisations taking a phased approach to captive ownership, and businesses exploring insurancelinked securities.

George Ong

Sean Welsch

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) is consulting on a protected cell company framework that would let insurance programmes operate under one legal entity whilst keeping each programme’s assets and liabilities separate. The regulator said the framework would support captive insurers— insurance companies established by businesses to cover their own risks— and insurance-linked securities, which lets insurers transfer insurance risk to investors. MAS said companies need separate legal entities for different insurance programmes, increasing costs and administrative work. “It is too early to quantify the potential growth of Singapore’s alternative risk transfer market, as outcomes will depend on the final framework and market adoption,”

Demand could come from mid-sized companies seeking lower-cost ways to manage risk

SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEW | Q4 2026

Ong told Singapore Business Review in an exclusive interview. Sean Welsch, Asia captive consulting leader at Marsh Asia Pte. Ltd., said similar structures have expanded faster than traditional single-parent captive insurers in other markets because they require less upfront capital, take less time to establish, and cost less to operate. Based on Singapore’s 89 licensed captive insurers, Welsch said the market could add 50 to 90 cells within the first five years after the framework takes effect. That could increase to as many as 150 cells if several protected cell company platforms are launched early and the framework supports a broader range of business uses, he told the magazine. Welsch said the lower cost and simpler structure could encourage more captive insurance and insurancelinked security transactions whilst giving companies, sponsors, and investors greater flexibility. Framework’s success Ong said the framework could also provide companies that are not ready to establish standalone captive insurers with a simpler way to manage risk. He said Singapore is already a leading insurance and reinsurance centre in Asia, with the biggest opportunity lying in further developing alternative risk transfer and captive insurance solutions as companies face increasingly complex, interconnected risks. Welsch said Singapore is already the leading insurance hub in Asia-Pacific, adding that broadening its position in alternative risk transfer would depend on continued investment in specialist talent across insurance, risk management, actuarial, legal, and structuring disciplines. Both said the framework’s success should be measured by the number of protected cell companies and cells established, growth in the issuance of captive insurance and insurancelinked securities, and the amount of risk and capital managed through Singapore. They said long-term adoption depends on the final rules and how quickly companies embrace the structure.

See the World as Your Launchpad. Prepared for today. Powered for tomorrow.

Partner Institutions:

SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEW | Q4 2026

INDUSTRY INSIGHT: COMMERCIAL PROPERTY

Locals overtake foreigners in shophouse deals ABSD exemptions and stable rental income are drawing more Singaporean buyers. COMMERCIAL PROPERTY

ingaporeans now account for an estimated 60% to 70% of commercial shophouse purchases, reversing a market that was once driven at least as heavily by foreign buyers. A decade ago, foreigners made up half or more of transactions, according to Richard Tan Kah Peng, associate branch district director at PropNex Realty Pte. Ltd. Today, local investors are taking a bigger share as they seek completed properties with stable rental income. One factor is tax treatment. Tan said higher taxes on residential property purchases have encouraged more investors to consider commercial shophouses, which are not subject to Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty (ABSD). Under Singapore’s property tax regime, foreigners buying residential properties are generally subject to ABSD, whilst commercial properties, including fully commercial shophouses, are not. “Even in the recent war, there are more buyers in the marketplace,” Maureen Li, founder and CEO at ABIEL Property Investment Fund Pte. Ltd., told Singapore Business Review, adding that investors are looking for completed properties with stable rental income. Recovering market Tan added that interest amongst local investors continues to broaden, with about 90% of attendees at his investment seminars being first-time shophouse buyers. The market also showed signs of recovery in the second quarter. Huttons Asia Pte. Ltd. recorded 16 shophouse transactions worth $152.5m (S$193.7m), more than double the value in the previous quarter, helped by several big deals, including three shophouses in Lorong Liput sold for $55m (S$70m). A Japanese family office reportedly paid $17.3m (S$22m) for shophouses in Keong Saik Road, whilst another Keong Saik property changed hands for $12.5m (S$16m). 42

SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEW | Q4 2026

Singaporeans now account for 60% to 70% of purchases involving commercial shophouses

The average transaction value rose to $9.5m (S$12.1m) from $5m (S$6.4m) in the first quarter. More than 60% of shophouses sold during the quarter were priced above $3.9m (S$5m).

Richard Tan

Maureen Li

Identifying value For the first half of the year, Huttons said there were an estimated 30 caveats, compared with 40 in the same period last year. Total transaction value fell 19.4% to $223.2m (S$283.6m) from last year. Singapore Realtors, Inc. (SRI) also reported that recorded shophouse transactions edged up to 89 in 2025 from 87 a year earlier. “The ability for transaction volumes to edge up suggests that buyers continue to identify value in well-located and incomegenerating shophouse assets,” Mohan Sandrasegeran, head of

research and data analytics at SRI, said in a February report. Outlook According to Li, foreign enquiries have increased over the past two to three months, although many have yet to progress into completed purchases. She said wealthy families and family offices continue to favour established locations such as Club Street, Amoy Street, and Telok Ayer. Tan expects prices to keep rising because the supply of fully commercial shophouses remains limited at about 3,000 properties, whilst many owners keep them across generations rather than sell. Li also expects values to remain supported by strong domestic demand, saying gains in Singapore’s broader property market typically flow through to commercial real estate.

GLOBAL SCALE LOCAL PRECISION Scalable Travel Management That Adapts to Your Business at Every Stage We believe global business travel should be effortless. Experience the certainty of a uniﬁed network designed for the modern landscape. WHY ATPI SINGAPORE Global Infrastructure, Local Execution

Technology + Human Integration

Operate seamlessly across markets with consistent standards and local expertise in Singapore.

