Singapore Business Review (January - March 2022)

Issue No. 98

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ASIAN SPACS TO ENTER THE SINGAPORE MARKET THIS YEAR.

THE BEST SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS TO INVEST IN FOR 2022 FOR HIGH ONLINE ENGAGEMENT UOB SIMPLIFIES AND AMPLIFIES SINGAPOREANS’ GREEN ENERGY JOURNEY WITH U-ENERGY CITI COMMERCIAL BANK BRIDGES CULTURAL GAP WITH CHINA DESK INITIATIVE DIVERSITY TO PLAY A PIVOTAL ROLE IN ORGANISATIONS IN 2022

FROM THE EDITOR About Us

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ortune favours the bold, so we at Singapore Business Review give you six ideas on where to invest your money in 2022.

The banking and finance sector is taking the spotlight this New Year. UOB simplifies and amplifies Singaporeans’ green energy journey with U-Energy to help address the energy crisis and rising electricity costs. Meanwhile, Citi Commercial Bank opens a new China Desk in Singapore dedicated to China’s emerging market champions.

We also feature 18 new lawyers who have been nominated as the most promising in Singapore Business Review’s eighth year of legal luminaries aged 40 and under list. See the full list on page 34.

This issue also covers the most recent panel discussions that tackled sustainability and customer-centric initiatives going into the New Year. Energy experts discussed the potential of Singapore’s first Grid Digital Twin in anticipation of the increasing electrification complexities in the Singapore International Energy Week 2021 (page 38). The Monetary Authority of Singapore sees a promising future with wholesale CBDCs but remains iffy on crypto tokens as discussed in the Singapore Fintech Festival 2021 (page 40). Finally, the 2021 SBR virtual roundtable in partnership with Cloud4C tackles staying competitive in intelligent enterprise (page 46).

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SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEW | Q1 2022

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CONTENTS

FIRST 08 Finance Minister Wong bares plans to achieve green economy

09 What are three effective inflation hedges in 2022?

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10 Top 3 priorities for HR leaders in 2022:

COVER STORY WHERE TO INVEST YOUR MONEY IN 2021

Randstad

11 Government unveils 3 new property cooling measures

STARTUPS 12 Why Multiplier is a panacea for HR hiring troubles

CASE STUDY

34

LEGAL LUMINARIES SINGAPORE’S 18 MOST INFLUENTIAL LAWYERS UNDER 40 IN 2021

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LEGAL INDUSTRY SURVEY SINGAPORE LEGAL INDUSTRY SEES HIGHEST NUMBER OF DEPARTURES

30 UOB simplifies and amplifies Singaporeans’ green energy journey with U-Energy

32 Citi Commercial Bank bridges cultural gap with China Desk initiative

INTERVIEW 26 SingHealth Duke-NUS invests in ‘the seeds of the future generation’

40

EVENT COVERAGE SINGAPORE: YES TO WHOLESALE, SKEPTICAL ON RETAIL DIGITAL FIAT MONEY

42

EVENT COVERAGE COULD FINTECH OVERTAKE BANKS IN THE DIGITAL SPACE WITH ‘BUY NOW, PAY LATER’?

For the latest business news from Singapore visit the website

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Published quarterly on the Second week of the Month by Charlton Media Group 101 Cecil St. #17-09 Tong Eng Building Singapore 069533

EVENT COVERAGE 38 How Singapore’s first digital twin attempts to prevent grid failures 39 Should governments invest in available technology today to reach net-zero?

44 Leveraging cross-border e-commerce for a seamless shopping experience 46 SBR virtual roundtable tackles staying competitive in intelligent enterprise

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

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

Technology adoption slowdown seen in 6 in 10 micro-businesses Six in 10 micro-businesses said they reduced (16%), halted (28%), or had no (16%) technology adoption plans in 2021, a survey from UOB FinLab showed.

About 54% of the surveyed businesses said the lack of knowledge on operating digital tools was the biggest barrier to technology adoption, followed by lack of funds (43%), and lack of support within and outside their organisations (32%).

COMMERCIAL PROPERTY

BUILDING & ENGINEERING

CapitaLand increases global sustainability challenge fund Capitaland Group launched the second Capitaland Sustainability X Challenge (CSXC) with increased funding for the challenge by up to $500,000 for the top 10 projects to be piloted at the group’s global network of properties.The group seeks ideas that target key challenges in the built environment such as low carbon transition, water conservation and resilience, waste management, and the circular economy.

Singapore ranks 4th most expensive market to build in Asia Singapore ranked the fourth most expensive market to build in Asia and the 37th most expensive globally in Turner & Townsend’s International Construction Market Survey 2021.

Construction costs in Singapore averaged approximately $2,825.98 (US$2,079) per sqm according to the report. It followed Tokyo ($5,521.38 per sqm), Hong Kong ($5,373.72 per sqm), and Macau as the most expensive construction markets.

APAC companies going global must understand tax implications of remote staff

BY CHARLES FERGUSON Although tax rules and regulations vary from one country to another and from one industry to the next, the most common corporation taxes collected by governments include: corporate and individual income taxes, indirect taxes including goods and service tax (“GST”), value added tax (“VAT”) and sales tax, property taxes on real estate assets, and employment and payroll taxes.

Hello to Hybrid – The modern Singapore workforce

BY GERALD ANG The COVID-19 pandemic has forced companies to embrace change at a scale we have never seen before, putting in-person work in a tenuous position. Businesses in Singapore have risen to the occasion, acting swiftly to safeguard employees and migrate to a new way of working – a way that even the most extreme business-continuity plans hadn’t envisioned.

MOST READ COMMENTARY Singapore needs to look beyond the technical for the talent it needs

BY BELLE LIM There are many reasons why Singapore has been recognised as the leading global tech innovation hub (outside Silicon Valley and San Francisco) for two consecutive years. Yet, as Singapore continues along its tech journey, it is inevitable that we will face obstacles along the way. Specifically, there is intense competition for specialised tech talent where the search for talent has evolved from local to international offshore expertise.

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4 SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEW | SEPTEMBER 2019 SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEW | Q1 2022

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Welcome the future as the all-new Audi RS e-tron GT quattro joins our range of fully-electric e-tron models. A progressive gran turismo design coupled with impressive performance, the first fully-electric sports car from Audi boasts a range of more than 450 km, and fast charging technology that gets you enough power for 100km with just a quick 5-minute charge.

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SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEW | Q1 2022

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SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEW | Q1 2022

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FIRST

Minister of Finance Lawrence Wong, 2021 Singapore APEX Corporate Sustainability Awards Ceremony

Finance Minister Wong bares plans to achieve green economy

T

he government bared three major steps to ​​build a new green economy for Singapore in the next 30 years.

This was revealed by Minister of Finance Lawrence Wong in his speech during the CNS’s 2021 Singapore APEX Corporate Sustainability Awards Ceremony.

Wong said the world needs to invest around $204.81t (USD$150t) over the next 30 years to “to rein in carbon emissions and switch to more sustainable energy sources,” and Singapore is doing the following to play their part in achieving the goal in a much shorter timeframe.

Wong said the government will put in place ​​carbon price and regulatory standards which he said are “two big levers” they can use to progressively decarbonise the economy.

So far, the government is already reviewing the carbon tax and will be updating it at the Budget in 2022.

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SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEW | Q1 2022

There is also a plan to roll out standards for equipment appliances or even for motor vehicles, according to Wong.

Earlier, the government had already announced the phasing out of internal combustion engine vehicles and having all vehicles running on cleaner energy by 2040.

Wong also vowed to help businesses to shift towards more sustainable practices by creating programmes and schemes.

AN example of this is the Enterprise Sustainability Programme.

“We expect to reach out to more than 6,000 enterprises over the next four years through this programme,” the finance ministers said.

The government’s third plan is to “develop a robust financing eco-system to support the green transition.”

“Green efforts will need capital. And the government here, again, will take the lead in developing a robust green finance market by laying out the framework and rules, testing these out with government issuances for a start, and exploring ways to connect with different stakeholders.

Wong said the government will lay out framework and rules, and “explore ways to connect to different stakeholders.”

“For example, the National Environment Agency will be establishing a $3 billion Multicurrency Medium Term Note Programme and the Green Bond Framework, to finance sustainable infrastructure projects, like this Integrated Waste Management Facility in Tuas,” the official said.

Wong’s ministry has also set up a Green Bonds Programme Office that aims to “catalyse the government’s green financing options.”

“All of these efforts will help to grow the supply and demand for green investments, and create a strong ecosystem for sustainable financing and investing,” he said.

“Besides green financing, we also need a market for voluntary carbon credits. a. Because some companies may face difficulties eliminating emissions completely or quickly,” he added.

Green efforts will need capital, and the government must lead the development of robust green finance market

FIRST Gold protects purchasing power even better during periods of hyperinflation

The resource sector is a good inflation hedge because prices tend to rise when inflation is rising

What are three effective inflation hedges in 2022?

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he year-on-year inflation will likely stay elevated until May 2022, according to DBS, but there are three effective ways on how investors can hedge against it.

Joanne Goh, a senior investment strategist at DBS, said the resource sector is a good inflation hedge, given that “prices tend to rise when inflation is rising.”

“Amongst these, we believe gold, metals, and oil should outperform the rest as there are additional catalysts which will continue to support prices,” Goh said.

Gold, in particular, “protects purchasing power even better during periods of hyperinflation,” according to Goh. Goh said oil is also a good asset to invest in since “oil price will continue to trade higher as under-investment in

fossil fuels will lead to higher oil prices down the road.”

Oil demand will also gradually pick up in 2022 with the reopening of global economies.

Europe oil majors, in particular, will generate strong profits and free cash flow in 2022 as it “continues to ride on higher oil prices.”

“In our view, Europe oil majors are undervalued as investors have ignored this sector for environmental, social, and governance (ESG) concerns,” Goh said.

“Although ESG ratings for these companies are low, we expect them to gradually improve over time as they have diversified their business portfolios to incorporate more ESG focus, such as investing in electric vehicle charging stations, grids, and clean energy,” the analyst added.

It will also be good to invest in businesses with higher margins like profitable quality big Tech companies which, according to Goh, “could stay resilient in the current environment.”

“We recommend investors to look for Technology winners through our I.D.E.A. (Innovators, Disruptors, Enablers, and Adapters) framework for picking companies that display a strong historical track record of jumping through multiple financial S-Curves through their years of operation,” Goh advised.

The last effective inflation hedge on DBS’ list is real estate.

In particular, Goh said Singapore real estate investment trusts are a good inflation protector.

“Rental and cap rates will be rising in line with inflation and the sector is a strong proxy to the physical property sector. S-REITs continue to pay between 4% to 6% in dividends, and we like them as income generators of our Barbell portfolio,” Goh said.

“S-REITs should perform with all the respective sub-industries such as retail, office, and hospitality REITs normalising in tandem with the recovering economy,” the analyst said.

Others which can serve as inflation protectors include the Financials sector, and healthcare.

Goh said inflation has a limited imapct on healthcare companies, whilst financial institutions “stand to benefit from rising interest rates due to net margin expansion.”

Singtel launches first customised broadband service for larger homes

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ingtel has launched its first customised fibre broadband service called Home Priority, which aims to provide high speed and lag-free connectivity to larger homes.

The service offers two types of a 24-month subscription: Home Priority Plan for $88 a month and Home Priority Plus Plan for $128 a month.

The Home Priority Plan offers a combined 2 GigaBytes per second (Gbps) bandwidth on a single Fibre Broadband and comes with an Optical Network Router (ONR) and four units of Singtel Mesh Extender (U.P. $720). The plan is recommended for single-storey homes.

The service will be installed for free

and subscribers will be given tailored recommendations based on their floor plans to maximise connectivity and minimise dead spots.

Meanwhile, the Home Priority Plus Plan offers a combined 2Gbps bandwidth on a single Fibre Broadband and comes with an ONR and four units of Netgear Orbi Wi-Fi 6 Mesh (U.P. $1,598). The plan is recommended for multi-storey homes.

Netgear Orbi Wi-Fi 6 Mesh can cover up to 10,000 square feet and up to 40 devices simultaneously, according to Singtel.

Customers who will avail of the Plus Plan will get a complimentary home site survey by Signtel’s technical team ahead of the installation of the service.

Singtel launches Home Priority, its first customised fibre broadband service

SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEW | Q1 2022

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FIRST high price tag, Randstad said.

“Instead of fixating on finding the perfect job applicant, HR leaders should focus on upskilling and developing their existing workforce,” the study suggested.

“Empowering and enabling employees to develop their skills would enable the organisation to reap the benefits of a rich human capital and craft a highly attractive employer brand,” it added.

The study said HR leaders should also give additional focus on equipping mature workers with practical digital skills that they can apply to their job.

Apart from retaining talent, offering upskilling opportunities for employees will also likely attract job seekers, Randstad said.

CONSUMERS UNHAPPY WITH CUSTOMER SERVICE IN 2021

Singaporeans want businesses to listen better to feedback

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re businesses really happy to serve? Singaporean customers do not think so based on a recent report by Qualtrics.

Qualtric’s 2022 Global Consumer Trends report showed that nine in 10 Singaporeans expressed dissatisfaction towards businesses’ customer service in 2021.

Those surveyed also ranked customer service as the second most common area in which they want businesses to improve.

Customers said they also need businesses to care more about them (68%) and get better at listening to feedback (68%).

The report warned customer dissatisfaction could cost businesses in Singapore a combined total of $14.98b (US$11b) given that 51% of consumers have cut spending after having a single bad experience with a company.

Qualtrics also found that consumers would be 3.8x more likely to purchase again, 4.8x more likely to recommend a friend, and 4x more likely to trust the brand if they have good customer experience.

Businesses must listen “It’s more important than ever for businesses to continually listen to and understand the needs of their customers, and then rapidly adapt to those signals. Those that can make ongoing use of customer insights will differentiate themselves going forward,” Bruce Temkin, head of Qualtrics XM Institute, said.

“The last two years have affected just about everyone at home and at work, pushing consumers to re-evaluate many of their relationships. They are actively looking to do more with organisations that put their needs first,” Temkin added.

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SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEW | Q1 2022

HR leaders should prioritise upskilling the workforce and promoting work-life balance

Top 3 priorities for HR leaders in 2022: Randstad

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ore jobs will be created this year as organisations push for industrial growth and talent development, a study by Randstad showed.

In particular, new job opportunities will pop up in the information and communications technology, banking and financial services, and professional services sectors.

To support the changes in the labour force, which have continuously faced shortage, the study suggested that HR leaders prioritise three things: Upskilling and development of the local workforce Companies have raised their bar for what qualifies as a highly skilled worker due to rapid digitalisation, according to Randstad.

The study said companies are now seeking candidates with “excellent middle-management leadership skills and the ability to communicate effectively to drive stronger business partnering” and even “plug and play” talents who can fulfill their immediate business needs.

These talents, however, come with a

Developing flexible and agile workforce strategies Singapore’s diminishing population— which dropped 4.1% to 5.45 million in 2021—has raised issues about the workforce’s capacity to meet their companies’ growing ambitions.

Randstad said one way for companies to fulfill their productivity targets is by hiring more professionals on a contract basis to “meet urgent business needs whilst remaining agile to the changing business environment.”

The study however emphasised that more than short-term initiatives, companies should focus on working towards building a long-term relationship with their potential employees and alumni.

“Companies should also look at the growth and learning potential of job seekers and invest in developing them to become competent and loyal employees,” the study said.

HR leaders, for their part, can also create innovative recruitment solutions that will in turn uncover “hidden potential” in a company’s workforce.

Creating new HR policies centred on flexible work and work-life balance Companies with a flexible working policy are likely to attract quality talent as more employees are prioritising jobs that allow them to work from home, Offering upskilling according to Randstad. opportunities for The study said that a hybrid work setup employees will also drives more productivity amongst likely attract job employees since they have more seekers opportunities to try out new digital tech.

FIRST

If left unchecked, property prices could raise the risk of destabilising

Government unveils 3 new property cooling measures

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he government has unveiled three new measures to cool down Singapore’s property market.

The package of measures comprise of the raising of Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty (ABSD) rates and tightening of Total Debt Servicing Ratio (TDSR) threshold and Loan-to-Value (LTV) Limit.

The government said prices for both private housing and HDB resale flats have risen by about 9% and 15%, respectively, since the first quarter of 2021.

Whilst these figures remain to be “below their historical averages,” the government said they are seeing a “clear upward

momentum” in property prices.

“If left unchecked, prices could run ahead of economic fundamentals, and raise the risk of a destabilising correction later on.

Borrowers would also be vulnerable to a possible rise in interest rates in the coming years,” the government added.

Here’s a summary of all the measures which took effect on 16 December 2021: Revised ABSD rate The government said ABSD rates will remain at 0% for Singapore Citizens (SCs) and 5% for Singapore Permanent Residents (SPRs) when they purchase their first

residential property.

ABSD rate, however, will be raised to 17% for SCs second residential purchase, 25% on their third and subsequent purchases.