Advanced travel technology and data insights from our travel experts that put you in control.

Sector-Speciﬁc Expertise

Programme-Led Approach

Deep experience supporting industries with complex travel needs, including energy, marine, and professional services.

Curated airlines, hotel and car options for your travellers, bookers and policy.

Reinvent your travel programme. Speak to our sales team today.

SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEW | Q4 2026

INDUSTRY INSIGHT: RETAIL

Retailers shift from points to real-time loyalty models They use personalisation and behaviour tracking to drive engagement. RETAIL

etailers in Singapore are moving away from pointbased loyalty programmes to real-time models that reward customer behaviour rather than spending alone. “The biggest shift I’m seeing is from point-based programmes to behavioural loyalty — rewarding customers for how they engage, and not just what they spend,” Aaron Crowe, head of revenue for AsiaPacific at Eagle Eye Solutions Group Plc, told Singapore Business Review. Retailers are increasingly using gamified, mission-based mechanics to influence customer behaviour and increase engagement frequency across channels. “The clearest patterns from working with retailers like Tesco Plc, Woolworths Group Ltd., and Central Group are that the levers that actually move behaviour are personalised, gamified, mission-style campaigns that gently nudge people into new categories or higher frequency,” Crowe said in an interview. Henry Christian, head of loyalty,

Henry Christian

Aaron Crowe

Loyalty today is no longer about transactions alone; it is about building deeper, more meaningful relationships

marketing, and partnerships at Metro Singapore, said loyalty strategies are shifting beyond price-led incentives towards broader definitions of value. “Loyalty today is no longer about transactions alone,” he said in a separate interview. “It is about building deeper, more meaningful relationships.” He added that customer expectations now include speed and service quality alongside pricing incentives. “Quick services, efficient delivery, prompt responses — these are the values that customers actually seek.” Crowe said mass promotions are becoming less efficient, with declining returns despite continued margin pressure. “Mass promotions where you give a 25% discount typically get you around a 5% redemption rate if you’re lucky,” he said. By contrast, personalised offers are delivering stronger outcomes. “When you shift to 1:1 personalised offers, you can safely

The loyalty market is expected to double to $815.3m by 2030 from $413.5m in 2025

SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEW | Q4 2026

drop the discount to around 13% to 15% and see redemption rates shoot up to 60%,” Crowe said. “That’s the game changer.” Structural alignment Singapore’s loyalty market is expanding alongside this shift. Research and Markets Ltd. expects the sector to double to $815.3m by 2030 from $413.5m in 2025. The sector is expected to maintain its strong upward trajectory, driven by increased digitisation, mobilefirst engagement, and the adoption of AI-enabled and personalised loyalty programmes across retail and platform ecosystems. Christian said retailers are being pushed towards channel-agnostic engagement as customers no longer distinguish between online and offline touchpoints. “Customers do not see channels; they see brands,” he said. “That means we need to recognise, engage, and reward them in a way that is completely channel-agnostic.” Christian said Metro is reassessing customer profitability, noting that some high-spending customers could be costly to serve. “These particular customers might be spending a lot with you, but the cost of servicing these customers will add up,” he said. “So sometimes your VVIP customers might be the ones who are actually draining your resources,” he continued. Crowe said structural alignment is critical to success, adding that loyalty is increasingly treated as infrastructure rather than a marketing tool. “The single biggest issue is organisational alignment,” he said. “Omnichannel loyalty requires marketing, digital, store operations, IT, and merchandising working towards the same objective.” Both executives said loyalty systems are evolving into embedded, real-time engines across the retail value chain. Christian said Metro’s longterm direction is to embed loyalty deeper into the overall customer experience. “We see it becoming increasingly predictive, personalised, and seamlessly embedded into every aspect of the customer journey,” he said.

E-Procurement Solutions Automated Provision Management Automated Provision Ordering - Powered by real time inventory & ROB Reduced provisioning cost and food waste fleet-wide One platform connecting vessels, shore teams and suppliers

Scan for more information Email: Harminder.singh@blu-maritime.com/ BLU_sales.support@blu-maritime.com Phone: +65 9852 5271

www.blu-maritime.com SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEW | Q4 2026

INDUSTRY INSIGHT: ENERGY & OFFSHORE

Carbon tax clarifies costs, but compliance demands widen Narrowly focusing on the tax overlooks the full economic picture.

ENERGY & OFFSHORE

he government’s carbon tax and plan to import 6 gigawatts (GW) of lowcarbon electricity by 2035 are raising costs for carbon-intensive power whilst improving the relative appeal of cleaner energy, but companies must weigh a broader set of risks beyond fuel and carbon pricing. “Executives often focus narrowly on the carbon tax as the deciding cost factor, but this overlooks the full economic picture,” Mark Addy, partner, Energy & Natural Resources and Telecommunications, Media & Technology, Tax, KPMG in Singapore, told Singapore Business Review. Whilst renewable energy can lower operating costs over time, upfront spending on development, installation and grid integration remains high. Costs are even steeper in hard-toabate sectors, where carbon capture can exceed prevailing carbon tax levels. Singapore’s Budget 2026 projected the carbon tax could stabilise near $50 per tonne of carbon dioxide by 2030, giving firms a clearer planning benchmark. Reliability issues Gas, meanwhile, faces pressure at carbon prices of $50 to $80 per tonne but remains competitive. “Modern combined-cycle gas turbine plants have achieved significant efficiency gains,” Addy said in an exclusive interview, citing improved output per unit of fuel. Lim Wen Bin, partner, Infrastructure Advisory, KPMG in Singapore, said such gains could offset roughly $2 to $3 per megawatt-hour at a carbon tax of about $45 per tonne, though most savings stem from fuel efficiency rather than emissions cuts. Beyond fuel and carbon, companies weighing green imports must factor in foreign exchange exposure, counterparty credit risk, balancing charges, backup power costs and potential supply disruptions, he told the magazine. Reliability issues can raise

SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEW | Q4 2026

Mark Addy

Lim Wen Bin

Maria Tan Pedersen

emergency procurement costs and delay operations. Regulatory uncertainty also remains a key concern. “The most material risks sit in the gaps policymakers have not yet closed,” Maria Tan Pedersen, a partner at Dechert LLP, said in an separate interview. A regional framework for crossborder renewable energy certificates being developed by Singapore agencies and the I-TRACK Foundation is still incomplete, raising the risk of overlapping claims on the same unit of green power, she told the magazine. Disclosure rules add another layer. Singapore’s environmental, social, and governance reporting regime requires continuous verification of supplier certifications, whilst firms with European exposure must comply with stricter climate reporting standards. Financing conditions are also shifting. Local lenders such as DBS Bank Ltd., Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. Ltd., and United Overseas Bank Ltd. increasingly require transition plans for gasrelated projects, Pedersen said.

Singapore has signed conditional import deals with markets such as Cambodia, Indonesia and Australia to meet its 6 GW target. Lim said companies should also track the cost of renewable energy in exporting markets, international liquefied natural gas prices, firmingpower costs such as battery storage, the availability of subsea highvoltage direct current infrastructure, and regulatory stability for crossborder power trade. Separately, grid access charges for Singapore's planned subsea import corridors from Indonesia, Malaysia and Australia have also yet to be settled, adding another unresolved cost variable, Pedersen said. She said network charges account for roughly 30% of total delivered electricity costs in the UK, but Singapore’s equivalent figure remains undetermined, leaving a significant variable out of current financial models. Pedersen said no equivalent government commitment exists for additional gas import capacity. As renewable costs fall and renewable energy certificate premiums narrow, Lim said green imports could emerge as both a costsaving and risk management strategy. “When renewable energy certificate premiums fall alongside stable renewable supply chains, companies benefit from both lower effective costs and enhanced sustainability performance,” he added.

Singapore’s Budget 2026 projected the carbon tax could stabilise near $50 per tonne of carbon dioxide by 2030

www.mpinetwork.com

ACTIVATING COMMUNITIES Creating Innovative Platforms to Activate and Engage Communities

Best Professional Conference Organiser (Asia) Business Services MP Singapore Pte Ltd

SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEW | Q4 2026

CEO INTERVIEW

SGX newcomer JustCo courts corporates CBD rents push large firms toward flex space as JustCo targets 100 centres by 2029. MARKETS & INVESTING

ingapore’s flexible workspace market is increasingly being driven by large companies rather than startups, with corporations now accounting for more than half of JustCo Holdings Ltd.’s workstation occupancy. “Large corporates now account for the majority of demand in premium centres, including ours, and that structural shift is what makes the outlook durable,” JustCo Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Kong Wan Sing told Singapore Business Review. JustCo, which operates 54 centres across 12 Asia-Pacific cities, holds approximately 15.6% of Singapore’s flexible workspace market. The company said large firms account for more than 53% of workstation occupancy across its network. The company listed on the Singapore Exchange Mainboard on 22 May, raising approximately $100m for strategic investments and capital expenditures to support expansion plans in existing and new markets. The maiden offering followed a financial turnaround, with JustCo posting a net profit of $3.48m (US$2.7m) for fiscal year (FY) 2025, its first profitable year, after net losses in both FY 2024 and FY 2023. Growth plans Kong said JustCo aims to grow from 54 centres in 12 cities to more than 100 centres across 20 cities by 2029, with Singapore remaining a key market despite rising office costs. He said each centre typically covers operating costs within five months and recovers its investment in 16 to 24 months. “The central challenge is delivering quality at scale in a high-cost environment,” Kong said in an interview. “Singapore Grade A office rents are competitive, and fitting out a premium workspace in a prime building requires significant capital and operational discipline.” Singapore’s central business district Grade A office market entered its sixth straight year of rent growth in the second quarter, with gross effective rents rising 1.1% from the previous quarter, Jones Lang LaSalle, Inc. reported in June. Despite higher costs, JustCo maintained 84% occupancy across its network in fiscal year 2025. More than half of its members have stayed with the company for more than three years, whilst renewal rates improved to 72% from 68.2% a year earlier. Kong said customers increasingly value workplace experience as much as office space, prompting the company to invest in design, technology, and community services. “This is why we have invested heavily in our multi-brand strategy, in-house design capability, community team and technology platform,” he said. As part of its expansion in Singapore, JustCo opened its luxury brand The Collective at Labrador Tower in January and is set to launch The Boring Office at The Octagon in October. JustCo has also secured a full pre-commitment for the coworking space at its new JustCo Place development at 160 Orchard Road, with Deloitte Singapore set to occupy 100% of the workspace before operations begin in September 2026.

SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEW | Q4 2026

Kong Wan Sing, executive chairman and CEO at JustCo

The central challenge is delivering quality at scale in a high-cost environment

The new location forms part of the expansion pipeline outlined in its IPO prospectus. The company said it has signed a master lease with OG Private Limited for part of the property, covering about 150,000 square feet of floor area, including a retail podium. JustCo also entered into a management agreement with OG to operate a serviced apartment tower above the building following enhancement works by the landlord. The property will comprise 123 premium coliving apartments accommodating up to 475 guests under JustAt, JustCo's new coliving brand. The coworking centre is scheduled to open in September 2026, whilst the coliving apartments and retail offerings are expected to begin operations in January 2027. “In five years, I want Singapore to be the most tangible proof of what JustCo stands for globally. Growing and sustainable profitability, all three brands operating at full strength with high occupancy. And a financial profile that reflects years of disciplined, compounding growth,” Kong said.

s ce vi

Maintenance. Repair. Overhaul.