For SPRs, the rate will be raised to 25% on their second purchase, and 30% on their third and subsequent purchases.

Rate will also be raised to 30% for foreigners purchasing any residential property; and 35% for entities purchasing any residential property and developers purchasing any residential property.

Meanwhile, the highest applicable ABSD rate will apply for purchases made jointly by two or more parties of different profiles.

The government also clarified that ABSD will still not affect “those buying an HDB flat or EC unit from property developers with an upfront remission if any of the joint acquirers/purchasers is an SC.” TDSR threshold The TDSR threshold will be tightened by 5%-points from 60% to 55%, applicable to loans “for the purchase of properties where the Option to Purchase is granted on or after 16 December 2021 and for mortgage equity withdrawal loan applications made on or after 16 December 2021.”

LTV limit The LVT limit for HDB housing loans will be tightened to 85% from the previous 90% and will not apply to loans granted by financial institutions.

SG ranks 30th in Social Progress Index

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ingapore ranked 30th out of 168 countries in Deloitte’s Social Progress Index (SPI) 2021, from 29th out of 163 countries in the previous year.

The Lion City ranked first amongst its Southeast Asian neighbours, ahead of Malaysia (51), Thailand (71), Indonesia (94), Vietnam (78), the Philippines (97), Cambodia (128), Myanmar (117), and Laos (145).

The annual ranking, compiled

by Social Progress Imperative with Deloitte, ranks the countries based on 12 categories: basic medical care; water and sanitation; shelter; personal safety; access to basic knowledge; access to information and communications; health and wellness; environmental quality; personal rights; personal freedom and choice; inclusiveness; and access to advanced education.

This year’s index specifically

examined the relationship between sustainability and social progress.

Out of the 12 categories, Singapore improved the most in environmental quality, and health and wellness, jumping to 82 points in 2021 from 76.98 last year, and 91.01 from 90.36, respectively.

The country was also able to maintain its high scores in water and sanitation (95.83), nutrition and basic medical care (97.81), shelter (96.48), personal safety (96.15), and access to basic knowledge (91.05).

The index also said Singapore’s scores for 2021 was “relative to 15 countries of similar Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita” namely Qatar, Ireland, Luxembourg, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates, Norway, the United States, Netherlands, Denmark, Iceland, Austria, Germany, Sweden, Belgium, and Kuwait.

SG ranked 1st amongst its SEA neighbors in Deloitte’s Social Progress Index

SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEW | Q1 2022

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STARTUPS Why Multiplier is a panacea for HR hiring troubles

How VFlowTech’s energy solution improves battery life by 85%

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Multiplier co-founders

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iring staff across multiple countries can be a headache for any human resource department at the best of times, but with travel blocked the complications of onboarding new employees in a foreign country is even more acute. This is where Multiplier Co-founders Sagar Khatri, Amritpal Singh, and Vamsi Krishna saw an opportunity to create an online platform that manages payroll and local labour compliance regulations across different countries, allowing the employer to confidently onboard new staff.

Setting up abroad can be an expensive and timeconsuming process taking up to nine weeks and costing $51,000, according to the global business set-up expert, Healy Consultants.

Simplifying the processes of managing labour regulation and contracts, legal affairs, and risk management is what Multiplier aims to do. “Multiplier is a self-serve global employment platform that lets businesses expand and employ international talent compliantly without having to set up an entity,” according to the co-founder.

With remote work now a reality, many organisations may seek staff in a multitude of countries without physically wanting to set up offices or legal structures in those countries, but, nevertheless, would want to remain compliant with local labour laws as they hire local staff on a work from home basis.

“It is the first platform to run international management of compliance and a multi-country payroll in a single dashboard. It has an instant onboarding system that allows businesses to hire international talents in a matter of minutes; and an automated compliance payroll and payments solution that enables businesses to pay their talent working anywhere in the world, compliantly,” they said.

Expansion in progress Adding to the company’s coverage is a global presence in over 150 countries across APAC, Europe, and the US. An on-site team of legal and tax experts is also available to help draft multilingual contracts and international payroll accounts.

This, according to them, helps businesses focus on their core goals, whilst the role of international employment falls on to Multiplier.

The platform recently raised $13.2m in Series A funding in November 2021, with Sequoia Capital India serving as the lead investor. Existing investors include DeepInder Goyal, Co-founder, Zomato and Amrish Rau, CEO, Pine Labs.

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SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEW | Q1 2022

y now the world is familiar with lithium-based batteries, those wonders of electricity storage that are rechargeable and found in everything from smartphones to electric cars. But could a better battery be built with another elemental atom? Yes, said the founders of the new battery startup VFlowTech, which uses the metal Vanadium instead of lithium to store energy. Vanadium is a medium-hard, steel-blue metal that rarely exists as a free element in nature but can be found in about 65 different minerals.

The Temasek-backed firm has raised $4m so far and has developed a unique electrolyte additive, which is the secret source on which it has developed the intellectual property to make a vanadium redox flow battery.

Vanadium redox flow batteries operate at a much wider temperature which is particularly useful because this ensures that the battery is stable and less prone to degradation of electrolyte due to overtemperature operation.

VFlowTech banked on the Vanadium redox flow tech to make batteries run at a wider temperature

where the lack of reliable grid coverage creates immediate revenue opportunities for us to replace diesel generators with 24/7 renewable power leveraging batteries or provide backup power solutions for How it came to be industrial and commercial buildings facing The firm was founded by Dr. Arjun unreliable grid situations. A true potential Bhattarai and Dr. Avishek Kumar, for VFlowTech would be achieving who spent years researching the field targets to power 20% of Asia’s off-grid and at Nanyang Nanyang Technological renewable energy market,” Bhattarai said.

University.

Right now, it already has two projects for “Both of us have strong expertise integrating its V-Flow battery application in the field of renewable energy, and into EV charging infrastructure in South we wanted to use our knowledge and Korea and Thailand. expertise on vanadium redox flow “We have already secured competitive technology to provide an alternative grants to work on the next-generation solution to lithium-ion batteries—one power stack with German universities.” that has a longer lifespan and also has Bhattarai added. a lower chance of catching fire, and is Started in 2018, VFlowTech initially ideal for utility-scale storage, equally for raised $4.07m (US$3m) in a pre-Series off-grid systems relying on renewables A funding round led by Wavemaker and grid applications,” Bhattarai, now the Partners, with participation from SEEDS chief technological officer of VFlowTech, Capital, Sing Fuels and other unnamed explained. angel investors. The Singapore-based “We have since designed and startup initially raised more than $1m developed a unique power stack that can (US$800k) in its seed funding round with significantly reduce parasitic losses and participation from Temasek Foundation improve the round-trip efficiency over and Enterprise Singapore, making their 85%,” he said. total funding to date at over US$4m.

“The falling cost of energy storage is Research from Lux and other analysts making renewable energy microgrids have predicted that stationary energy economically viable and a reliable storage solutions will grow to US$30b in alternative to diesel. Our geographical annual revenues in Asia over the next 10 focus is on emerging markets of Asia, years.

EXCLUSIVE: SPACE WATCH

What attracted Amazon to build a corporate den in the Lion City?

The 100,000-sq.-ft.-office was built to spur collaboration, inside and outside the company.

S

ingapore’s strategic location as a springboard to Asia allured Amazon to set up a workplace that would spur collaboration in the heart of Asia Square’s CBD area, which houses a community of local and foreign talents.

With over 100,000 square feet across three floors, Amazon Singapore’s new office can accommodate up to 700 employees. For Amazon Singapore’s Country Manager Henry Low, this office is the company’s pivotal step in seizing the opportunities available in the Lion City.

Low said that Amazon recognised the expansion opportunities for business-to-consumer (B2C) e-commerce exports present in Singapore: 24% of micro, small, and

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Henry Low

medium (MSMEs) in Singapore conduct B2C e-commerce.

Of those MSMEs, more than 90% are in the export business Furthermore, e-commerce sellers in the country earn an estimated $1.4b, with 45% of these coming from MSMEs. If this sector continues its acceleration, the value is expected to reach $3.5b by 2026, with 73% earned by MSMEs. With this data, Amazon Singapore invested approximately $20.3b (US$15b) in infrastructure, programs, people, and tools in support of the entrepreneurs in the country.

Because of the expansion, Amazon Singapore was able to create over 110 job openings. By 2022, the company expects to welcome in its office 200 more teammates.

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Amazon furnished the place with Singlish phrases on the walls to recognise the diversity of its workforce, partners, and customers.

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Like the product showcase area and 50 breakout rooms, the meeting rooms are designed with a local touch.

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Amazon highlights its journey by imprinting on its office walls and panels Amazon’s milestones in Singapore.

Amazon put up reminders to stay true to its customer obsession and process of continuous learning and curiosity.

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Amazon employees are allotted a place to destress. There’s a pantry and mini cafe with coffee machines, game tables, interactive board walls, and a lot more.

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In 2022, the company expects to welcome in its office 200 more teammates.

SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEW | Q1 2022

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COUNTRY REPORT: JAPAN

Azbil Corporation strengthens businesses in the Asia Pacific with a focus on the UN’s SDGs The azbil Group aims to achieve a sustainable society through human-centered automation.

Takayuki Yokota, Director and Senior Managing Executive Officer, CFO, and in charge of international business at Azbil Corporation

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eading automation solutions provider, Azbil Corporation, continues to pursue industry growth and the achievement of a sustainable society globally guided by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Addressing customers’ needs, whilst maintaining socially-responsible and environment-friendly business practices, requires a need for balance—and the company integrates these factors together in its business. Azbil sees the potential for long-term development from the increasing demand for automation technologies to address social issues and achieve sustained growth.

Formerly known as Yamatake Corporation, Azbil stays true to its philosophy of “humancentered automation” that promotes collaboration between humans and machines.

It recognises the irreplaceable value of human ingenuity and the efficiency of applying automation technology in the industry and so it works to contribute to people’s safety, comfort and fulfilment, and global environmental preservation.

The azbil Group’s business segments in Building Automation, Advanced Automation, and Life Automation provide customers with its unique value in offices, production sites, and everyday life. The group works in various industries, offering high-quality control systems and products that help businesses improve productivity, safety, profitability, and environmental compliance.

“We aim to continue expanding our share 14

SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEW | Q1 2022

in the Asian market by demonstrating unique greenhouse gases from our business activities capabilities and implementing measures across the entire supply chain whilst using customised to each country’s business natural resources effectively to preserve the environment and infrastructure,” said Earth’s environment,” said Mr. Yokota.

Mr. Takayuki Yokota, Director and Senior This commitment can be seen in their projects, Managing Executive Officer, CFO and in charge particularly a demonstration project in Indoneof international business at Azbil Corporation. sia where Azbil installed its advanced control Azbil has been expanding its global technology in the existing control system. This operations with the aim of developing them achieved a coordinated control of multiple powinto another engine for business growth. The er plants resulting in greatly improved efficiency. group currently has sales and service operations This low-carbon in 23 countries, adopting new dialogue technology has also successfully reduced with stakeholders and approximately 35,000 digital content like social tons of CO2 emissions We aim to continue media, product in 10 months at a presentations, expanding our share in the refinery unit for one of webinars, digital Asian market by demonstratingIndonesia’s large gas exhibitions, virtual tours, and oil companies and capabilities and implementing cut power plants energy and video measures customised to each usage by approximately conference from their showroom in 4% leading to a savings country’s business Singapore. This allows approximately environment and infrastructureof¥300m Azbil to communicate (S$3.56m). consistently with stake“The needs of cusholders across regions to share the group’s tomers and society are evolving worldwide — new technologies, products, and services. with demands for high quality, safety, remote Its distinctive solutions in three growth fields— access, and global new automation, environment and energy and decarbonisation,” said Mr. Yokota. life-cycle solutions—share a “We will continue to strengthen our product common foundation of automation and service development capabilities and technology to achieve and continue technological innovation strategies to meet sustainable growth. These enable continuous customers’ needs and create new value through improvements to the quality of space and proautomation. We will also build greater connecductivity in the customers’ assets, as well tions as well as opening up business as improvements in energy usage. opportunities in new markets and business fields “We are targeting to effectively reduce CO2 not only in the Asia Pacific region but around the world,” he concluded. emissions at customers’ sites and decrease

COUNTRY REPORT: JAPAN

Cutting-edge science: Raising health and wellbeing through innovative specialty drugs Kyowa Kirin continues to provide a rich portfolio of products in four therapeutic areas to improve quality of life.

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n the perpetual race to discover new treatments and products for human health and wellbeing, the impact of technological innovation and advancements in the pharmaceutical industry has become more crucial in addressing patients’ unmet medical needs.

Such innovations have become more significant in this age, creating growth for companies in uncertain times and making positive contributions to human health and community welfare.

This is what Japan-based global specialty pharma group Kyowa Kirin strives to do: leverage innovation for the health and well-being of people around the world by creating new value through the pursuit of advances in life sciences and technologies.

Kyowa Kirin’s advanced research and development system applies cutting-edge biotechnology to engineer antibodies for drug discovery across four therapeutic areas: nephrology, oncology, immunology and allergy, and central nervous system.

“These therapeutic areas represent the quality and diversity of decades-long research – particularly in biotechnology platforms and small-molecule capabilities – by the two Japanese bio-pharmaceutical pioneers who merged to form Kyowa Kirin in 2008,” said Dr Tan Boon Heon, President, Kyowa Kirin Asia Pacific.

Dr Tan added that these assets, including the success of its ground-breaking partnership with Amgen since the 1980s, have led to the rich product portfolio Kyowa Kirin has today. “We continue to develop new products in these and other therapeutic areas relevant to our platform technologies,” he said.

In its regard for innovation as one of its core philosophies, Kyowa Kirin leverages this value in the organisation by constantly evolving alongside its customers and stakeholders.

“As a company committed to delivering the results of our technology to the people that most need them, we expect our colleagues to question the status quo in whatever we do. Kyowa Kirin recently began its transformation into a global company. We have been able to build

is being progressively launched around the world.

With the pandemic highlighting concerns on drug supply shortages, Kyowa Kirin mitigated this problem by working with partners to ensure supply chain integrity, bearing additional costs to secure safety stocks or utilising alternate supply routes.

Dr Tan Boon Heon, President, Kyowa Kirin Asia Pacific

We continue to build on our market-leading positions in nephrology and hematooncology by launching new products in these areas and venturing into the rare disease segment with our latest product offerings on international best practices by enlisting the collective know-how of colleagues with diverse backgrounds in decision-making,” Dr Tan said.

Kyowa Kirin’s heritage of innovation traces back to its earliest days as part of the Kirin Group, which has applied fermentation and brewing methods in food and beverage production since 1907. The group went on to develop the world’s first L-glutamic acid production technology and achieved further success in the invention of amino acid fermentation during the 1950s and 1960s. It also pioneered recombinant DNA technology in its joint venture with Amgen.

Kyowa Kirin’s research institutes have since developed breakthrough monoclonal antibody technologies such as POTELLIGENT®, which is the basis for its recent product POTELIGEO®.

This humanised monoclonal antibody targets CC chemokine receptor 4.

Similarly, CRYSVITA®, another output of the company’s monoclonal antibody research and a recombinant fully human monoclonal lgG1 antibody against the phosphaturic hormone fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF23),

Minimising risk for employees For Kyowa Kirin, the best results come from its people. Hence, when the pandemic hit, the company focused on securing employees’ safety whilst ensuring continuous drug supply for patients.

According to Dr Tan, the company “prioritised employee safety and well-being by adopting flexible work policies and work-from-home arrangements, as well as extending mental health resources to employees and their families,” thus earning employee goodwill.

These initiatives and Kyowa Kirin’s regard for its employees have brought the company recognition and contributed to its winning two SBR Management Excellence Awards in 2020. Kyowa Kirin brought home the trophies for Employee Engagement of the Year and COVID Management Initiative of the Year in the Pharmaceuticals category in the prestigious awards programme.

The company aims to go above and beyond as it further strives for innovation.

Its vision is to become a best-in-class global specialty pharmaceutical company in its therapeutic areas and partner of choice for specialty drug commercialisation.

“We continue to build on our marketleading positions in nephrology and haemato-oncology by launching new products in these areas and venturing into the rare disease segment with our latest product offerings. We believe we can achieve more through partnership for access to new channels or collaboration on complementary products and technologies.

More importantly, our pipeline of new products will make Kyowa Kirin an exciting place for employees to develop and grow their careers,” Dr Tan highlighted.

SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEW | Q1 2022

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CO-PUBLISHED CORPORATE PROFILE

Change management success or failure depends on one thing: people Global consultancy Daggerwing Group unveils why change fails and how they help organisations do change right goes against culture According to Daggerwing, whether an organisation’s CEO is laying out a new corporate strategy, or announcing new behaviours to support the culture transformation, having a clear picture of what the future looks like – and how it impacts employees’ day-to-day – is key.

Without the articulation of a clear vision, employees’ first instinct may be to resist the change – putting the change or transformation at risk.

Daggerwing avoids this situation, and attributes much of their success to their deep understanding of the wide-reaching hen companies undergo business change happen and stick, may see their effect of common biases, thoughts, and change or transformations – from transformation ambitions evaporate,” Ning perceptions that drive human behaviour. mergers and acquisitions to new added.

They know how creative, human-centred operating models, ways of working, and solutions can impact what people think, culture transformations – they tend to feel, and do.

Whether we’re working focus on changing strategies, technologies, “We usually start our engagements with with a client on digital processes and structures, leaving the people executive alignment on vision and roll out. agenda as an afterthought. This is why transformation or helping We facilitate rapid identification of the change often fails. to win the war on talent, we desired state in detail – as well as the gaps Daggerwing Group, a Top-10 rated create a custom-fit approach to address and the elements of the phased global change consultancy established in action plan to make it happen. We then that meets our client’s 1999, takes a different approach. They use engaging approaches to get leaders to help their clients break the cycle of change needs. We do not see any confidently align on what success looks like management failure by doing change and when it will happen,” says Ning. transformation journey as right the first time by helping leaders focus With their people-first and psychologybeing linear on people – the hardest part of change based approach, Daggerwing is uniquely management – to make change happen equipped to help leaders overcome their and make it last.

Although these issues are challenging, transformation challenges. They work with Ning Wong, Principal at Daggerwing Daggerwing Group helps businesses face a broad range of sectors and industries Group in APAC, says the consultancy has them head-on by looking through the lens including consumer packaged goods, extensive experience working with leaders of the “8 Reasons Why Change Fails” for all healthcare and pharma, manufacturing, at Fortune 500 companies around the their engagements. These include: aerospace, technology and more – offering world such as Pfizer, HPE, Takeda, PepsiCo, 1. An urgent reason to change is not their clients an array of services that deliver Nissan, and Nestlé. After carefully studying communicated tangible, lasting change, and successful the factors undermining change success at 2. A compelling vision for the future has outcomes. each organisation, Ning says change failure not been articulated “Whether we’re working with a client can be attributed to two things: human 3. Lack of feeling of ownership among key on digital transformation or helping to win nature and a lack of understanding about employees the war on talent, we create a custom-fit why people do and do not want to change. 4. Common biases are not surfaced or approach that meets our client’s needs.

“It is human nature to resist change— addressed We do not see any transformation journey even when it is good for the business, the 5. Leaders do not drive the change as being linear,” says Ning. “There should customers, and the careers of individual 6. Organizational systems and other always be pivots, revisits, and reiterations initiatives are not aligned with the employees. Leaders who do not have in any change program. That’s how we do change a good grasp of why their people do change right the first time,” she continues.

7. People are not enabled or encouraged to Daggerwing Group continues to solidify and do not want to change, and who develop new skills and behaviours cannot leverage those insights to create their place in the global change consultancy 8. The mass does not embrace change or as they worked with APAC based clients. and implement a strategy to make

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SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEW | Q1 2022

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17

FINANCIAL INSIGHT

Singapore’s 2021 IPO market surpasses previous year’s performance SPAC listings and REITs will be the bright spots in the 2022 capital market.

As of 15 December 2021, SGX IPOs raised an approximate total of $1.656b

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nitial public offerings (IPOs) had a slow start on the Singapore Exchange (SGX) in 2021, with only seven listings in the first three quarters of the year. But listings more than doubled in the last two months of the year, with eight new IPOs as of 15 December 2021.

This is still lower than the 16 IPOs listed in 2020, but when it comes to market cap, 2021’s performance has already surpassed that of the previous year. Digital Core REIT, which has raised the highest amount at approximately $819m (US$600m), was only listed on 6 December 2021.

The REIT’s initial portfolio comprises ten data centres in the U.S. and Canada, valued at an approximate $1.03b (US$1.4b). It is sponsored and externally managed by USbased firm Digital Realty.

“There are at least two [more listings], the chunky ones, that pulled up the figures before the end of the year,” said Tay Hwee Ling, Audit Partner for Deloitte Singapore in an interview with Singapore Business Review.

Japan-based Daiwa House Logistics Trust, which is 2021’s second-highest performer, listed on 26 November and raised $464m; and Aztech Global, listed on 12 March and raised $314m.

As of 15 December 2021, SGX IPOs raised an approximate total of $1.656b. In comparison, there were 16 fresh listings on the SGX and Catalist in 2020, raising an approximate total of $1.3b. Nine of these companies were listed in the latter half of the year, with Singapore-based Nanofilm Technologies raising $510m in October 2021.

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Tay Hwee Ling

Nanofilm also has the highest IPO market cap, at $1.7b.

“There’s this interesting observation for the last couple of weeks. If you look at 2020, Singapore went into a circuit breaker... transaction flow came down and there’s practically no IPO. But the moment we got out of the circuit breaker, we saw a lot of IPOs. It’s similar for this year, as well. We didn’t have a circuit breaker but we had a heightened alert,” Tay said.

She added that the capital market in Southeast Asia, particularly in Singapore, continued to be very active in 2021. The pandemic merely pushed back IPO plans, but these plans still pushed through at the end of the year.

Make space for SPACs The SGX published its rules for the listing of special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) in 2 September 2021, a move that went through several consultations whilst these blank cheque companies saw a resurgence in the United States market.

SPAC listings in Singapore are based on US listing requirements, but with a few caveats that hold sponsors accountable for their actions, should the IPO push through.

“We stayed quite aligned with what the market expects from a SPAC framework from what we observed from the US market. The minor difference is a critical item: putting the skin in the game for the sponsor,” Tay said.

From a regulatory perspective, she cited two key differences between Singapore and US SPACs.

FINANCIAL INSIGHT Holdings to list one of its current investments, which includes Horizon Robotics, Nanjing Semidrive Technology, SES, and SmartX. “SPACs could play a role in granting deep tech startups access to capital and continuous funding for the long gestation period needed for their products or solutions,” CGS-CIMB said.

For her part, Deloitte’s Tay said that Singapore SPACs have an added advantage of the investors coming from the consumers of the target acquisition companies.

“A lot of Singapore tech companies are looking at the US because of the value offered to them and the de-SPAC route that is perceived to be faster. But if Singapore’s SPACs take off well, I would be quite optimistic that some of these high-growth tech companies are looking to list in Singapore as well for a very simple logic: your investors are also your consumers. They understand you and value you well,” she said.

The first batch of SPAC listings on the SGX would happen early 2022

First, the SPAC framework in Singapore has a moratorium on sponsor’s shares from IPO to de-SPAC, followed by another six-month moratorium after the de-SPAC for the sponsors and applicable resulting issuers, and an additional six-month moratorium on 50% of shareholdings. Second, sponsors and management teams involved in Singapore SPACs must subscribe to at least 2.5% to 3.5% of the IPO shares depending on the market capitalisation of the SPAC. These two provisions are not imposed in the US market.

Minimum market capitalisation for Singapore SPACs is at $150m, higher than the US requirement of $70 to $150m (approximately US$50m to US$100m). The de-SPAC must occur within 24 months after the SPAC IPO, with an allowed extension of 12 months subject to prescribed conditions. This is shorter than the allowed extension in the US, which can be up to 36 months subject to shareholder approval.

Whilst there is currently no SPACs listed in the SGX as of 15 December, media reports have revealed the following potential SPAC sponsors: Tikehau Capital, Vertex Holdings, Novo Tellus, Turmeric Capital, and Catcha Group.

Unicorns could be the potential target companies of SPACs in Singapore, according to a research from CGSCIMB penned by Andrea Choong and William Tng, which could include private companies from China and India.

“Novo Tellus focuses mainly on tech-related investments.

Singapore investors would be familiar with AEM Holdings Ltd, a multi-bagger investment made by Novo Tellus. Roughly eight years ago, AEM was on the brink of bankruptcy and faced a possible delisting from the Singapore Exchange. Today, AEM is the sole supplier of test handlers to the largest semiconductor company in the world,” CGS-CIMB said, noting that Novo Tellus has a track record of successful investments and exits.

Potential investee companies for a SPAC in Novo Tellus’ portfolio, according to CGS-CIMB, include Novoflex, Tessolve, and Sunningdale Tech.

Meanwhile, CGS-CIMB expects Temasek-owned Vertex

SPAC listings and REITs will be the bright spots in the 2022 capital market

View for 2022 It is likely that the first batch of SPAC listings on the SGX would happen early 2022. This, along with REITs, are going to be bright spots in the capital market in this year, Tay said.

“I’m still quite optimistic for the rest of 2022, because we see a few bright spots: the REITs are coming back, and the SPACs are giving Southeast Asia and Singapore-based tech companies a good alternative option that they can tap on,” the audit partner for Deloitte said. “These two would be strong agents for the Singapore market in 2022.”

Social restrictions and global supply chain issues have delayed or downright cancelled business plans all over the world. And it is likely that these conditions will continue with the discovery of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 in December 2021.

But just like in the previous years, Tay expects the new variant to merely delay IPO plans in the Singapore market, not derail them completely. “It will potentially stall the market, but it will not stop the [transactions],” Tay said.

The new COVID-19 variant will merely delay IPO plans in the SG market, not derail them

SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEW | Q1 2022

19

LEGAL BRIEFING

Will the Energy Bill dim out competition in the electricity generation market?

Under the Bill, the Energy Market Authority will be allowed to be a market player.

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ising electricity prices may be a fact of life, but usually, it is the job of the government-appointed regulator to ensure the market is as open and competitive as it can be so that prices for consumers are maintained low.

This is why eyebrows were raised when it was proposed that the Energy Market Authority (EMA), which acts as the market referee, also be allowed to be a market participant by investing in electricity generators. Whilst this may seem like an unusual setup, certain law firms said the changes were necessary to fund Singapore’s transition to green energy and could even lead to lower power prices.

The Bill stated that EMA “will not be required to obtain an electricity license to acquire, build, own, and operate critical infrastructure that generates electricity.” RHTLaw Asia LLP managing partner, Azman Jaafar, told Singapore Business Review that “as a regulator, it appears that EMA may block, deter, or stop competitors under the Singapore Wholesale Electricity Market from competing against EMA-owned or operated energy units.”

Jaafar added that the EMA can also pass regulations, which can favour energy generation units that it has acquired or built, as well as those that it owns or operates. “This advantage given to EMA could also give rise to the depression of wholesale electricity prices.”

“In addition, imposing high technological barriers for newcomers to enter the market can be construed as an abuse of dominance and can be deemed as an anti-competitive behaviour,” Jaafar said, emphasising that this counters the law’s chief aim to create a competitive market framework for the industry.

Jaafar also warned that the new law would give rise to a monopoly of the electricity generation market. “Given the lack of competition, there will not be scope for resellers in the market for locally-generated electricity.”

On the flip side, Jaafar mentioned that a lack of competition might encourage resellers to tap on greener sources of electricity exported from foreign grids.

Furthermore, a provision of the Energy Bill repeals section 12 of the Energy Market Authority of Singapore Act or

The Bill can energise the project finance space for energy infrastructure that will benefit competitors

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Azman Jaafar

the power to borrow, which allows EMA to raise capital or issue bonds to finance the construction of critical energy infrastructures.

“If interest rates were to become volatile, this can give rise to huge fluctuations in bond prices and yields. This can have an adverse effect on wholesale electricity prices,” Jaafar said.

Allowing EMA to issue commercial bonds could also expose EMA-owned or -operated generation units to market forces and risks relating to the fund-raising, which, according to Jaafar, could thereby directly affect the already small electricity market.

The extensive powers given to the EMA under the Bill, however, can be justified for several reasons, according to Jaafar. Singapore’s energy market is “far too small,” and EMA will allow the country to “safeguard the reliability” of its energy generation sector.

‘Too early to tell’ Drew & Napier LLC told Singapore Business Review that whilst concerns raised about the Bill are legitimate, they may be premature at this stage.

“The Ministry of Trade and Industry has reiterated their commitment to ensuring a competitive wholesale electricity market, and to put in place proper governance structures to ensure fair competition and mitigate any potential conflicts of interests,” Christopher Chong, Drew & Napier LLC’s head of Construction & Engineering, said.

Under the Bill, Chong added that the Bill also has positive implications, EMA may block, such as energising the project finance space for energy deter, or stop infrastructure in the country that will benefit, rather than competitors under handicap, competitors. the Singapore “As we have seen in other markets, such as the offshore Wholesale wind sector in Taiwan, investments will follow wherever the Electricity Market funds go, and the funds will go where there is future money,” from competing he said. against EMAIt could also allow Singapore to explore “obtaining interests owned or in major infrastructure projects overseas such as mega-solar operated energy farms in Australia, or geothermal plants in the Philippines, units or hydropower plants in Laos, with a view to piping or transporting electricity into Singapore and obtaining greater security over Singapore’s energy needs through importation,” added Chong.

“This could also help spur developments in Singapore and the region, in complementary industries such as in hydrogen, battery, power transmission; and in the carbon/renewable energy credits space,” he said.

More importantly, Chong said allowing EMA to acquire, build, own, and operate power plants and infrastructure, and to fund these steps are also “extremely helpful” towards Singapore’s Clean Energy Transition.

This was also underscored by Jaafar, saying the Bill can bring about much-needed change to transform Singapore’s local energy sector and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

CO-PUBLISHED CORPORATE PROFILE

Bid goodbye to tedious tasks with a single digital platform Sleek is an all-in-one digital platform that simplifies the day-to-day hassle of managing a business for busy entrepreneurs and investors.

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hen co-founders Adrien Barthel and Julien Labruyere attempted to start their company in Singapore in 2017, they faced many issues with paperwork and slow processes. According to them, the industry was largely paper-based and didn’t accommodate the fast-paced environment that businesses were already accustomed to.

“Traditional corporate secretaries and accounting firms moved at pedestrian speed and were outdated in their offerings, creating many roadblocks in a business journey,” said Sleek CEO and Cofounder Julien Labruyere.

Labruyere and Barthel knew this could be addressed, and better workflows could be set in place with the help of digitalisation and automation. With growing frustration towards the inefficiency of traditional corporate service providers, the founders took matters into their own hands by developing their own digital solution.

In May 2017, they launched Sleek—an all-in-one digital platform for business owners, by business owners, to effectively manage their back-office operations and reduce hurdles.

All-in-one simplified experience for users Sleek offers easy to use tools for businesses from order management to government requirements. Through one simple platform, Sleek manages clients’ incorporation process, from preparing registrations forms and company constitutions, to liaising with the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority in Singapore. They also provides clear-cut, efficient, and innovative corporate secretarial services and governance depending on business needs and the number of shareholders.

Sleek understands the modern business owner. With the countless processes involved in the daily operations of an enterprise, Sleek integrates commonlyused applications into their interface.

Sleek has developed a WhatsApp bot and

receipt channel that allows users to submit their business invoices and expenses. With just a snapshot of their receipt, Sleek’s WhatsApp receipt channel will digitally record the company’s expenses through optical character recognition.

Moreover, the platform’s accounting and bookkeeping is interoperable with solutions available in the market, as its technology stack can be connected with any Xero-integrated app. Users can connect their payment, e-commerce, and logistics applications with Sleek’s platform, making it easier to integrate their current operations with Sleek.

Staying competitive amidst gamut of digital applications The pandemic has accelerated the rise of digital applications such that businesses have to find a way to stay on top whilst providing quality services for their clients.

Sleek does this by constantly listening to its clients’ feedback as it grows its services and aims to add value and make their easier. SleekSign and Sleek Business Sleek’s ongoing development lives Account innovations are a result of this and innovation is a testament strategy. to their commitment to Moreover, the platform integrated delivering the best service and corporate insurance into its service offerings in 2021 to provide clients with business solutions to their options to protect and safeguard their clients businesses. This came about from the increasing concerns of clients towards For entrepreneurs and business owners business security. aiming to set up their business bank Staying competitive ties with two of account, Sleek’s latest solution, Sleek Sleek’s values: remaining customer-centric Business Account, allows them to open and striving for quality. Sleek’s ongoing a free business account with no initial development and innovation is a testament deposit, no minimum balance, and no local to their commitment to delivering the transaction fees. Account set up can be best service and business solutions to their done remotely, without having to visit the clients. This has allowed Sleek to expand bank. The account is open on the same day offices beyond Singapore, to Hong Kong as the company is incorporated, reducing by and the Philippines, and launch services in almost 95% the time traditional banks take. Australia and the UK earlier this month.

The business account is provided free of To know more, visit Sleek.com and get charge to Sleek clients who are using any up to S$300 off on your services today if of its current services, and new companies you are an existing company looking to onboarding to Sleek. transfer to Sleek.

SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEW | Q1 2022

21

MARKETING BRIEFING

The best social media platforms to invest in for 2022 for high online engagement An Emplifi study showed that brand posts on Instagram had 6.1x higher engagement than Facebook.

“Basically, anyone who’s interested in being an influencer can download the app and select campaigns that fit their interests and also their creativity,” Founder and CEO, Florence Fang, told Singapore Business Review.