Com po ne nt Se r

e anc n e t ain M

With over 70 years of experience in aircraft maintenance, SIA Engineering Company offers world class MRO services for more than 80 international carriers.

Complementing our full spectrum of MRO services is our portfolio of 26 subsidiaries and joint ventures in 9 countries, forged with strategic partners and leading OEMs.

s M

www.siaec.com.sg

As your reliable MRO partner, we will take care of your aircraft maintenance needs.

Eng

ine

r Se

WITH LINKED PAYMENT METHODS

EARN STAR$® SEAMLESSLY As a CapitaStar member, enjoy these exclusive benefits and more! Scan for full details. Not a CapitaStar member yet? Download the CapitaStar app to get started!

Mastercard

eCapitaVoucher

DBS/POSB Payment Modes

ShopBack

When you link & pay with DBS/POSB Mastercard

USE STAR$® To offset your parking, redeem eCapitaVoucher and exclusive eDeals

CELEBRATE With 3X STAR$® for your first eCapitaVoucher spend on your birthday month

SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEW | Q4 2026

INTERVIEW

Domino’s Singapore targets impulse orders

The pizza chain has launched the Thick Crunch range to boost orders beyond parties. FOOD & BEVERAGE

omino’s Pizza Singapore Pte. Ltd. is shifting its marketing towards impulse purchases, betting that customers order more often when acting on cravings than for planned occasions. Domino’s Pizza Singapore launched its “Unbox Your Cravings” campaign and Thick Crunch Pizza range on 2 June to encourage more frequent orders. “Our observation of consumer behaviour is that ordering Domino’s has traditionally been tied to occasions or group moments,” Nicholas Pang, country manager at Domino’s Singapore, told Singapore Business Review. “We saw an opportunity to shift that—encouraging consumers to act on their cravings whenever they strike, not just when there’s a reason to celebrate,” he added. The campaign includes a refreshed brand identity that will be rolled out across stores, packaging, rider gear, and uniforms. Pang said the strategy is less about changing the company’s core offering than increasing how often customers think about the brand. Digital channels are expected to play a key role in the shift, with Domino’s using its website, app, and social media to make ordering easier. “In practice, that means maintaining a strong always-on presence across social and digital channels and leaning into our app or website,” Pang said in an interview. Growing mood-based ordering The company is also testing menu innovation through the Thick Crunch Pizza range, reflecting Singapore consumers’ willingness to try different food options. “We know that consumers in Singapore are genuinely open to novelty,” he told the magazine. The rectangular shape draws on the Detroit-style pizza format, chosen for its texture rather than for visual differentiation alone, according to Pang. “The starting point was always the eating experience,” he said. “The rectangular shape is iconic to Detroit-style pizza, and the visual distinctiveness is a bonus.” The format also lets the pizza fill its box completely, a design choice Pang tied directly to the campaign’s messaging. “It’s a small detail, but it makes a big difference when you open it, and that ties naturally into ‘Unbox Your Cravings,’” he said. Pang said much of the industry conversation around consumer behaviour has focused on health-driven choices but argued that spontaneous, mood-based ordering has grown just as significantly, shaping how Domino’s chose to position the new campaign. The strategy also takes into account changing consumption patterns amongst younger consumers, particularly Gen Z. Pang said decisions amongst this group can be more

SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEW | Q4 2026

Ordering Domino’s has traditionally been tied to occasions or group moments. We saw an opportunity to shift that

mood-led than occasion-led, creating an opportunity for Domino’s to connect with consumers at moments when they suddenly want food rather than when they have already planned a meal. That could include situations such as watching a movie, gaming, streaming content, or simply being at home when a craving strikes. Despite the rebrand, Pang was careful to frame the changes as evolutionary rather than a departure from Domino’s existing identity. “We are not reinventing Domino’s in Singapore,” he said. “At the centre of our brand is still the same value, taste, and convenience that we’re bringing to the market.” The shift will also extend beyond advertising. Pang said the refreshed identity would progressively appear across the customer experience, including in-store materials, delivery riders’ uniforms and equipment, and packaging. This is intended to create a more consistent expression of the “Unbox Your Cravings” platform across physical and digital touchpoints. Domino’s said it would monitor customer response before deciding whether the Thick Crunch range becomes a permanent menu item. “For us, success is really about how people feel about Domino’s after this—seeing consumers embrace the new identity and choose the brand more instinctively when a craving strikes,” Pang said. The company said its immediate focus is on introducing the product and gathering customer feedback before considering further changes.

Nicholas Pang, country manager at Domino’s Singapore

Beyond Clouds Beyond Complexity Orchestrating multi-cloud, data, and AI infrastructure into operational clarity at scale Explore the future of AI and multi-cloud orchestration Book a free demo SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEW | Q4 2026

INTERVIEW

RE&S takes Shinpachi beyond Japan The operator is testing a value-focused grilled fish concept in Singapore.

FOOD & BEVERAGE

E&S Enterprises Pte Ltd (RE&S), a Singaporebased operator of Japanese food and beverage brands, is using Singapore’s appetite for Japanese food to test Charcoal Grill Shinpachi as it takes the brand overseas for the first time. The quick-service restaurant (QSR), known as Shinpachi Shokudo in Japan, opened at Serangoon NEX on 15 August, serving grilled fish at relatively low prices. “Singapore loves Japanese food,” Hee Mei Leng, executive vice president for QSR at RE&S, told Singapore Business Review. “In 2025, Singaporeans made a record 726,200 trips to Japan, which increased by 5.1% compared with 2024.” Singapore’s Japanese restaurant market was worth $228.22m (US$178.43m) in 2024, and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 2.75%, reaching $282.48m (US$220.85m) by 2032, according to a report by Data Bridge Market Research. Hee also said protein-rich diets have also moved beyond fitness enthusiasts into mainstream meal planning, creating demand for high-protein, low-fat meals at lower prices. High-protein foods, drinks, and supplements generated more than $3.84t (US$3t) in retail sales in 2025, whilst global protein demand is projected to grow 11% between 2024 and 2029, Euromonitor International said in a June report. Standardised framework Adapting the Japanese concept to Singapore required RE&S to preserve the original brand’s standards whilst making the operation fast enough for a quick-service setting. Shinpachi uses a customised two-layer charcoal grill that cuts cooking time compared with conventional charcoal equipment. RE&S adopted the system in Singapore to retain charcoal grilling whilst serving customers faster. The grill allows the company to maintain the cooking method that defines the concept whilst reducing preparation times to suit a quick-service environment. Training also had to be compressed. Four experienced operations and kitchen leads completed a programme in Japan that normally takes about a month. “Our team has gone through only two weeks in Japan, but completed the whole programme and passed the assessment,” Hee said in an exclusive interview. The Japanese brand owner then provided on-site supervision during the first weeks of Singapore operations. RE&S is using the experience to develop manuals and a training framework for future local teams. The company said the framework will help standardise operating procedures and enable the pioneer team to transfer knowledge to future employees trained in Singapore. Charcoal grilling in a shopping mall also required regulatory and technical checks. RE&S worked with qualified professionals to meet statutory requirements and obtain fire-safety and related approvals. The launch comes as Singapore food and beverage operators face higher costs and intense competition. About two-thirds of food shops that closed in 2025 had operated for less than five years, Hee said, citing Ministry of Trade and Industry data. 52

SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEW | Q4 2026

Hee Mei Leng, executive vice president for QSR at RE&S

Our team has gone through only two weeks in Japan, but completed the whole programme and passed the assessment

Labour, food, and rental costs are also rising, whilst further wage increases under the progressive wage model are due in 2027 and 2028. Singapore’s consumer price index rose 2.2% in July from 1.9% in June, whilst food inflation accelerated to 2.2%, according to data from the Singapore Department of Statistics and the Monetary Authority of Singapore. RE&S is responding by adjusting menu and pricing structures to protect value perception without eroding margins, whilst investing in equipment and processes to improve productivity. Hee said the investments are intended to improve operational efficiency without compromising the customer experience. Hee said the group’s central kitchen and procurement office in Japan help manage food costs and maintain consistency. Shinpachi is part of a broader portfolio strategy that includes established brands such as Ichiban Boshi and a valuefocused udon and tempura concept. Hee said established brands provide a foundation of customer trust, whilst newer concepts allow the company to cater to different dining occasions and price points. RE&S has also adjusted its premium Haku Sushi format by introducing omakase sets at lower starting prices, supported by its Japanese procurement operations. Hee said the group is expanding selectively, focusing investment on existing brands and choosing locations carefully rather than pursuing rapid expansion.

Than Yo

for the Trust & Support as we strive to provide absolute clarity through consumer education and unrivalled PropTech

Technology Excellence AwardS 2024• 2025• 2026

OUR 3-year streak

Our win at the SBR Technology Excellence Awards across Overall Best PropTech and Analytics, is a testament to our relentless drive to build technology that empowers our salesforce and give consumers greater clarity and confidence. SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEW | Q4 2026

INTERVIEW

Western Union looks beyond remittances Dash acquisition supports lending, payments, and other consumer services. FINANCIAL SERVICES

estern Union Company is expanding beyond money transfers into lending, payments, and other digital financial services as it adapts to changing customer behaviour and growing competition from digital wallets, a senior executive said. “Traditionally Western Union has focused on the sender. It was all about understanding what the sender needs to move the money, whether that's remittance fee, the best FX (foreign exchange) rate, or the best fund out options,” Vince Tallent, senior vice president and head of Asia Pacific at Western Union, told Singapore Business Review. He said financial technology (fintech) companies have shifted attention towards the receiver, prompting Western Union to broaden the services offered through digital wallets. Tallent said Western Union wants digital wallets to become a platform for more financial services rather than just receiving remittances. “The way we at Western Union see it is, can we digitise the receiver’s lifestyle experiences within a received wallet. We’re going beyond to understand a customer, and a customer’s needs that go beyond the remittance transaction,” he said. Tallent said Western Union’s acquisition of Dash digital wallet from Singapore Telecommunications Ltd., completed in April, gives the company a platform to offer services beyond remittances. He said transaction data collected through the wallet could help Western Union assess customers’ creditworthiness and eventually offer loans. The company also plans to let customers use remitted funds to buy services such as mobile data. “The first thing receivers do usually when they get their remittance money is top up their mobile phone or buy some data,” Tallent said. He said Western Union also plans to improve how Dash handles cross-border payments by expanding the number of remittance corridors available through its global network. Cash is still king Beyond Dash, the company partners with hundreds of digital wallets and financial institutions worldwide, including Tencent and GCash. “The partners are now not agents, but they're banks, they’re digital wallets, they’re fintechs,” Tallent said. Western Union also launched its first stablecoin, the US Dollar Payment Token, in May. Despite the company’s digital expansion, Tallent said cash would remain important for many customers who are not ready to rely entirely on digital wallets. “Cash will still be important, and it still is important to specific segments who don’t want to necessarily use an 54

SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEW | Q4 2026

Vince Tallent, senior vice president and head of Asia Pacific at Western Union

Cash will still be important, and it still is important to specific segments who don’t want to necessarily use an application to send money

application to send money,” he said. Tallent says it is important to give people a choice on how to access financial services—wheher it be cash, card, an app, or e-wallets. Western Union operates about 370,000 retail locations globally, including 185,000 across the Asia-Pacific region, which Tallent said would continue serving customers who prefer cash transactions. The push for digital wallets is part of Western Union’s efforts to expand its offerings. “We’re a 175-year-old company. But we haven’t been able to provide other financial services to our customers,” Tallent said. In the ecosystem they are building, customers can use the remitted money to buy other services, like internet access or mobile data, immediately within the app. Tallent said that Western Union already has the licences or has an advantage in applying for the licences. Tallent sees digital wallets as the future of the payments and remittance industry, with the physical and digital experiences coming together in a “phygital” customer journey. Customers who own digital assets would want to have the means to bring that into the real world, he said.