Despite only being launched in 2021, the app created

by Flame Communications already has over a thousand influencers on the platform—from mothers, students, and professionals—and already has clients from the lifestyle and beauty, fashion, sports/esports, technology, travel, and foods industries.

Instagram is the main platform of choice for fast-moving consumer goods, e-commerce, gadgets, and F&B industries

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ocial media advertising continues to gain traction over traditional ad spend, growing by 34.4% over 2021. But when it comes to choosing which platform to advertise on, how does a brand marketer make the right choice?

One key is to look at the engagement rather than reach.

In 2021, Instagram got 6.1 times higher engagement than Facebook despite the latter having more users in Singapore, a study by marketing agency Emplifi has shown.

The photo-sharing app is also the key platform for brands seeking out influencers, followed by Twitter and YouTube, whilst TikTok has also been seeing increased momentum, according to Aditya Aima, managing director of Agency Business for AnyMind, a brand enablement platform.

In terms of post types, brands need to invest in video content—particularly live video—rather than static post, since the former generates three times more engagement.

Live videos get 42 median post interactions, whilst photos and pre-recorded videos get an average of 15 and 14, respectively.

“Live experiences enable brands to connect in a raw and authentic way with their audiences. They are real-time, conversational, and can drive sales when integrated into a social commerce strategy. Despite these benefits, we’re still seeing that marketers have yet to take full advantage of the potential of live videos,” Emplifi Vice President for Asia Pacific & Japan, Varun Sharma told Singapore Business Review.

There are also new emerging platforms that can capture user attention and evolution amongst current platforms such as influencer marketing, social commerce, and even metaverse, according to Aima.

Igniting the power of influencer marketing One platform that has emerged in the field of influencer marketing is the Flame Influencers app, which helps brands build more awareness and visibility by connecting them to influencers from all walks of life.

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Varun Sharma

Florence Fang

Live video generates three times more engagement compared to other types of posts

Marketing through storytelling On the app, influencers can look at campaigns from brands and choose what they would like to promote. The platform also provides influencers with the amount they will earn in each campaign.

The app also provides influencers workshops and tips on how to help their following, according to Fang.

For brands, what the app provides are real-time tracking of content, campaign reports, and hashtag generation, amongst others.

“We track the performance, we track what content is being pushed out with…how the brand narrative is successfully communicated to the influencers’ content,” Fang said.

One of the firm’s clients, a charity, got 10 influencers to support their campaign whose followers range from 3,700 to 54,000, and with an engagement rate of 1.70% to 9.41%.

Depending on the goal of the brand, Fang said they will either get influencers to attend webinars, or share product or service reviews.

“Let’s say they have a certain beauty treatment or face treatment, and is quite unique. We get influencers to try that and then do the storytelling or share their experience how they feel about the product service,” the Flames Communications CEO said.

In terms of return of investments, Fang said brands using their service can capture more than the average $6 in every $1 spent on influencer marketing, depending on the nature of the campaign.

“They can decide on…the goal, and then a specific budget, and then we help them to match the influencers. And therefore they can start with very small campaigns. And with success, they can then, therefore, scale, so we provide them [with] that flexibility,” she explained.

“If you’re a brand…you can come to Flame Communications website (www.flamecomms.com)… and then there’s a form there. We will capture your requirements and we will be contacting the brand to better understand and create an account for them [in the app],” she added.

Brands planning to put their campaigns on the Flame Influencers app can look forward to its new and more userfriendly version, which Fang said will be launched in the first quarter of 2022.

CO-PUBLISHED CORPORATE PROFILE

Axis Communications offers solutions as businesses power through the post-pandemic era More than providing security systems, the global market leader leverages its network-based solutions to meet the customers’ changing needs.

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ith the world’s largest installed base of network video products and employees in more than 50 countries, the global market leader, Axis Communications, continues to provide upto-date post-pandemic technology solutions for navigating the “new normal” business landscape.

A pioneer in the IoT and edge computing space, Axis has a complete range of products and services for video surveillance and analytics, access control, intercom, and audio systems for a broad spectrum of industries and customer needs. Its market leadership has been established since 1984, rooted in creating customer value through innovative solutions that are simple and user-friendly–from installation to operation.

Recently, they celebrated the 25th anniversary of its world’s first network IP camera, which was conceived by the company back in 1996. Since then, the company has continued to revolutionise the video surveillance industry with more than one million of its network cameras installed worldwide.

We are very committed to our partner network and this has made us one of the most integrated camera brands on the market “It was a great reminder of the people who contributed and dedicated their time, efforts, and talent to making Axis what it is today,” Sales Director for Southeast Asia, Irenaeus Clare Pereira said. “On top of that, when it comes to partnerships, we are very committed to our partner network, which includes channel, technology partners, and more, as this has made us one of the most integrated camera brands on the market,” Ms. Pereira added.

With an increased demand for a complete security system with contactless security devices in the new normal, Axis showcases its very timely end-to-end solution that is tailored to its customers’ specific needs. This includes a video

management system that is connected to cameras and other security devices, such as IP audio speakers, intercoms, and touchless access control solutions.

In the industrial segment, their offerings rest upon three key pillars–Intrusion Protection, Operational Efficiency, and Health and Safety. Each pillar provides specific endto-end solutions for intelligent monitoring and smooth integration with the existing control system architecture.

The intrusion protection solutions are equipped to safeguard the entire site–from perimeter to critical core. Its technology provides intelligent monitoring of the sites, based on surveillance systems with visual and thermal imaging, radar devices, audio equipment, access control solutions, and analytics software. These elements work together to create a security system that allows businesses to monitor multiple sites from a single control room, providing complete, efficient, and cost-effective intrusion protection.

As the eyes of the production monitoring system, Axis connected technology also lets users visually inspect and verify processes, monitor production efficiency, and provide maintenance staff with remote assistance. It also supports data collection and planning for predictive maintenance, whilst minimising downtime and optimising productivity.

Their surveillance solutions also make sites safer for employees and better for the environment, in the process of helping the business comply with HSE regulations.

This also boosts cyber security, and even sustainability in its products, which is particularly timely as criminal elements step up their efforts to penetrate corporate networks.

Aside from these new innovations, the company also pivoted its outreach efforts to the online space, running webinars and virtual events to keep its partners and customers updated with the latest solutions and technology.

With the increasing demand of products and market growth in Southeast Asia, Axis revealed that it will be focusing on strengthening their solutions offerings for key segments, as well expanding their channel

Irenaeus Clare Pereira, Sales Director for Southeast Asia, Axis Communications

partners in key geographical territories in the region.

For their existing key segments, such as Critical Infrastructure and Smart Cities, Axis will further expand and strengthen its position through closer engagement with its key end-user customers. In terms of channel strategy, they will continue to develop and grow their distribution landscape to increase efficiency and strength of its local positions in each country.

Aside from the increasing need for intelligent industrial solutions given the growth of the manufacturing sector in Southeast East Asia, Axis also targets to serve more customers across various segments, such as healthcare, hospitality, FSI, and commercial sectors.

Currently, Axis covers the key countries in Southeast Asia, namely Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. It has offices in 50 countries, with over 3,800 employees worldwide, and generated total sales of US$1.2b last year.

SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEW | Q1 2022

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HR BRIEFING

Diversity to play a pivotal role in organisations in 2022 D&I policies are crucial in service-based companies, analysts say.

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obody likes to be discriminated against in the workplace, but actually having a written diversity and inclusion (D&I) policy and program around the issue is something that 70% of Singapore-based firms have yet to implement. Not only would a written policy help attract talent and drive productivity, but it will become a major competitive differentiator in 2022, according to EngageRocket, a human resource consultancy.

Once a company has decided it needs to have a D&I program, the next question is where to start, as it can be a daunting and mine-field laden task. Thankfully Jen Wu, Team Lewis’ VP for People APAC & EMEA, and Lewis Garrad, Mercer Singapore’s Partner and Career Business Leader have some tips.

Rather than just forming the policies at a board level, Wu advised that companies engage and communicate with their employees to gain a better understanding of the gaps and opportunities within the organisation.

“Regular employee-related feedback through engagement surveys, individual feedback sessions, or exit interviews help companies understand what areas of focus are needed.

Importantly, regular training across areas of unconscious bias and improving cultural intelligence allows for a more open-minded approach, and commitment from the board is important,” she said.

To properly implement these policies and really effect change within the organisation, Wu said it would be better if companies create C-level diversity roles, which will also help “evolve programs for relevancy in real-time.”

Citing research from PwC, EngageRocket said only 25% of organisations have D&I goals for leadership, only 17% have a C-Suite level diversity role in place, and nearly 31% still have no D&I leader based on a PwC. “It’s equally important to have a clear point of view about how to develop and progress a diverse group of people into management and leadership positions. This often means having flexible benefits and support structures to ensure that people with diverse needs are given a fair shot,” Garrad said.

Why invest in D&I policies now Wu said effective D&I policies allow “for a high-performing, diverse team of employees.”

“The whole concept of ‘many brains are better than one’ is probably the most fitting analogy here. If all the brains think the same, you won’t be able to challenge, evolve, and innovate.

This is fundamentally why D&I is critical to a company achieving growth potential,” Wu added.

The analyst said that when employees “feel they individually matter versus just a ‘cog in a wheel’,” their productivity will naturally improve—and improved productivity can significantly impact a company’s financial performance.

“Staff costs are, for most companies, the biggest overheads.

So improved productivity, efficiencies, and lower turnover 24

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Millennial and Gen Z employees value D&I as a key determiner of where they want to work

Jen Wu

Lewis Garrad

Companies should develop a mindset, rather than a program, towards D&I

mean that staff costs can be maintained in a more controlled manner,” the analyst said.

The efficiency of working is critical particularly in servicesbased companies, Wu said.

“Having a diverse and inclusive employee base means that there is always a fresh pair of eyes to review existing processes and ways of working. Quality of service means lower client turnover and of course, allows for more consistent revenue growth,” she explained.

The revenue growth argument is supported by a 2020 report from McKinsey that shows that “companies in the top quartile for gender diversity in leadership were 25% more likely to have above-average profitability than their bottomquartile counterparts.”

This growth, however, cannot be achieved with halfmeasured attempts, according to Wu. “If an organisation is not committed to making these changes in real-time, they risk longevity, given D&I requirements transcend any industry,” the Team Lewis analyst said.

This sentiment was also expressed by Google’s Director of APAC Diversity & Employee Engagement, Roman Matla, who said companies should develop a mindset and not a program towards D&I. Apart from revenue growth, companies can also use D&I policies to attract and retain quality talent, particularly from the millennial and Gen Z age groups who are “more conscious than ever on corporate responsibility and commitment to D&I.” EngageRocket also highlighted this in their report, saying that millennial and Gen Z employees value D&I as a key determiner of where they want to work.

D&I policies are not only critical in ensuring that brands can attract employees but customers, as well, Garrad said.

“Clients want to buy products and services from companies who share similar values and purposes as them and having strong D&I policies give companies that competitive edge in an already challenging business landscape,” Garrad said.

CO-PUBLISHED CORPORATE PROFILE

How advisors can remain relevant as more customers turn online MoneySmart provides data-driven insights on the ‘phygital’ experience that customers want.

A large majority of customers prefer to have human interaction in their insurance journey

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ith the proliferation of digital services like chatbots, self-serve portals, and video conferencing, will personal interactions with insurance advisors soon become a thing of the past?

A new survey by MoneySmart found that although customers have welcomed digital innovation in insurance, a large majority still prefer to have human interaction and relationships at certain points in their insurance journey. This is where the “phygital” experience comes in, the balance between “bots and bodies.”

In particular, customers believe that digital channels do not adequately answer questions about products, premiums, and coverage. Chatbots are incapable to fully answer unique queries that customers may have about a particular product, especially for more complex services, like hospitalisation insurance, which tend to have the highest preference for human consultation amongst buyers due to complexities in processing. The doubts and fears of customers cannot be fully addressed by digital channels, leading many clients to believe that an actual advisor’s involvement will yield better outcomes. This lack of understanding around what risks need coverage, what premium amounts will be, and how reimbursement is settled, represent a need for insurers to properly educate customers in a more effective manner.

In comparison, critical illness insurance (CI) is easily purchased online because insurers can instantly provide online a wealth of information regarding policy

Customer behaviour changes when it comes to making a claim on the policy. At this stage, most customers prefer to go through their advisors to make claims, as opposed to using digital self-serve options.

In particular, customers prefer to have an advisor assist them in document assembling and claims processing and submissions.

Customers appreciate the sense that someone on the “inside” is working hard in their best interest, and this experience cannot be found in digital platforms at the moment.

A human touch Insurers need to strike a balance between providing convenient digital services and responding to a customer’s desire for trust, assurance, and accountability through an advisor. This can be done by better integration of both the digital and physical service experiences, which will result in the greatest satisfaction for customers.

In particular, digital materials developed by insurers may also need to be further simplified in order to ensure understanding and comprehension to wider segments of Insurers need to strike a audiences. Chatbot algorithms must be finebalance between providing tuned to provide better answers for unique convenient digital services and queries, although they may still incorporate extensive use of templated answers. Onresponding to a customer’s demand video calls with qualified advisors desire for trust, assurance, could also be provided. This is a unique and and accountability through an personalised offering that truly addresses customer needs, beyond just write-ups and advisor blog posts from insurers.

Balance must be at the core of the Know your customer transformation of the insurance industry. As MoneySmart’s survey highlighted the more processes become digitised, insurers changing habits of insurance customers. For and personal finance aggregators have instance, when shopping for an insurance a responsibility to ensure that the crucial product, customers visit multiple online human element is not lost. The nuances sources in search of content to educate of human interaction in the insurance themselves on the basic principles of their purchase journey are still of tremendous preferred policies. They also compare their value in the eyes of the customer and need different products using online finance to be integrated into the digitisation efforts aggregators or review sites. of the industry.

Before buying an insurance policy, Dive deeper and learn the perfect mix customers first validate any information found between digital and human interaction online through friends, family, or advisors that to give the “phygital” experience that they trust. MoneySmart’s survey showed that customers need and want, especially in this a cross-check is almost always necessary in pandemic. Download MoneySmart’s white getting customers across the line. paper HERE. specifications and what the coverage entails, hence customers are more likely to buy from online platforms than go through a financial advisor. Some even find the purchase of such a policy easy after getting reassurance that their choice of insurer and product is correct.

For other products, however, such as life insurance, it can be surmised that customers cannot solely rely on digital channels to address their complexity.

SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEW | Q1 2022

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INTERVIEW

SingHealth Duke-NUS invests in ‘the seeds of the future generation’ It launched a new institute that opens doors for maternal-child care research.

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he SingHealth Duke-NUS launched the Maternal and Child Health Research Institute (MCHRI) at the KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital (KKH) on 8 October 2021. MCHRI seeks to advance reproductive, metabolic and mental health, cognitive development, and critical disease cure through research with a direct impact on patient care, innovation, and digital strategies. It is the culmination of the SingHealth-Duke NUS Academic Clinical Programmes for Paediatrics’ and Obstetrics and Gynaecology’s 10th year.

Singapore Business Review sat down with Associate Professor Ng Kee Chong, the recently appointed director of the MCHRI and the current medical board chairman of the KKH, to know more about the formation of the research institute, its goals, and what it contributes to the maternal and child health community.

Ng prides himself on being part of Singapore’s only women’s and children’s hospital, which has a rich 160-yearold history. The hospital also holds a Guinness Book world record with the most deliveries in 1966 at 39,835 births.

According to Ng, KKH delivers more than one-third of the deliveries in Singapore every year. He added in the last five to ten years, they have worked through the Ministry of Health and charitable institutions to reach out to the community and develop an ecosystem to care for women and children better.

Clinical Associate Professor Ng Kee Chong, Maternal and Child Health Research Institute; KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital

What are the medical highlights you can share for the hospital, leading to the formation and launch of the MCHRI? KKH has the largest child development unit in Singapore that helps improve care for child development and children with special needs such as attention deficit and learning disorders.

We also work very closely with the community to try to improve care in the whole continuum. The second highlight is in psychosocial trauma support. We partnered with [the Temasek Foundation] to help improve psychosocial trauma support care for children in the community by working with the family service centres. We are also proud of the region’s first human milk bank, which opened two to three years ago.

It currently provides pasteurised breast milk for babies who are unable to get breast milk. That helps to improve general health and prevent things like necrotising enterocolitis.

How does KKH contribute toward the MCHRI, and what will you continue to provide to meet the goals and mission of the MCHRI? What we are adopting is what we call a life-course approach to this whole continuum of care. Essentially, we are looking at maternal and child health as a whole continuous circle of life. The woman grows up to be healthy in society, marries and sets up a family, becomes pregnant and gives birth to a child. Then, the child goes up healthy, becomes an adult, and then contributes back into the family life. The life-course 26

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We do not want to just ‘medicalise’ health. Health also involves social, economic, and educational aspects

approach refers to how we manage the health of the mother, the child, and the rest of the family. The husband-father is also important in the whole unit, as elements of health can affect them through various social and cultural issues also, not just medical parts. What we do not want to do is just “medicalise” health. Health is not just giving medicines but is also revolving around social aspects, economic aspects, and educational aspects, which are very important to consider.

We want to look at it in the different dimensions so that we can appreciate the complexities of the health of the mother and child, and see how we can then improve and optimise the maternal-child health through these various aspects.

We are not just working with the Ministry of Health as a hospital, but we also engage with social agencies. The key ones we work with are the Ministry of Social and Family Development, as well as the Ministry of Education. They are important elements if we want to optimise the health of mothers and children. In the end, our key goal is to essentially do three things: be Asia’s centre of excellence for maternal and child health, translate research to improve general health for mothers and children, and strengthen human capital.

Singapore is not very rich in resources, but it has its people.

So, we want to optimise the value of people by optimising their health.

The three arms of the SingHealth Duke-NUS MCHRI are, first, to establish a multidisciplinary research community to conduct high-impact clinical, translational, and population health research to meet maternal and child health needs. The second is to establish strong, synergistic partnerships with our partners and key stakeholders; not just healthcare professionals but also sociologists, psychologists, educationalists, and other people in the Singaporean and international community. The last area that is very equally important is to attract future talents and groom the next

INTERVIEW generation of maternal and child health investigators and researchers for Singapore and beyond. We want to collaborate with everybody as we move forward.

What do you see as areas of development needed for the field of maternal and childcare in Singapore and the Asia Pacific region?

If we look at the area of needs, it can be divided into four key domains: preconception and reproductive health; metabolic health; neurocognitive, developmental, and mental health and wellness; and cancer and critical diseases. It applies to us both in Singapore and internationally. Of all these domains, I think the two things that are very important for maternal and child health, especially in this day and age in Singapore, are mental and metabolic health.

We are very competitive and all caught up in a rat race.

Our women are marrying later, having children later, and having a small number of children because both parents are working very hard. No longer is family support usually two adults and there’s not much social support. The self-efficacy of parenting and being confident as a parent, especially for first-time parents, is quite lacking. We want to see how we can optimise this. Parents themselves are stressed because of various economic issues, whether they are bringing up a child correctly, COVID-19, and so on. What we want to do is address some of the mental and emotional well-being of mothers. We have a very high rate of prenatal and postnatal depression, so we want to see how we can improve screening and also help them in the early phase. Children are also very stressed with schooling and we want to see how we can better improve their emotional well being. With the internet and social media, there is also increased pressures like cyberbullying.

As for metabolic health maternal pregnancy-wise, up to 20% of our pregnant women have diabetes and metabolic diseases. We need to address how they should learn to take nutritious, metabolically good food and how they can continue to exercise and keep themselves fit. Meanwhile, children tend to have more and more screen time with less exercise. When I ask my patients what games they play, they tell me what latest computer game they are playing, which is not what I asked them. I am asking what physical games they play, but they tell me they are addicted to this latest computer game. All these are not good things that we should try to address and see how we can help our next generation grow up stronger.

Another way of looking at factors affecting maternal-child health is the three C’s. The first C is cyber wellness, the effects of digitalisation, computers, and social media. I mentioned cyberbullying and the effects of social media on the general health of women and children. Health information in social media is also not necessarily good. There is so much fake news out there in the media regarding health. It also affects all four of the domains I enumerated. The second C is COVID-19. We are now at the endemic phase. We need to live with COVID, like [Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong] said. But, what is the impact of COVID on maternal-child health? Parents are stressed mentally and economically. The virus is a generational change affecting us. It will leave our whole way of living our lives and how we remain healthy for

Mental and metabolic health are important for maternal and child health especially in Singapore

Factors affecting maternal-child health include the 3 Cs: cyber wellness, COVID-19, and climate change

them in the maternal-child health field. The last C is climate change. It is relevant to maternal and child care because climate change affects the food supply, which mothers and children need to be healthy.

What upcoming plans or projects from MCHRI can you share at this point? What can consumers, patients, and healthcare partners expect from MCHRI soon?

From what was shared, one of them was the memorandum of understanding for an ongoing collaboration that we signed with Menarini Biomarkers Singapore. We want to develop technology to identify foetal cells in the first trimester of pregnancy to better manage pregnancies with chromosomal or genetic abnormalities.

We also have piloted the [Integrated Maternal and Child Wellness Hub] in Punggol, where we bring in a very focused developmental assessment of the young kids to oversee their development.

Another project we are working on is looking at how we can improve parenting self-efficacy by sending out nudges and guiding them through the first 1,000 days of pregnancy up to two years of age. We hypothesise that having those very targeted nudges helps improve their parenting self-efficacy and makes them more confident as parents.

Lastly, we are collaborating with the UN Foundation and other agencies on this project called Healthy Early Life Moments or HELMS, which is looking at how we can improve the whole metabolic and mental wellness of women from preconception to giving birth through behavioural modifications and timely health advice. If we succeed, we plan to build this into our national system in a very calibrated way.

Do you see any partnerships or collaborations with anybody outside of Singapore?

We have a rich history of collaboration from KKH, and we want to use the MCHRI to collaborate further. One collaboration is the Integrated Platform for Research in Advancing Metabolic Health Outcomes of Women and Children or IPRAMHO. We have a network with ASEAN countries where there is an annual conference held every year to share and support one another in terms of collaboration. In terms of various links we have for critical illnesses, we have an initiative called the Pediatric Acute & Critical Care Medicine Asian Network or PACCMAN, which is a research network to look at critically ill children in the region. For children’s cancer care, we have a partnership with St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital. These are just some examples of the collaborations SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEW | Q1 2022

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COVER STORY

The World Bank Global Outlook noted that 90% of advanced economies may recover to pre-2019 levels in 2022

Where to invest your money in 2022 Asian SPACs are expected to enter Singapore and Hong Kong markets this year.

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he last year was not without challenges, as supply constraints and the chip shortage continue—and 2022 might not be so different for developing economies. The World Bank Global Outlook noted that 90% of advanced economies may recover to pre-2019 levels in 2022, but only a third of emerging and developing markets will hit the same target. Travel restrictions might not be lifted this year due to emerging COVID-19 variants, thus leaving the aviation and tourism sectors struggling.

Trade costs are still expected to be high, hampering international trade growth.

With all of these developments, investing in 2022 might seem daunting. Singapore Business Review gathered some ideas on where to invest your money.

Idea 1: REITs With inflation picking up following 2020’s economic recession, real estate is often thought of as a good hedge.

But, based on historical data, Oliver Samson from Savills World Research said that it also depends on which region you plan to invest in.

“From a regional perspective, Europe provides the best inflation hedge in comparison with North America or the Asia Pacific. This is underpinned by the widespread use of indexation, which is quite unique to European real estate, and differentiates the region from its global peers,” Samson said on Savill’s Inflation Implications for Real Estate report.

For the Asia Pacific, Samson noted that lease lengths 28

SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEW | Q1 2022

IPO activity in Asia was undeterred by the pandemic.

As of midNovember 2021, a record of US$9.8b was raised from 121 IPOs from Southeast Asia alone

tend to be shorter than their international counterparts, at approximately three to five years. This, in turn, causes demand conditions to differ across major cities and sectors. “Vacancy rates tend to be higher in office and retail compared with industrial (similar to the global trend), and are much lower in Tokyo compared with other markets such as Shanghai and Singapore. Shanghai retail leases, much like many other cities globally, often include a turnover linked component,” he said.

Idea 2: Asian Capital Markets IPO activity in Asia was undeterred by the pandemic, which several economies continue to battle to this very day. Data from Deloitte reported that as of mid-November, there was a record of US$9.8b raised from 121 IPOs from Southeast Asia alone, overtaking last year’s performance. Thailand had raised the highest funds from IPOs for the third consecutive year, followed by Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Vietnam.

Whilst it is possible that 2022 will continue to have a robust IPO market, investors have another thing to look forward to: SPACs. In September 2021, the Singapore Exchange released its regulations for black cheque listings.

Hong Kong is expected to follow suit in 2022 with its own regulations. These two influential markets can light a fire that could lead the way to SPAC listings in other markets, giving companies a faster option to raise funds.

“There is now a significant uptick in companies in China

COVER STORY and across Asia considering a similar route to accessing US capital markets as investors and management teams try to mitigate some of the challenges of traditional US IPOs; in particular market volatility around pricing and the significant investment of management time and cost,” Deloitte China said in its The Rise of SPAC in Asia report.

Idea 3: Cryptocurrency Cryptocurrency has become bigger than ever in 2021, with the price of a single Bitcoin skyrocketing to over US$57,000 as of the end of November 2021—and central banks from different economies are taking notice, with Sweden’s Riksbank, the Bank of England, the Bank of Canada, and the central banks of Thailand and Singapore researching the implementation of central bank digital currencies or CBDCs. On the opposite end of the crypto-space is decentralised finance or DeFi, keeping with cryptocurrency’s roots of having minimum regulation, save for being on a secure blockchain, enabling faster, registered transactions. 2022 would be an interesting year for cryptocurrencies, with governments and emerging fintech companies seemingly at odds with the future of this digital tender.

The top 10 cryptocurrencies based on approximate market cap in 2021 are Bitcoin (US$1.8b), Ethereum (US$557b), Binance Coin (US$104b), Tether (US$73b), Solana (US$64b), Cardano (US$52b), XRP (US$47b), U.S. Dollar Coin (US$38b), Polkadot (US$37b), and Dogecoin (US$28b).

Idea 4: NFTs Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have taken centre stage in the crypto-asset space since it was announced in mid-2021. As a unique digital asset, NFTs provide one-of-a-kind and noninterchangeable proof that one has purchased another digital asset. With NFTs mostly linking to visual artworks, the NFT market has served as an online art trade. The most expensive NFT, Everydays: The First 5000 Days by artist Beeple, was auctioned off for US$69.3m.

However, contrary to popular belief, NFTs do not prove ownership of the asset it links to. “An NFT is not the underlying asset itself, but an electronic record proving

NFTs have taken centre stage in the crypto-asset space since mid-2021

E-commerce sales in APAC are expected to hit the US$2t mark by 2025

ownership of the asset that is separate from other legal ownership risks (such as the copyright, in the case of a digital artwork). In other words, owning an NFT does not necessarily equate to owning the asset underlying the NFT, unless the NFT specifically includes a transfer of rights such as the copyright,” defined PwC in its Annual Global Crypto Tax Report 2021.

“If such a transfer were allowed under local law at all, it could be tricky in a blockchain environment, given that in certain jurisdictions the transfer of copyright must be in writing and signed by the copyright owner,” PwC added.

Idea 5: E-commerce E-commerce is a booming industry, especially in Southeast Asia. Analytics firm AppsFlyer, in its 2021 State of eCommerce App Marketing report, saw a 240% increase in spending from Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. In-app revenue rose by 13% to 35% from March to July of 2021, bucking the 2.05% decline in global spending.

“Southeast Asia is poised to experience a digital shopping wave; what businesses do now can determine their market share over the next few years,” said Sam Chiu, Senior Director of Marketing, APAC, AppsFlyer.

The Asia Pacific and Australasia regions are poised to become e-commerce powerhouses in the future, with sales opportunities of over US$6.

The Asia Pacific and Australasia will become an e-commerce powerhouse in 2021 and beyond, due to e-commerce sales opportunities of over US$68.5b, according to a new report from global market research company Euromonitor International. Sales in the Asia Pacific are expected to hit the US$2t mark by 2025.

Idea 6: Green finance There has been an increased interest in green finance.

Data from the Climate Bonds Initiative show that an approximate US$452.2b green bonds were issued globally in 2021, far exceeding the US$279b issued the year previous. Standard Chartered, in its Sustainable Investing Review 2021, noted that 13% of emerging affluent, affluent, and high net worth investors have sustainable investments making up more than a quarter of their portfolio. An approximate 61% of these investors have placed funds in a sustainable investment solution.

Investors effectively are spending less and getting higher returns on green bonds, than they are on other bonds. And that’s also showing up in the level of oversubscription on bond issuance. So everyone wants bonds right now, they want certainty. They’re the most popular category of bond versions right now. So that bodes really well for your supply and demand and growth going forward,” said KMPG Partner and Head of Financial Services Anton Ruddenklau said in an interview with Singapore Business Review last quarter.

KPMG Partner for Financial Services Leon Ong, in the same interview, cited Singapore and Hong Kong as growing markets for green finance, adding that China will continue to be the juggernaut in the Asian region.

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CASE STUDY 1: U-ENERGY

UOB simplifies and amplifies Singaporeans’ green energy journey with U-Energy The bank seeks to help address the energy crisis and rising electricity costs, says UOB’s Jasper Wong. types that they can service, and also the type of projects that they can do. So for instance, the customer may choose to do LED upgrades, they may do solar, and so on,” Wong explained.

The platform also comes with an energy savings calculator that gives the client a rough idea of how much energy savings they can achieve, and what kind of greenhouse gas emissions impact that they can have, amongst others. Clients only need to fill out some questions about their home and building as well as their consumption needs, and select flexible financing options.

Clients can then choose either to do a direct capital expenditure (Capex) or direct purchase of the equipment needed; or they can apply for the energy-as-a-service model, where they don’t have to upfront the cost and pay as they are able to save from the energy efficiency project.

U-Energy is Asia’s first integrated financing platform to drive the adoption for energy projects

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magine saving up to 40% of your current electricity costs whilst making your energy consumption more sustainable.

It’s not just a fantasy; it’s a reality, according to UOB. But most Singaporeans apparently aren’t aware of this, and this is what pushed UOB to launch the U-Energy programme.

“A lot of times when we approach our clients and say, ‘Hey, do you know that actually, you can save 30 to 40% of your energy costs by using an AI tool to monitor your electricity or optimise your energy usage,’ clients are very surprised,” Jasper Wong, Head of Construction and Infrastructure, Sector Solutions Group at UOB, told Singapore Business Review in an exclusive interview.

“They know that there are key tools out there that can actually help them to save money. But because they are very busy, and they [do not] have anyone they can go and talk 30

SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEW | Q1 2022

Jasper Wong

The energy crisis is one of the driving forces behind UOB’s decision to create and launch U-Energy

with to help them with their energy needs, they basically just set it aside.

So promoting market awareness is something that U-Energy is striving to do, to help the industry,” he said.

The bank didn’t just want to promote sustainable energy options—they also wanted to simplify sustainability for business and homeowners.

That was how U-Energy came about. Unveiled in September, the programme—touted as Asia’s first integrated financing platform to drive the adoption for energy projects—can easily be accessed online.

Better yet, customers signing up for the program will have easy access to nine energy partners to choose from who can help them meet their sustainable energy needs, depending on their preferences.

“When they go to our website, they will see our partners, [who] will lay out what kind of building

Energy crisis, rising costs Wong named the energy crisis as one of the driving forces behind UOB’s decision to create and launch the platform.

He added that there’s a lot of pressure being put on Asian cities in regard to whether they’re talking about energy usage, water usage, as well as the e-waste management— everything that needs power, and also everything that needs to be made more efficient.

This demand for more energy, coupled with limitations in nonrenewable energy resources, is driving energy prices up, Wong explained. UOB found the answer in digitalisation. “It has accelerated the ability for us to effectively quantify and track and monitor in terms of how people use their energy,” Wong said, adding that through installing IoT and using AI technology, amongst other digital tools, you can better optimise your energy usage.

Prepare for landing.

One airport, two states, endless business opportunities. www.airport-region.com SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEW | Q1 2022

31

CASE STUDY 2: CITI CHINA DESK

Citi Commercial Bank bridges cultural gap with China Desk initiative The desk opens Singapore to mid-sized Chinese firms seeking to penetrate ASEAN.

CCB opened a new China Desk in Singapore dedicated to China’s emerging market champions

A

sian consumers have started to thirst for Chinese brands.

Take the demand for phone brands, for example—a survey found that these consumers’ top five picks, amongst the ten most preferred global brands, are from China.

To support Chinese firms taking advantage of this trend, Citi Commercial Bank (CCB) opened a new China Desk in Singapore dedicated to China’s emerging market champions. The new desk adds to CCB’s expanding network of six Asia desks in the region.

Although the China Desk concept is not new to Citi and Singapore, this recently established desk is unique because it is the first for Citi to support mid-sized businesses from China to use Singapore as a launching pad into the country and other markets in ASEAN, CCB’s Managing Director and Singapore & ASEAN Head Hsiu-Yi Lin told Singapore Business Review.

“We launched the first Singaporebased China Desk to serve our

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SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEW | Q1 2022

With CCB’s China Desk, clients can have the complexity of entering new markets cut down significantly

Chinese clients in Singapore back in 2010. And a second desk in Singapore was launched back in 2018 to serve Chinese clients expanding into ASEAN from Singapore,” Hsiu-Yi explained, emphasising that these desks support Chinese multinational companies (MNCs).

What makes the CCB China Desk stand out is that it is helmed by experienced bankers, with several of them from China—specifically from the CCB China branch.