Global leader in water solutions From hospitals to data centres, office towers and airports, every commercial building has its own special requirements. Grundfos offers a complete range of commercial water pump systems that deliver high performance and energy efficiency, while ensuring optimal comfort and safety across a wide range of applications, including: Air conditioning • Water pressure boosting • Wastewater & more Engineered for performance | Powered by intelligence Scan to learn more about our solutions

We build technology that helps us all connect, create, and achieve great things—together.

That’s the power ® of Intel Inside. SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEW | Q4 2026

CEO INTERVIEW

Tsuklio bets on time-poor families The Japanese meal subscription platform logged 3,000 pre-registrations before launch.

FOOD & BEVERAGE

apanese food technology company Antway, Inc. is targeting dual-income families in Singapore as it expands its meal subscription business outside Japan for the first time. “Our primary target is urban households and nuclear families, especially dual-income households who want to put a proper meal on the table without the stress of daily planning and cooking,” founder and CEO Kei Maejima told Singapore Business Review. Antway, which operates meal subscription platform Tsuklio, entered Singapore in April after setting up a local unit in September 2025 as its base for Southeast Asian expansion. “Singapore is central to our broader Asia strategy,” Maejima said in an exclusive interview. The company said Singapore was selected as Tsuklio’s first overseas market following market validation, including online quantitative studies, qualitative interviews, and a four-week test-marketing programme conducted in March 2025. The firm prepares meals in a central kitchen and delivers them once a week, handling procurement and production in-house using the same model as its Japan business. Tsuklio focuses on Japanese home-style meals for households rather than calorie-controlled or fitness-oriented plans. Its standard subscription includes three dinners a week with four servings per meal. “The four-serving, three-meal-per-week format is ideal for families of three to four, but the service is positioned as an accessible, everyday solution for anyone seeking nutritious, home-style meals without the daily burden of cooking,” Maejima said. The company also targets working professionals already familiar with meal subscriptions. Its menu rotates more than 100 Japanese, Chinese-inspired, and Western-style dishes drawn from a recipe library of more than 1,000 meals developed in Japan. The plan costs $211 a week, or about $17 per serving, and subscribers can modify, skip, or cancel orders through their accounts.

The service is positioned as an accessible, everyday solution for anyone seeking nutritious, home-style meals without the daily burden of cooking

Food inflation Maejima said Tsuklio recorded high customer retention and weekly order rates during test marketing in 2025 and attracted more than 3,000 pre-registrations before its launch. Government data showed food inflation quickened to 1.8% in May from 1.6% in April as prices of groceries and food services rose faster. Antway plans to expand its Singapore operations before entering other Southeast Asian markets. “We view Singapore as our strategic hub for Southeast Asia, and we will use the valuable consumer and operational insights gained here to shape our future international expansion steps,” Maejima said. The company plans to leverage the city-state as a strategic hub for international expansion, strengthening its operating model, menu innovation and market-

Kei Maejima, CEO at Antway, Inc.

SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEW | Q4 2026

specific partnerships. “We aim to position Tsuklio to address the market gap between health-conscious meal kits and everyday dining needs of households in Singapore,” Maejima said in an earlier statement. “We also welcome collaboration opportunities with local partners to further strengthen our regional operating model. Launching in Singapore marks an important milestone for Antway and Tsuklio as we build a scalable business platform for Southeast Asia and advance our international expansion plans,” he added. The franchise model has shown it can work well beyond the food and beverage sector in Japan, with Antway counting car dealerships and shipbuilding companies among its Tsuklio kitchen operators. Each new franchise requires hiring dozens of local staff and completing more than a month of structured training before opening. The company applies a proprietary methodology drawn from Japanese operational standards to maintain consistent quality benchmarks across all locations.

Tsuklio’s plan costs $211 a week or about $17 per serving

SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEW | Q4 2026

INTERVIEW

Nasty Cookie builds for overseas growth

Its founder says scaling operations matters more than adding stores. FOOD & BEVERAGE

ingapore-grown Nasty Cookie has acquired two factories in Malaysia as it builds manufacturing capacity ahead of its planned expansion into the Middle East. “We are looking into the Middle East because we believe there's strong demand for premium lifestyle brands there,” founder Regine Sum told Singapore Business Review. She said the facilities are the company's first major infrastructure investment outside Singapore and would serve as a food hub supporting its next phase of growth. The investment comes seven years after Sum started Nasty Cookie as a home-baking side project in 2018. At the time, she said she did not view the business as something that would necessarily become a full-fledged company. “I never really thought it could be a full-fledged business,” Sum said, adding that she initially approached the venture simply as something to explore. Turning point Even after opening her first physical store at Funan, Sum said she thought she could simply leave once the lease ended. That changed as she began seeing customers queue for the brand, return to its stores, and engage with the business. “The behaviour of customers, and the feeling I get when I personally interact with them, seeing how people are willing to queue and return, made me realise that this is actually something worth continuing,” she said. Nasty Cookie has since grown to five outlets, including a location at Jewel Changi Airport. Sum said the decision to open at Jewel was driven by the role she believes the location plays in introducing Singapore to international visitors. “It’s where millions of travellers experience Singapore, and we want to build a Singapore brand that can travel globally,” she told the magazine. Rather than treating each outlet purely as a revenuegenerating point, Sum said the company considers whether a location allows it to reach different customer demographics and respond to demand. Customer feedback is also part of the decision-making process, with requests for the brand to open in new locations helping shape its expansion plans. But growing from a home kitchen into a multi-outlet business exposed the operational and financial challenges of scaling a food and beverage company. “There are a lot of mistakes that we make, and the biggest mistake is the capex (capital expenditure),” Sum said, adding that many founders underestimate the investment needed to sustain growth through downturns and inflation.

SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEW | Q4 2026

Regine Sum, founder at Nasty Cookie

We are looking into the Middle East because we believe there’s strong demand for premium lifestyle brands there

The COVID-19 pandemic became a turning point for the business. Sum said the company was initially worried about the impact of the pandemic, but its small team allowed it to adapt quickly. Nasty Cookie digitalised its operations and pushed its products through digital channels, with sales increasing fivefold during the period. “From that, we managed to obtain our central kitchen, which allowed us to start expanding into a lot more stores,” she said in an exclusive interview. Rather than prioritising rapid outlet growth, Sum said the company is focused on boosting its operating systems before expanding further. “We try not to expand faster than our system,” she said. She acknowledged that demand can still outpace the company’s ability to execute, even after seven years in the food and beverage industry. For the remainder of 2026, the company is focused on digitalising its operations and building stronger systems so that growth does not outpace execution. As Nasty Cookie prepares to expand beyond Singapore, Sum said the Malaysia food hub will provide the production infrastructure for its next stage, whilst pop-up activations across Asia will allow the company to test demand in different markets.

TigerAI

From AI Insights to Human Support. Tiger Investment Representative

The content generated by TigerAl is for reference only and does not constitute investment advice or recommendation. All information provided is from the open data source, it serves as a tool, not a substitute for professional guidance, users should independently verify all information before making decisions or taking action. Investment Representatives do not provide ﬁnancial advisory, discretionary portfolio management or guarantee investment outcomes. All investment carry risks. This advertisement has not been reviewed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore.

SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEW | Q4 2026

LEGAL BRIEFING

Data centre bill raises outage stakes Providers could lose their licence for failing to meet resilience rules. PROFESSIONAL SERVICES/LEGAL

2023 cooling failure that disrupted more than 2.5 million payment and ATM transactions is prompting the government to put major data centre and cloud providers under direct resilience and environmental regulation. “The bill would directly impose resilience requirements, including business continuity and disaster recovery measures, on major data centre and cloud infrastructure providers,” Jeremy Tan, global co-head of privacy and data practice and Singapore managing partner at Bird & Bird ATMD LLP, said in an exclusive interview. The Ministry of Digital Development and Information and the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) sought public feedback on the Digital Infrastructure bill in July. The measure complements the Cybersecurity Act and seeks to boost the security and resilience of digital infrastructure services whilst improving the environmental sustainability of data centre operations. “It covers the physical and power security of these facilities,” Jean Nie Ho, a partner at Dentons Rodyk & Davidson LLP, said in a separate interview. “It’s basically wider than what was contemplated under the Cybersecurity Act, and the other thing that’s important is the energy conservation piece.” Filling the gap Takanori Nishiyama, senior vice president of Asia-Pacific Sales at Keeper Security, Inc., said in another interview that the bill fills a gap the existing law does not fully cover even with its 2024 updates. The Cybersecurity Act is designed to combat malicious digital threats, whilst the bill is designed to manage non-cyber disruptions. The International Data Center Authority said in its Global Data Center Report (2026), published in May, that Singapore is expected to use 19.5% of its national grid to power data centres in 2026. The bill creates two licensing regimes. The major foundational digital infrastructure (FDI) licence covers providers whose services, if disrupted, are likely to cause widespread operational disruption to the businesses and organisations that rely on them. The DC licence, meanwhile, governs the energy and water efficiency of such facilities’ operations. Tan said the proposed regime would bring affected providers into a more direct regulatory relationship with IMDA. “Exactly what ongoing compliance will involve remains to be seen, because the detailed requirements will largely be set out in implementing regulations and licence conditions that have not yet been published. But two consequences are already apparent from the bill,” he said. Under existing rules, Tan said, a service outage would generally expose providers primarily to civil consequences under their customer contracts. The new regime changes that, imposing resilience obligations directly enforceable by IMDA, with noncompliance potentially resulting in “suspension or revocation of the licence, which would effectively prevent 60

SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEW | Q4 2026

Data centres are expected to consume a fifth of Singapore’s national grid in 2026

Jean Nie Ho

Jeremy Tan

Takanori Nishiyama

the provider from continuing to provide the relevant services in Singapore,” he said. Financial penalties are set at up to $1m or 10% of the licensee’s annual turnover, whichever is higher. Tan called this “a significant change from the current position, where there is no dedicated regulatory regime giving a regulator equivalent direct enforcement powers over data centre operators and major cloud service providers.” Nishiyama said the penalty structure is an upgrade from older infocomm regulations that relied on fixed maximum fines. “A 10% turnover lever scales appropriately with hyperscale cloud providers,” he said. Beyond financial penalties, Ho said companies should ensure that boards understand the requirements and are prepared to make decisions on compliance. “They will need to make sure that the directors, the board, are apprised and kept aware and are able to make informed decisions to take into account these new requirements,” she told the magazine. Companies that could fall within the bill’s scope should first determine which licensing regime applies, Ho said. They should then assess energy supply, consider greener energy sources, examine carbon credit options, and begin tracking power and water use if they do not already do so. The measures would give operators a baseline for assessing resource efficiency once the detailed requirements and licence conditions are issued, she added. “For providers that may fall within the major FDI regime, the Government has stated that the detailed requirements will take reference from IMDA’s existing Advisory Guidelines for Cloud Services and Data Centres,” Tan said. “Potentially affected providers should therefore review those guidelines and assess how their existing resilience and security practices compare, as these provide the clearest indication currently available of the requirements that may ultimately be imposed,” he added.