“These specialists have a deep understanding of the local operating and regulatory environments across the different ASEAN markets on top of Citi’s products and services.

Importantly, many of these bankers have supported these Chinese firms back in China before their expansion into Southeast Asia, and so, they have deep knowledge of the requirements of these clients in addition to understanding the nuances of the Chinese business culture, language and etiquette,”

Hsiu-Yi said.

One-stop-shop With CCB’s China Desk, clients can have the complexity of entering new markets cut down significantly.

“We notice that as companies grow rapidly, expand internationally, or both, they inevitably encounter challenges in their banking flow that could slow them down or prevent them from reaching their full potential. Without a global bank or global solutions, these companies would spend endless hours on their banking needs to the point that it becomes an obstacle in their journey,” Hsiu-Yi said.

Hsiu-Yi explained that, in the past, if clients want to enter several markets in ASEAN, they have to work with CCB’s local teams in every market. And if they don’t work with CCB, they would have to work with different banks across these markets.

With the Singapore China Desk, it is now a one-stop-shop for them, made more easily as they are manned

CASE STUDY 2: CITI CHINA DESK by bankers who understand their business culture, language, and etiquette.

“As we are present in six markets in ASEAN including Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, The Philippines and Thailand, this enables their expansion into the region to be much more seamless,” Hsiu-Yi added.

Why Singapore?

“For many years, Singapore has been the gateway to ASEAN for many global MNCs due to a host of reasons such as rule of law, robust infrastructure, ease of doing business, effective government and established regulatory frameworks, human capital, motivated workforce, intellectual property protection and in recent years, fintech and innovation,” Hsiu-Yi said.

Hsiu-Yi also said that Singapore has a geographic advantage within ASEAN because it is situated at the tip of the Malay Peninsula where the main trading and shipping routes of the world converge. Additionally,

Singapore is also less than a fourhour flight away from most ASEAN countries.

CCB anticipates more Chinese firms to set up their presence in Singapore to get better access to the ASEAN markets.

Hence, the decision to place the first CCB China Desk in Singapore is timely as Hsiu-Yi said that they have seen steady growth in their portfolio of Chinese firms within the ASEAN region.

“Client acquisition of Chinese corporates has grown at 46% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) and revenue at 76% CAGR between 2019 and YTD 2021. Not surprisingly, we are seeing high double-digit percentage growth across various industry sectors like industrials, consumer products, healthcare and tech,” Hsiu-Yi added.

Right now, there are still no concrete plans on where CCB would expand their next China Desk; however, CCB plans to expand its Singapore-based China desk team over time.

Hsiu-Yi Lin

The bank also has several new projects in the pipeline that would leverage Citi’s global network.

“Whilst we continue efforts to strengthen the ‘human touch’ of our business as relationships continue to be key for growth in a digital banking world, we are also doubling down on our digitisation strategy and leveraging AI technology to better support our clients. In addition to expanding into new markets, we plan to invest even more in countries where we are presently and this includes headcount expansion,” Hsiu-Yi said.

Singapore has been the gateway to ASEAN for many global MNCs

APAC banks’ outlook stable, but face uneven recovery: Moody’s The expected economic recovery in APAC will solidify in 2022 as pandemic effects subside, which should support banks’ creditworthiness—although the pace of recovery will be uneven.

Diversified economies and those with higher vaccination rates will rebound faster, with about half of APAC economies seeing a growth rebound relative to prepandemic years, according to a report by ratings agency Moody’s.

“Banks will maintain solid balance sheets with stable solvency and liquidity metrics. Problem loans will increase modestly with the ending of remaining government support measures in most markets, however, their strong credit reserves will mitigate the related asset risk for banks,” said Eugene Tarzimanov, a Moody’s vice president and senior credit officer.

Tarzimanov added that core capital ratios will remain stable as improving profitability will support credit growth, dividend payouts and share buybacks.

Some central banks may also choose to raise interest rates amidst higher inflation and fewer disruptions caused by the

COVID-19 pandemic.

Overall, however, monetary policy will remain largely accommodative or neutral in most APAC economies.

“Whilst private debt levels are high, generally low-interest rates and the broad economic recovery will support bank borrowers’ debt repayment capacity,” Tarzimanov said.

Meanwhile, high asset prices across the region present mixed credit implications for banks. On the one hand, property price inflation is expected to strengthen its collateral value.

But on the downside, the high prices increases the risk of a sudden market correction, should economic or financial market conditions abruptly deteriorate, Moody’s warned.

Meanwhile, high commodity prices are positive for banks in commodity-exporting economies like Indonesia and Malaysia, as well as trade finance hubs like Singapore and Hong Kong.

Moody’s also expects APAC regulators to introduce more rules to support and guide banks in this transition to low carbon or more environmentally friendly portfolios.

The expected economic recovery in APAC will solidify in 2022

SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEW | Q1 2022

33

LEGAL LUMINARIES

Singapore’s 18 most influential lawyers under 40 in 2021

E

ighteen new lawyers have been nominated as the most promising in Singapore Business Review’s eighth year of legal luminaries aged 40 and under list. They shine in diverse fields of law, from corporate and employment law to intellectual property. Lawyers on the list have also advised clients on matters such as energy resource projects, corporate resolutions, and privacy laws.

The rankings on this list are from youngest to oldest.

1

Gabriel Li, 31, Withers KhattarWong Li is currently an associate in the corporate team focusing on venture capital investments, crossborder investments, acquisitions, and joint ventures. Highlights of his career include advising Tokocrypto on the launch of its newest token, TKO. He also advised Kejora Ventures on SiCepat Ekspres Indonesia’s US$195m Series B fundraising.

Li also assisted with an associated secondary purchase of shares in SiCepat Ekspres from existing shareholders. This deal is the largest Series B fundraising in Indonesia in 2020.

2 Nandhu, 31, RHTLaw Asia LLP Nandhu is a Senior Associate currently practising litigation and dispute resolution.

At 31, she is handling State Courts, High Court, SICC, Court of Appeal, and international arbitration matters. Her career highlights include the first-ever successful appeal from SICC to the Court of Appeal due to an alleged breach of a non-recourse loan agreement and her representation of the Singapore Golf Association, Korea Golf Association, and Indonesia Golf Association at the Asian Games 2018 in a sports arbitration.

Alexander Joseph Woon Wei-Ming, 31, RHTLaw Asia Wei-Ming is currently a lecturer at the School of Law, Singapore University of Social Sciences, and a counsel at RHTLaw 3

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SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEW | Q1 2022

Asia. He served as Programme Director at SMU Academy Graduate Certificate in Law and Technology. He was also part of the State Counsel that presented evidence before the Committee of Inquiry during the cyberattack on SingHealth in 2018, the then-largest data breach in Singapore’s history.

Elaina Foo, 32, Bird & Bird ATMD LLP Foo is affiliated with Bird & Bird ATMD LLP, specialising in public policy practice. She advised on privacy laws in Brunei, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Thailand, Nepal, Singapore, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan.

She also advised against the emerging disinformation or fake news in Sri Lanka and on India’s proposed regulatory framework for non-personal data. She has served as a contact for those looking to launch new OTT platforms in the APAC region and maintained an active presence in discussions regarding the regulation of AI. 4

5

Esther Wee, 32, Harry Elias Partnership LLP Wee is currently the head of IP and an OF counsel for Harry Elias Partnership LLP. Notable cases she has assisted with include Procter & Gamble in coordinating a series of raids in Singapore to address the seizure of liquid detergents, Japan Tobacco International in an IP due diligence exercise of an acquisition deal, and Zilingo Pte. Ltd. in managing its global trademark, advising on enforcement actions, and filing for oppositions in the Philippines.

Kok Yee Keong, 32, Harry Elias Partnership LLP Yee Keong is a senior legal associate at Harry Elias Partnership LLP (HEP). In his seven years with HEP, Leong has appeared 6

in all levels of court, as well as served as a member of the Personal Injury/ Property Damage Committee, Law Society of Singapore from 2019-2021, and Community Legal Clinic Committee, Law Society Pro Bono Services from 2020-2021. Yee Keong has worked in civil and commercial litigation, asset recovery, insolvency and restructuring, construction and engineering, real estate management, and personal injury and property damage.

7

Ng Sook Zhen, 33, Dentons Rodyk Sook Zhen is a partner of Dentons Rodyk’s Regional practice group and is currently the head of the Japan Desk. At 33, she has assisted Singaporean and Japanese clients on various matters including banking and finance disputes, and employment and regulatory compliance. Highlights of Zhen’s law career include advising Capital World Ltd. on a pre-pack scheme of arrangement now sanctioned by the Singapore High Court and the divestment of shareholding in Timbre Group by a member of parliament and the founder of said group.

8

Thian Wen Yi, 33, Harry Elias Partnership LLP Wen Yi is a partner at Harry Elias Partnership LLP with expertise in family and matrimonial law. Some notable career highlights include participating in closed-door sessions on the revamp of the Family Justice Rules in 2020 and giving a talk on personal protection orders for the Singapore Council of Women’s Organisations in July 2021. Landmark cases held by Yi include acting as lead counsel for Sim Kim Heng Andrew v Wee Siew Gee [2014] 1 SLR 1276, and co-counsel in TGT v TGU [2015] SGHCF 10.

9

Justine Barthe-Dejean, 35, Holman Fenwick Willan, Singapore Barthe-Dejean is a senior associate of the Commodities Team at Holman Fenwick Willan Singapore. At 35, she

LEGAL LUMINARIES has acted for energy, natural resources, and commodities companies at arbitrations in Singapore and London. Highlights of her career include assisting clients with the creation of a standard LNG master sale and purchase agreement with over 30 major international counterparties and helping clients transition towards sustainable solutions in the carbon trading space.

10 Benjamin Liew, 36, Rajah & Tann Singapore LLP Liew is a partner at Rajah & Tann Singapore LLP, focusing on advising financial institutions, such as investment banks, private banks, and insurance companies. In 2021, he was seconded to an international payment services firm and completed a specialist secondment programme in 2019. Liew has also represented OUE Commercial REIT Management Pte. Ltd., DBS Trustee Limited, and RBC Investor Trust Services Singapore Limited in relation to the grant of loan facilities in an aggregate principal amount of up to $900m.

11

Wang Ying Shuang, 37, Rajah & Tann Singapore LLP Ying Shuang is a partner at Rajah & Tann Singapore LLP, concerned particularly in the field of insurance law. Shuang has represented clients in international arbitrations under ICC and SIAC Rules, the High Court, and the Court of Appeal.

Highlights of her career include representing the Land Transport Authority in the firstever merit hearing in SG’s legal history. She also represented one of the largest global insurers in white-collar fraud and asset tracing and recovery matters across four jurisdictions and 26 parties.

12 Renu Menon, 37, Drew & Napier Menon is the director and deputy head of Banking and Finance, Drew & Napier

LLC. Highlights of her legal career since moving to corporate experience in 2011 include acting as local counsel in relation to Singapore law security aspects of financing extended by export credit agencies Japan Bank for International Cooperation, The Export-Import Bank of Kor ea, as well as The Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd., Mizuho Bank, Ltd., Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, and ING Bank N.V. 13

Debby Lim, 38, Dentons Rodyk Lim is a partner in Dentons Rodyk’s Restructuring, Insolvency, and Bankruptcy practice group. Milestones in her career include acting counsel for Hoe Leong Corporation in the restructuring of its debts worth nearly $80m, being Singapore counsel for the appellant creditor in SK Engineering & Co Ltd v Conchubar Aromatics Ltd., and acting counsel for the successful liquidators in Duncan, Cameron Lindsay, and another v Diablo Fortune Inc. Lim also acted as counsel for Bermudaincorporated mainboard-listed China Sports International.

Adam Maniam, 38, Drew & Napier LLC Maniam is one of the youngest lawyers to be admitted to equity directorship at Drew & Napier. As one of the firm’s recruitment partners, he plays a part in the recruitment of talent for the firm. Aside from handling cases in the Singapore Courts, highlights in his career include serving as lead counsel in an SIAC Emergency Arbritation and serving as cocounsel in an SIAC international arbitration involving a Singapore government-linked company and an Australian listed company.

14

15 Jasmine Chew, 39, Rajah & Tann

Singapore LLP Chew is a partner at Rajah & Tann Singapore LLP with her area of expertise being fund management, investment advisory services, and the establishment of both onshore and offshore investment funds.

Chew has experience in advising various

funds related matters, as well as advising both funds and fund managers on various issues. Another area Chew has shown expertise in is the winding up and liquidation of offshore investment funds.

16 Ruby Tham, 39, Drew & Napier Tham is the Director of Intellectual Property at Drew & Napier. Highlights of her career include Combe International Ltd. v. Dr. August Wolff GmbH & Co. KG Arzneimittel [2021] SGIPOS 10, in which she successfully defended in favour of Dr. August Wolff and Compagnie Des Montres Longines, Francillon S.A. (Longines Watch Co., Francillon Ltd.) v POINT tec Products Electronic GmbH [2020] SGIPOS 9, in which Ruby successfully acted for POINT tec in defending Longines’ opposition.

Alexandra Forrest, 40, Holman Fenwick Willan, Singapore Forrest is a Senior Associate at Holman Fenwick Willan (HFW) Singapore and has spent over nine years working in aviation finance and leasing. Forrest’s professional achievements include a position as Singapore’s representative on the firm’s global associate counsel, being the founding member of the HFW Singapore office’s Corporate Responsibility Focus Group, and being a presence in improving cross-sector relationships with the shipping and aviation sectors.

17

Foo Maw Jiun, 38, Dentos Rodyk Foo Maw Jiun is the Co-Head of the Data Privacy & Protection and Cybersecurity practices of the firm.

Achievements of the lawyer include acting for Denstply Sirona at Tomy Inc v Dentsply Sirona Inc [2020] SGHC 105 and the successful acting for Towa Corporation in the Singapore High Court and Court of Appeal. Data privacy and laws, as well as breaches in data privacy serve as his areas of speciality.

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SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEW | Q1 2022

35

LEGAL INDUSTRY SURVEY

The law industry is in the midst of ‘the great resignation’

Singapore legal industry sees highest number of departures Thanks to the great resignation, burnout, and generation gap.

S

tatistics showed that 2021 saw the highest number of registered lawyers at 6,333 within five years. The Law Society of Singapore President Adrian Tan, however, pointed out that lawyers leaving their professions in recent years have also increased—and this is a cause for concern.

About 538 lawyers shifting careers were recorded in 2020, 30% higher compared to the previous years’ usual departures of around 380 to 430.

Out of the 22 foreign and local firms surveyed by Singapore Business Review, only seven firms have increased lawyer counts.

Allen & Gledhill, in particular, kept its top spot as the biggest law firm. In 2021, it had an additional 14 lawyers to its roster, bringing the overall number to 432 from 418 in 2020.

Keeping its second-biggest law firm rank is Rajah & Tann Singapore LLP, with an increase to 390 lawyers in 2021 from 349 in 2020.

Wong Partnership, on the other hand, maintained its roster size of 330 lawyers.

Other law firms that showed maintained growth in 2020 include Drew & Napier LLC with a jump by 20 lawyers to reach 319 overall.

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SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEW | Q1 2022

Adrian Tan

2021 saw the highest number of registered lawyers in Singapore, but lawyers leaving their professions have also increased

Dentons Rodyk & Davidson experienced a dip by two layers to end 2021 with 204, down from 206.

Meanwhile, firms like Bird & Bird ATMD LLP, and Tan Peng Chin LLC retained their lawyer count at 50 and 40, respectively.

Tan Kok Quan Partnership and Tan Peng Chin LLC, both found at the bottom of the list, saw a decrease to 36 lawyers and preservation of their number at 40 lawyers, respectively.

Why are lawyers leaving?

Tan implied that the law industry, and all industries, in particular, are in the midst of The great resignation.

He pointed out an observed trend in these departures.

14% of the 538 lawyers that resigned throughout the previous year were made up of Junior Category lawyers, or those in practice for less than five years.

“The Junior Category might be facing a perfect storm: a record high number of departures coinciding with a record low number of entrants,” said Tan. Official statistics also found on The Law Society of Singapore showed a drop in from Junior lawyers to those

with five to 15 years of experience.

As of 31 August 2021, 1,690 lawyers had five to 15 years of experience, a decline from the 2,214 junior lawyers seen on the website.

Another factor that led to the resignations is burnout, Tan added.

“It may be tougher to be a young lawyer now, than at any time in history. The hours are long, and clients are demanding. Thanks to technology, young lawyers are on call night and day. E-mail and instant messaging mean that they operate at a far more intense pace, compared to previous generations. Many are exhausted.”

To combat this obstacle in mental wellness, various support schemes were introduced by the Law Society. This includes the Relational Mentorship Program, in which a junior practitioner requests for a relational mentor with a volunteer mentor, and the Young Lawyers Law Mentors Scheme, an informal peer to peer support scheme that groups up young lawyers with law graduates, trainees and newly qualified lawyers.