Fastest MDR service, 6-min response Cyber threats resolved in record time. By ESET experts.

Book a free demo today

73%

Homes sold above average market prices

65%

Homes sold in 7 days

*1%

Market-leading agent fee

Ohmyhome Pte. Ltd. | CEA License No.: L3010739Z

Discover more

www.ohmyhome.com SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEW | Q4 2026

SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEW | Q4 2026

In Print, Online, Mobile, Events, Awards, and Research In Print, Online, Mobile, Events, Awards, and Research

OPINION

Solving the production problem behind Singapore’s ‘pilot purgatory’ SHARATH H KESHAVAMURTHY Director, Solutions Engineering UiPath

ingapore holds a unique position in the global artificial intelligence (AI) landscape. As a nation, it is among the most enthusiastic early adopters of AI in the Asia Pacific region, fuelled by a supportive regulatory environment and a corporate culture that prides itself on being at the cutting edge of digital transformation. Recent budget measures signal a strategic pivot from building infrastructure to driving coordinated deployment, with subsidies accelerating enterprise adoption across sectors. Yet, a stubborn and increasingly visible problem persists across the business landscape. According to a recent Deloitte survey, only about a third of respondents in Singapore have managed to scale even 40% of their AI pilots into production. Singapore’s AI initiatives often lose momentum before they ever touch the production floor. This perpetual cycle of experimentation prevents projects from delivering the measurable value they promised. This is not a software problem; it is a structural one. My tenure working on enterprise proof-of-concepts (POCs) has revealed a consistent truth: the barrier to scaling is the misalignment between exploratory goals and production demands. The real test is the structural discipline required to architect the transition from a pilot phase to a production environment. Why pilots get stuck Singapore enterprises are exploratory by nature, and that is genuinely a competitive strength. They invest early, experiment broadly, and are willing to back ideas that are not yet proven at scale. The problem arises when exploration becomes a destination in itself. A POC exists to answer a specific question: Can this technology solve this problem, for this organisation, at an acceptable cost? When that question is not defined before the pilot begins, the pilot merely becomes a showcase that demonstrates capability but is never measured against real business outcomes. Compare this to markets like India, where a pilot is often required to demonstrate a clear return on investment from day one. When every pilot must justify itself commercially, the path from concept to implementation becomes much shorter. Singapore’s appetite for innovation removes that commercial pressure, but it also removes a useful forcing mechanism. When I speak to technology leaders about why their pilots stall, the answer I hear most often is “legacy systems” or “technical debt.” In practice, I rarely find this to be the root cause. The more common culprit is something far more mundane: The absence of a test environment. Most enterprise AI pilots need to interact with the organisation’s actual systems like ERP platforms, CRM tools, and financial applications. Enterprises do not want pilots running against live production systems, and rightly so. But many organisations have never built separate test environments for these systems. The result is a bottleneck at the very first practical step: Before any AI capability can be demonstrated meaningfully, weeks are spent navigating

SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEW | Q4 2026

access approvals, compliance reviews, and infrastructure provisioning. By the time the environment is ready, momentum is lost. A second, equally common obstacle is scope creep. Once a pilot is underway and stakeholders see the system working, enthusiasm naturally expands, with requests to handle additional processes and edge cases. Each addition is reasonable in isolation, but together they transform a bounded pilot into an unbounded project. Without a defined scope and a disciplined approach to managing change, the initiative grows until it collapses under its own weight. The cost of misalignment When AI pilots stall, misalignment is almost always to blame. The pattern is predictable: Business teams champion an initiative and push a pilot forward, only bringing IT in later for the technical execution. With different definitions of success, conflicting timelines, and separate accountabilities, the two teams operate on parallel tracks that never converge. To fix this, business and technology leaders must align on the specific problem, quantifiable success metrics, and an escalation path before a single line of code is written. Unfortunately, the pressure to move quickly often causes these simple but critical steps to be skipped. Designing for AI at scale The organisations that successfully move from pilot to production share one trait: They think in processes, not point solutions. Consider a procurement process. An organisation might automate the creation of a purchase requisition and, separately, deploy an agent to handle invoice matching. If information does not flow between these deployments, and exceptions are not handed off cleanly, the business has automated two islands of activity rather than a process. The efficiency gains are real, but only a fraction of what is possible. True transformation comes from orchestration: Connecting agents, automated workflows, and human experts into a single end-to-end journey. The technology to run these orchestrated, multi-agent processes is already operational across Asia. What is missing is the organisational ambition to stop optimising at the task level and start transforming at the process level. That ambition has to be grounded in structure. Define the exact problem before you begin. Mandate the cross-functional alignment to see it through. Measure against actual ROI, not just activity. Orchestrating at a process level isn’t just about having the most advanced technology, but also about having the organisational maturity to govern it. Singapore is not short of AI ambition, and it is not short of AI capability. What many enterprises are short of is the structural discipline to translate ambition into production outcomes. The pilot purgatory Singapore’s enterprises face is ultimately a design problem, and design problems, by definition, have solutions.

SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEW | Q4 2026

Singapore Business Review (October-December 2026)