Counsellors are also available for lawyers to take advantage of. A helpline is also available for members of The Law Society.

Temporary solutions Despite these solutions in place, Tan said that these actions are only temporary as there is a huge gap between the experiences and mindset of those in the current generation and those with more senior experience.

“The 21st-century lawyers are different. They want to marry, not the law, but a human being. They too want to work hard. They too want their work to have meaning. But they also want other things that human beings want: to have children, to build a home, to have a life outside the law. And they may not want to put these aspects of their lives on hold, or compromise them, in favour of the law.”

Tan believed that along with this new movement towards a worklife balance, 21st-century lawyers can also face a future beyond the traditional brick-and-mortar law firm.

LEGAL INDUSTRY SURVEY 2021 Rankings

LAW FIRM

2020 Rankings

Foreign/Local

2020 Legal Professionals

2021 Legal Professionals

Managing Partner

1

Allen & Gledhill

1

LOCAL

418

432

CHRISTINA ONG JERRY KOH

2

Rajah & Tann Singapore LLP

2

LOCAL

349

390

PATRICK ANG

3

WongPartnership LLP

3

LOCAL

330

330

NG WAI KING

4

Drew & Napier LLC

4

LOCAL

290

319

CAVINDER BULL

5

Dentons Rodyk & Davidson LLP

5

FOREIGN

206

204

PHILIP JEYARETNAM

6

Shook Lin & Bok LLP

7

LOCAL

125

127

SARJIT SINGH GILL

7

Linklaters

11

FOREIGN

43**

112

CHRISTOPHER BRADLEY

8

Withers KhattarWong

10

LOCAL

88

101

DEBORAH BARKER

9

RHT Law Asia (RHTLaw Taylor Wessing LLP renamed in 2020)

9

LOCAL

92

99

AZMAN JAAFAR

10

Clifford Chance

12

FOREIGN

105**

99

KAI-NIKLAS SCHNEIDER

11

Lee & Lee

8

LOCAL

90

90

KWA KIM LI

12

Allen and Overy

14

FOREIGN

18*

88

CHRISTOPHER MOORE

13

Harry Elias Partnership

9

LOCAL

80

82

PHILIP FONG

14

TSMP Law Corporation

13

LOCAL

70

70

THIO SHEN YI

15

Norton Rose (Asia) LLP

15

FOREIGN

53**

54

YU-EN ONG

16

Bird & Bird ATMD LLP

20

LOCAL

50

50

LORRAINE ANNE TAY SANDRA SEAH

17

Latham & Watkins LLP

18

FOREIGN

38**

44

MICHAEL W. STURROCK

18

Herbert Smith Freehills

17

FOREIGN

49**

43

ALASTAIR HENDERSON

19

HFW

19

FOREIGN

34**

41

MERT HIFZI

20

Tan Peng Chin LLC

21

LOCAL

40

40

WONG LIANG KOK LIM JO SEE

21

CNPLaw LLP

20

LOCAL

41

37

LISA THENG

22

Tan Kok Quan Partnership

20

LOCAL

39

36

MARINA CHIN EDDEE NG

23

Morgan Lewis Stamford LLC

16

LOCAL

32

28

NG JOO KHIN

24

Kelvin Chia Partnership‎

22

LOCAL

26*

21

KELVIN CHIA

TOTAL

3,806

2,786

*Data retained from 2021 **Rough Count from website

SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEW | Q1 2022

37

EVENT COVERAGE: SIEW 2021

How Singapore’s first digital twin attempts to prevent grid failures

The Grid Digital Twin is being developed in anticipation of the increasing electrification complexities.

S

ingapore is developing its first digital twin for its National Power Grid, designed to identify potential asset failures for an early intervention, in anticipation of an increasingly complex grid as electrification expands.

Alvin Lim, SP PowerGrid Deputy Director, Digital Grid, said the average interruption duration in the Lion City is currently less than a minute, with its power grid comprising 18,000 transformers with more than 27,000 kilometres of underground cables that interconnects some 11,000 substations.

The two key issues Singapore needs to address are the need to expand to cater to the growing demand and the need to plan for the maintenance of existing assets to uphold the current level of reliability Singapore enjoys.

“With the deployment of more distributed energy resources, we can expect the power flow in the network to be more variable and intermittent and this makes the planning operation of electricity more complex going forward,” Lim said.

“We want to gain a better insight into asset degradation, as well as causes of failures. With this technical understanding, we want to identify potential asset failure and prioritise these risks for timely intervention.”

Thus, the Grid Digital Twin has been initiated by the Energy Market Authority, SP Group, and the Science and Technology Policy and Plans Office of the Prime Minister’s Office.

Amongst the key benefits of the Grid Digital Twin include improving network planning analysis and remote monitoring of asset conditions, thereby saving manpower resources in carrying out extensive physical inspections. As the Grid Digital Twin provides a more holistic model of the grid, it can facilitate planning of infrastructure for different needs, such as installation of electric vehicle chargers and connection of solar photovoltaic (PV) systems and energy

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SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEW | Q1 2022

A key benefit of the Grid Digital Twin is improving network planning analysis and remote monitoring of asset conditions

storage systems.

It comprises two models, which are the Asset Twin and the Network Twin. The first is made for the health management of grid assets, such as substations, transformers, cables; whilst the second is designed for the assessment of impact on the grid when connecting new energy sources or consumers to the grid. It is currently still in a prototype stage and is expected to be fully developed over the next few years.

Lim explained the Asset Twin will allow the SP Group to perform analytics to automatically provide an accurate diagnosis of the conditions of the assets every day. This is executed through the integration of historical and live data that will create virtual representations of assets health statuses. This data is sourced from the substation and asset registry, maintenance and inspections data and through real-time sensors.

“This helps our field crew to prioritise the daily maintenance tasks, which involves substation checking around the island. And lastly, in the long run, with this set of knowledge, we are able to formulate optimal schedules for meetings and renewal of assets,” Lim said.

As for the Network Twin, Desmond Cai, A*Star, Group Manager, Institute of High-Performance Computing, said it looks into recent developments in the energy ecosystem to gauge how it can affect the distribution system.

“We are beginning to see a proliferation of active distribution endpoints due to the growth of distributed energy resources, such as solar PV and energy storage systems, as well as flexible loads, such as electric vehicle charging,” Cai said.

“Therefore, to plan for the future distribution system, we need to be able to evaluate the impact of different technologies rapidly and at low cost, to assess the trade-offs and risks to the system.”

Cai said the Network Twin uses an advanced software framework, called the Multi Energy System Modelling & Optimisation (MESMO).

The MESMO was built to tackle emerging challenges and capture future opportunities in the distribution system. It also functions to facilitate modelling of distributed energy resources, perform a system-wide optimal dispatch of those resources and analyse its impact to the network.

“This provides a breadth of data and allows deep analysis of infrastructure impact, gives us a better view of network utilisation under future electrification loads, and helps to improve network planning and analysis and prioritise Infrastructure Renewal based on system risks,” he said.

He added the Network Twin also enables optimisation of investment by enabling the study of synergies between renewal and upgrades across the network, whilst also maintaining the resilience of the network.

The Network Twin is being developed by the Institute of High-Performance Computing at the A*STAR, and its technology partner TUMCREATE.

EVENT COVERAGE: SIEW 2021

Should governments invest in available technology today to reach net-zero?

Wait for technologies with enough economic feasibility, Senoko Energy chairman advises.

“Hence, ensuring a level playing field is essential to secure the economic sustainability of both the existing power generator and the newly invested renewable infrastructure,” he said. “Before that, we need invention, if you will, in the regulatory and financial framework in tandem with an invention of new technologies to help mitigate the risk that the investor might face with the rapid evolution of the new technology.”

W

ith all eyes set on transitioning to clean energy, governments are taking a technology-led approach, with hydrogen and carbon capture emerging as the key technologies in achieving their net-zero targets. However, experts argue that investing in these technologies today could be a premature move.

Economic feasibility and recovery period of investment are the major concerns that governments and companies should consider in investing in technologies that will aid them in their decarbonisation goals, Senoko Energy Chairman Akihiro Fukuda said.

In Singapore, for instance, although the energy market is expecting hydrogen power generation to become financially feasible by 2030 or 2035, Fukuda said it is too early for power generators to invest in hydrogen power plants due to the lack of economic feasibility.

Fukuda said investors should instead consider the “sustainability of the existing energy-only market and the existing power generator.”

“The existing generating companies need to survive until such date that the hydrogen power that technology achieves economic feasibility so that the existing generator themselves becomes the platform to convert the existing power units into hydrogen compatible infrastructure switching from gas fuel to hydrogen fuel, switching from existing gas turbine to hydrogen turbine,” he said during a session in the Singapore International Energy Week.

Investing in renewables Investors should also consider the sustainability of the newly invested renewable infrastructure, as new technologies in renewables that are so innovative “often become obsolete or less competitive in a short period of time.”

Fukuda noted that a new investment to implement an infrastructure for the renewable energy input that is not recoverable within a 10 years time frame at a competitive price setting would need a longer period of time to recover returns.

Our technology, not taxes, approach will allow us to reduce emissions without damaging our reliability as an energy supplier

Present situation “A technology-led approach is the only way we can maintain energy security in our region, and at the same time, drive economic growth,” Angus Taylor, Australia’s Minister for Industry, Energy, and Emissions Reduction said, as his country is on its way to achieving its net-zero target by 2050.

“Our technology, not taxes, approach will allow us to reduce our emissions without damaging our reliability as an energy supplier, and the thousands of jobs that depend on those exports. We’ve already seen renewable energy technologies deliver extraordinary reductions in costs in our electricity sector,” he added.

Taylor said that the growth of renewable energy use in households such as solar and wind has been rapid, adding that they expect renewables to account for more than half of its electricity within a decade.

Australia also plans to reduce emissions as well in other sectors like agriculture, mining, and manufacturing but the technology solutions are still expensive to deploy or are still in the research and development (R&D) stage.

This includes clean hydrogen, carbon capture and storage, and low emissions materials like steel and aluminium, he said.

The State Grid Corporation of China, meanwhile, aims to build a power system based on new energy and become an “energy internet” company. It also plans to create new business models and expand industrial and value chains.

“In technical innovation, we have launched R&D framework and are building our power system based on new energy aimed to work, make breakthroughs in source grids, low storage coordination, and the green power markets, active support of the new energy generation is central, and to advance the next zero power projects on energy internet,” President Zhang Zhigang said.

Zhigang also said that they plan to integrate its large grid, microgrids, and local VC grids. The SGCC also plans to build a digital system or equipment management powering the transmission, transformation, and distribution.”

“We will provide our customers with high quality, diversified and interactive and personalised energy services and through the efficient allocation of our core resources,” Zhigang said.

SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEW | Q1 2022

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EVENT COVERAGE: SFF 2021

Singapore: Yes to wholesale, skeptical on retail digital fiat money SG’s regulator remains iffy on cryptocurrencies—or in MD Menon’s words, crypto tokens. issuance of a retail CBDC a socioeconomic rather than monetary consideration.

“Moving to a fully cashless society with all money in the form of bank deposits will not make a significant difference to the conduct of monetary policy. The question is whether the public is comfortable with holding only bank deposits and whether there is public demand for a state-issued currency that is as safe as cash but in digital form. So for now, there is no strong case for a retail CBDC,” he said.

MAS is taking a more cautious approach to retail CBDCs (Photo: Ravi Menon, MAS Managing Director, Singapore Fintech Festival 2021)

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hilst the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) sees “much promise” in wholesale central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), they are a lot more hesitant in the retail version due to possible “significant risks to monetary and financial stability.”

Retail CBDCs refer to digital currency issued by the central bank to the general public, essentially a digital version of cash. Meanwhile, wholesale CBDCs are restricted for use within the banking system.

Of the two, Singapore’s regulator seems keener to explore wholesale CBDCs, with MAS Managing Director Ravi Menon noting their potential to radically transform cross-border payments.

MAS is taking a more cautious approach to retail CBDCs. “There could be some disintermediation of the banks, particularly during stress periods if people can switch deposits into risk-free central bank money at the “click of a button,” Menon said in a speech delivered during the Singapore Fintech Festival 2021 held 40

SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEW | Q1 2022

For a subject that has attracted much attention, there are neither strong reasons for nor against a retail CBDC in Singapore

on 9 November 2021.

He warned that if people held a significant portion of their deposits in the form of digital Singapore dollars with MAS, it would considerably reduce our banks’ capacity to make loans.

“On balance, the case for a retail CBDC in Singapore is not urgent,” Menon argued.

“For a subject that has attracted much attention, there are neither strong reasons for nor against a retail CBDC in Singapore. Why do I say that? Physical cash is likely to be with us for quite some time more and so the need for a digital version of cash is moot at this point,” Menon explained.

He added that the financial inclusion benefits of a digital Singapore dollar are not compelling.

“A high proportion of Singaporeans have bank accounts and electronic payments in Singapore are pervasive, highly efficient, and competitive.”

Possible currency substitution by foreign digital currencies is a remote tail risk at this point, Menon said.

Menon and MAS consider the

Project Orchid Despite citing caution in regards to retail CBDCs, Menon said that MAS recognises the possible benefits retail CBDC solutions could bring to the financial sector.

Singapore’s regulator then announced it is embarking on Project Orchid, which aims to build the technology infrastructure and technical competencies necessary to issue a digital Singapore dollar, should Singapore decide to do so in the future.

As a start, Menon said that MAS will build on its Global CBDC Challenge that launched earlier this year, from which they received 300 proposals from over 50 countries in response to the problem statements we posed.

‘Cryptocurrencies are not money’ “Are cryptocurrencies money? So far, the answer must be no,” Menon told the conference attendees, who tuned in either live and live stream format. “Cryptocurrencies have performed poorly as a medium of exchange, a store of value, or a unit of account.”

Menon said that it is more accurate to refer to them as ‘crypto tokens’.

Whilst MAS recognises that crypto can bring many potential

EVENT COVERAGE: SFF 2021 benefits, including making crossborder payments faster, the regulator frowns at using cryptocurrencies or tokens as an investment asset for retail investors.

“The prices of crypto tokens are not anchored on any economic fundamentals and are subject to sharp speculative swings. Investors in these tokens are at risk of suffering significant losses,” Menon said.

Wholesale banks stuck in Web 1.5 The latest iteration of SFF carried the theme of Web 3.0, and the topic was very much at the heart of discussions that took place in the three-day festival.

For wholesale banks, the future of payments is going to be 24/7; is going to be invisible to consumers; and is going to happen at virtually zero cost.

But before achieving the financial nirvana promised by the adoption of blockchain systems, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and the whole Web 3.0 lineup, many banks and institutions are hindered with the need to wait for the rest of the business world to finish making their baby steps in digitising their services.

“I would say 80% of our wholesale clients, the global multinational firms, are still somewhere around Web 1.5,” observed Takis Georgakopoulos, head of wholesale payments, JPMorgan Chase,

Are cryptocurrencies money? So far, the answer must be no

speaking about how Web 3.0 will change the wholesale banking industry.

This is a reality that really dawned for JP Morgan & Chase once COVID-19 set in. “They entered COVID with not very robust supply chains,” Georgakopolos told attendees of a panel discussion livestreamed on 8 November.

“They need to solve much more basic issues first, which is, how do I connect to my suppliers? How do I finance my suppliers? How [do] I digitise my payment flows, how I [do I] digitise my treasury function, and so on before they can think about anything else.”

And whilst they do have clients already looking at blockchain solutions, they are in the minority, he added. “A lot of our clients still have a long way to go.”

But the biggest issue is not really on technology, which he noted has reached a level of maturity. Most of the challenges for the wholesale banking industry on adopting Web 3.0 tools have to do with questions on regulation and compliance.

For example, one of the biggest use cases being explored in applying Web 3.0 for wholesale banking is applying it to solve trade finance and supply chains. But a big issue lies in the fact that governments still rely on paper when it comes to trade.

Tan Su Shan, head of institutional banking, DBS said that governments and different legal systems need to

Most of the challenges for the wholesale banking industry on adopting Web 3.0 tools have to do with regulation and compliance (Photo: Takis Georgakopoulos, Head of Wholesale Payments, JP Morgan Chase)

be convinced that EBLs or electronic bills of lading are okay, that trade documents can be digitised and put on the blockchain and that by doing so they are immutable, transparent, and trustworthy.

“If you can do that, for trade, that solves a lot of problems. That solves problems around fraud, around potentially long trade finance turnaround time. And I think it’s a great use case for international trade,” she added.

Navigating compliance rules JP Morgan Chase’s Georgakopoulos also named the different compliance rules per market as another challenge. For example, JP Morgan Chase moves nine and a halftrillion dollars every day in over 100 countries, and they, of course, face having to comply with the rules set by each country.

“The conversations we have with our regulators is, number one, we need more clarity around the rules. And then second, we need more simplicity around the rules.

Because the rules as they exist today, they create a huge inefficiency in the system. And the more they’re simplified, the more we can eliminate that inefficiency,” he said.

In five years, both DBS’ Tan and JP Morgan’s Georgakopoulos expect Web 3.0 to make payments easier in the wholesale banking space.

“So five years out, I do believe the blockchain will enable a lot of crossborder payments today,” Tan said, noting that by then payments will no longer be encumbered by holiday breaks or weekends. Blockchain will also help eliminate high friction costs, she added.

Meanwhile, Georgakopoulos believes that government regulations will change little during the next half-decade, if at all.

“So expect a lot of the same controls, especially around wholesale interbank and larger scale payments, to look not too dissimilar to today. They may be blockchainbased, but the governments are going to continue to put all of the controls that they have around them,” he remarked as the panel came to a close.

SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEW | Q1 2022

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EVENT COVERAGE: FSI CONFERENCE

Could fintech overtake banks in the digital space with ‘buy now, pay later’?

The Internet boom has pushed 9 out of 10 digital merchants to accept digital payments.

F

intech players are dominating the digital financial service industry but banks still have an ace up their sleeves according to Willy Chang, associate partner at Bain & Company.

Speaking at the panel discussion at the Asian Banking & Finance FSI Conference, Chang explained that Southeast Asia has experienced extremely strong growth in the digital financial service sector however there is still plenty of headroom to go.

As an example, Chang mentioned how overall consumer expenditure on e-wallets grew from 1% to 4%.

“It’s a small number, but the relative growth is huge. And if you look at players like Shopee or Grab, and many other players, that kind of usage growth and value has been tremendous,” Chang told the conference attendees who tuned in last 1 December 2021.

Fintech’s vast customer reach Chang said that fintech’s biggest advantage over banks is their reach.

Fintech may have millions of customers registered to it or actively engaging with it on a daily basis.

However, Chang noted that fintech does not have or is still starting to build the capability to assess creditworthiness or even have competitive sources of wholesale financing.

“And that’s where banks have a different set of strengths. They may not have 20-30 million customers that they engage with on a daily or monthly basis, but they are more sophisticated in terms of credit scoring, in taking deposits and providing financing,” Chang said.

It’s only a question of how fintech and banks play to each other’s strengths through partnerships, according to Chang.

Digital payments eroding cash’s dominance in SEA 42

SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEW | Q1 2022

Panel Discussion during the FSI Conference 2021

Banks may not have 20-30 million customers that they engage with like fintech, but they are more sophisticated in terms of banking services

Cash may remain king however digital payments are starting to wear down its dominance as the internet economy in Southeast Asia highlights the popularity of digital services like e-commerce, ride-hailing and food delivery according to Chang.

Speaking in a separate panel, Chang emphasised how digital payments are starting to gain momentum on the back of the growth of the internet economy.

According to Chang, the internet economy continues to attract new consumers every year with 40 million in 2020 and another 20 million in the first half of 2021. This is not surprising as nine in 10 new users from 2020 continue to be digital consumers today.

Given these available data, Alessandro Magarini Montenero, Partner at Bain & Company posits that digital payments are eroding cash’s dominance with growth expected to further accelerate by 2025.

Digital payments also see a boost from SEA as e-wallet adoption starts to take pace. According to

Montenero, SEA is the home to large underbanked and unbanked populations, which e-wallets can help leapfrog challenges in obtaining cards and bank accounts. For many, it is their first experience with digital payments.

BNPL more needed in markets with credit under penetration Buy now, pay later (BNPL) services are not “urgently” needed in Singapore’s financial and payments sector, according to a senior executive from UOB’s digital banking arm.

Speaking in the ABF FSI Conference, UOB’s TMRW Digital Group Chief Commercialisation Officer Jimmy Koh noted that there is no urgent need to roll out BNPL services in such a mature market, as compared to other underbanked markets. “[The] reason we started in Indonesia is that there is a certain unbanked population in Indonesia, there is low credit card penetration, where only like 10% [use a card], whereas Singapore is a fairly mature market,” Koh told attendees of the

EVENT COVERAGE: FSI CONFERENCE conference when asked whether UOB has plans to roll out BNPL services in the Lion City.

“To be honest, do I need buy now, pay later in Singapore? It is not as urgent as those countries in which there is significant credit under penetration,” he added.

The BNPL trend The digital arm of UOB recently launched a BNPL product in Indonesia, called TMRW Pay. “In fact, we are the first [to] actually have a buy now pay later product in the market because most of these buy now pay later [products] sits with the technology companies, and then the bank will facilitate in terms of the funding,” Koh said.

“But having said that, we are not doing that in every market yet.”

Instead of launching their own BNPL service in every market, UOB TMRW may instead opt to partner with companies.

“The same company that you [working] with, you could be

complementing in one market, you could be collaborating in another market, you could be competing in another market because we don’t have a lot of runway,” Koh noted, adding that banks need to you need to do as much as possible in the BNPL space in the next two to three years in order to really get the most out of the product.

The current digital climate calls for all members of a banking team to become tech-savvy

Tech-savvy all-around The current digital climate calls for all members of a banking team to become tech-savvy, according to the tech head of one of Hong Kong’s

Gary Lam speaking at the FSI Conference 2021

virtual-only banks.

Gary Lam, chief technology officer of Livi Bank, said that banks and financial companies who wish to do digital transformation should also prepare to have all their employees be technologically savvy.

“If you want to do [a] digital transformation of a digital company, I would urge that every single member in your team--not only the technology team--they should be technical savvy. They need to stay on top of the technology trends. What are the major market events? How can the team quickly adapt to the changes in the market? How does the team use new technologies to enable new business opportunities?” he asked.

Lam added that financial institutions need to strike a balance between their technical roadmap and their feature roadmap. “Whether the balance is 50-50 or 70-30 is up to you. It depends on your product characteristics and your market segments.”

BNPL more needed in markets with credit under penetration: UOB TMRW

B

uy now, pay later (BNPL) services are not “urgently” needed in Singapore’s financial and payments sector, according to a senior executive from UOB’s digital banking arm.

UOB’s TMRW Digital Group Chief Commercialisation Officer Jimmy Koh noted that there is no urgent need to roll out BNPL services in such a mature market. “[The] reason why we started in Indonesia is because there is a certain unbanked population in Indonesia, there is low credit card penetration, where only like 10% [use a card], whereas Singapore is a fairly mature market,” Koh told attendees of the Asian Banking & Finance FSI Conference held virtually on 1 December, when asked whether UOB will roll out BNPL services in the Lion City.

“To be honest, do I need buy now, pay later in Singapore? It is not as urgent as those countries in which there is significant credit under penetration.”

The digital arm of UOB recently launched a BNPL product in Indonesia, called TMRW Pay.

“In fact, we are the first [to] actually have a buy now pay later product in the market because most of these buy now pay later [products] sits with the technology companies, and then the bank will facilitate in terms of the funding,” Koh said. “But having said that, we are not doing that in every market yet.”

Instead of launching their own BNPL service in every market, UOB TMRW may instead opt to partner with companies.

“The same company that you [working] with, you could be complementing in one market, you could be collaborating in another market, you could be competing in another market because we don’t have a lot of runway,” Koh noted, adding that banks need to you need to do as much as possible in the BNPL space in the next two to three years in order to really get the most out of the product.

Popularity of BNPL services are on the uptick in SEA. According to the FinTech in ASEAN 2021 report, deferred payment services have emerged as a popular digital payment in the region, with one in three consumers indicated that they have used or will use such payment methods.

BNPL services are not “urgently” needed (Source: TMRWbyUOB.com)

SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEW | Q1 2022

43

EVENT COVERAGE: PAYPAL

Leveraging cross-border e-commerce for a seamless shopping experience Delivering a frictionless cross-border e-commerce experience for both customers and brands should come with fast, convenient, and secure online payment methods.

T

he retail industry has seen a boom amidst the gradual economic recovery, especially during the holiday shopping season.

With the increased adoption of online shopping, including crossborder e-commerce, the virtual space has become a vital element of the retail industry due to the convenience and variety of choices it offers customers.

Increased customer expectations and demand for convenience means that online merchants must deliver a seamless shopping experience, especially during the peak holiday rush.

Singapore Business Review, in partnership with PayPal, recently held a webinar titled “Selling cross-border this holiday season”, where PayPal Director of Enterprise Sales in Southeast Asia Rakesh Krishnamuti, discussed the trend of digitalisation and how PayPal’s full-stack payments platform is being leveraged for cross-border expansion.

Looking into digitalisation for cross-border expansion Whilst Krishnamuti recognised how the impacts of the pandemic have accelerated the e-commerce industry by around three to five years, he noted that the increase in online shopping behaviour was “truly mindblowing.”

PayPal’s data* revealed that in 2020 alone, global online retail sales grew from US$3.35t to about US$4.38t.

The rapid growth of e-commerce also coincides with online consumers becoming more comfortable shopping cross-border, with 68% of online shoppers surveyed stating that they are as or are more comfortable cross-border shopping now than before COVID-19. Moreover, 52% of those surveyed shop from both domestic and international sites.

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Attractive pricing and exclusive items draw online shoppers to shopping crossborder

As for factors influencing customer behaviour, the survey showed that attractive pricing and exclusive items draw online shoppers to shopping cross-border, whilst shipping costs, delivery times, and uncertainty were cited as the most common barriers to cross-border shopping.

Given the factors that influence consumers to shop cross-border, Krishnamuti pointed out that shopping during the holiday season is becoming an increasingly significant opportunity for retailers since this is usually connected with the search for better prices. He cited the examples of Black Friday, the global shopping phenomenon, in which 38% of those surveyed participated, and China’s Singles’ Day, which draws about 45% of the online shoppers in China.

Similarly, some seasonal occasions are also growing as online shopping events. Krishnamuti mentioned Diwali in India, where a whopping 71% of consumers said they shopped online during the event.

Krishnamuti also said that merchants looking to boost their

sales in the US market should not underestimate the power of social media, as most American crossborder online shoppers make purchases via online marketplaces, or direct from stores and retail websites, and many discovered international websites through social channels.

“The influence of social media is likely to grow as they look to discover new brands in a digital-first world.

So by making social media central to your cross-border sales strategy, you use an established part of the US retail cable to reach a highly engaged consumer base,” he said.

Partnering with reputable payment solutions providers like PayPal can also provide brands with a trusted and secure path to checkout.

“As more consumers seek to connect, browse, purchase and pay using their mobile devices, ensure your e-commerce site is intuitive, responsive, and secure with a frictionless checkout process.

Consider incorporating duties and taxes into your product prices, offering local currency payment options and collaborating with credible payment solution providers,” he added.

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EVENT COVERAGE: SBR X C4C

SBR virtual roundtable tackles staying competitive in intelligent enterprise Flexibility, specificity, and customer-centred products, services, and solutions prove to be the edge in today’s enterprise application software companies.

T

he ever-changing business environment requires more and more companies to integrate new technologies into their business models. Enterprise Application Software has been helping businesses transform digitally as early as the 70s. From simple operation management and automation, Enterprise Application Software has now advanced its technologies and services through machine learning, the Internet of Things, and advanced analytics – connecting experience with operations and advancing breakthrough technologies driven by innovation.

In the ‘Enhance the Intelligent Enterprise’ experience with Cloud4C’s SAP Solutions and Services virtual roundtable hosted by the Singapore Business Review, in partnership with Cloud4C, senior cloud professionals gathered to talk about the continuous evolution of intelligent enterprise and how it helps businesses become more competitive and resilient.

Focusing on the processes ‘Intelligent enterprise’ is a management approach that applies technology to 46

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Intelligent enterprise is a management approach that applies technology to the challenge of improving business performance

the challenge of improving business performance. Cloud4C SAP Head, Hoden Wan stresses the importance of understanding and determining the specific processes within a business that need improvement and focusing your efforts on those areas.

Intelligent enterprise starts with the users. The latest Fury 3.0 developed by Cloud4C SAP has made it a lot easier for users to adopt and even personalise technology such as apps.

Knowing the specific trouble areas within the business helps improve the integration and adoption of new technologies. There are three key things to an overall solution.

First is that Cloud4C aims to exceed customer expectations, whether in sales, operations, logistics, or any other process that needs automation. Doing these whilst reducing risk is the second key. Lastly, the ability to use certain technologies for specific trouble areas – these are the key to making intelligent enterprise competitive.

Offering customers flexibility Intelligent enterprise is a whole ecosystem of applications with different layers. It aims to improve the business

network by bridging connectivity between vendors and customers through technology and offering more customer-centric services. As a leading SAP strategic partner, Cloud4C aims to help unlock the potential of SAP to provide the agility and flexibility required for businesses to adapt to the rapidly changing business needs and customer expectations.

With the many different business solutions that SAP offers, Senior Business Manager at SAP, Wes Thomson, said that customers can expect complete technical, operational and upgrade support from SAP. Cloud4C, the largest global premium supplier of SAP S/4 HANA Enterprise Cloud via a dedicated SAP Community Cloud solution, ensures that businesses achieve this muchneeded SAP transformation smoothly and with zero disruption.

Customer-centric service The Cloud Platform, Business Technology Platform – all these new solutions will help bring out vendors, partners, customer solution agnostics, and connect to anything and everything, if it’s built in the right way through a partner like Cloud4C. Furthermore, Cloud4C or SAP will not force a solution on a business process or model. Digital transformation and intelligent enterprise are all about moving towards the customer’s end goal at their pace, at their scope and at a scale that fits their business. Cloud4C and SAP will guide customers and walk them through that process in their own time.

This strategy of business transformation, as a service, hand in hand with trusted partners like Cloud4C, will bring together every service and every solution that customers need for true business automation, digital transformation and enhanced intelligent enterprise experience in one package.

SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEW | Q1 2022

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OPINION

ERIC CHIN

Why Singapore’s $10 million Corporate Launchpad Programme isn’t just for the big guns

ERIC CHIN Chief Business Development Officer (CBDO), InCorp Group

usually shackled by short-term shareholder expectations, will be able to forge new paths.

This Corporate Launchpad Programme should allow Singapore’s large companies to innovate safely and strategically while simultaneously giving its SMEs the chance to look at what their larger counterparts are doing and iterate on which ideas have the most potential.

The Corporate Launchpad Programme can create opportunities for small businesses to scale up to world-leading companies

T

he Economic Development Board (EDB) is looking to continue this trend with its $10 million Corporate Launchpad Programme, which will give large Singaporebased companies the impetus to explore innovative growth areas they may not have considered before.

This program aims to provide large and established Singaporebased companies the opportunity to act like risk-taking startups rather than monoliths of predictable progress - giving them the ability to set up new ventures or innovate in existing ones. The program serves as a launchpad for companies to explore new business ideas and disruptive innovation.

How the Corporate Launchpad Programme works Headed by EDB New Ventures, the venture-building arm of EDB, eligible firms will work in concert with selected venture studios that specialize in corporate innovation and venture development. Up to half of a firm’s concept validation sprint will be funded by EDB New Ventures. The EDB predicts that there are hundreds of eligible companies. While only time will tell which ones will make the most of this opportunity, they expect to support up to 20 multinational corporations (MNCs) and large local enterprises (LLEs) based in Singapore.

The program aims to transform ideas into investable business plans within a short amount of time with guidance from established venture-building techniques centering around concept validation sprints. The goal is for companies to understand what customers and stakeholders want from their product or service, providing data they can use in the future.

Lumbering giants can be nimble This concept validation sprint approach is very different from the usual service and product development techniques used by large companies. It promises to be a breath of fresh air for their innovation capabilities.

Innovation is key to any country’s continued development, and Singapore enjoys a robust infrastructure that allows its entrepreneurs the opportunity to reach new heights. With government support and the proper insight, large corporations,

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It’s not just for the big guns This leads me to mention how the Corporate Launchpad Programme is not just a handout for the big guns, leaving little for smaller and leaner operators to innovate. I would argue that this is another example of the Singapore Government going above and beyond to create opportunities for small ideas to scale up to worldleading companies.

Innovation is what drives healthy economies. It creates new jobs and spurs economic growth in towns and cities across the country.

The EDB has been vocal about its commitment to helping firms innovate for more than a decade. This program is a continuation of that momentum.

I believe that this Corporate Launchpad Programme also provides an excellent opportunity for Singapore’s many small and medium enterprises (SMEs). These ideas don’t happen in a vacuum, so smaller firms will be able to piggyback off these new validation sprints by bleeding out best practices and innovative ideas through a network effect.

It won’t happen overnight, of course, but this should enable more SMEs to shine outside of the shadow of more prominent names and make them more visible internationally, creating opportunities for them to scale up their businesses and bring more jobs to Singapore. It should also help pollinate the larger Singapore startup ecosystem, stimulating growth beyond the tall towers of The City.

I, for one, am looking forward to seeing which firms will come out on top as part of this exciting program and how it will help them drive innovation in our ever-changing economic environment. I’m sure there are some big but nimble ideas within Singapore’s sleepy corporate giants; I guess we’ll have to wait and see what comes out of this $10 million program.

There are some big but nimble ideas within Singapore’s sleepy corporate giants

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