Singapore

The Monetary Authority of Singapore today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Central Bank of Bahrain.

After much deliberation, both StarHub and M1 have finally announced plans to launch the iPhone 3GS in Singapore on 9 December 2009.

The hedge fund firm is concretising its expansion in Asia with a new office in the island country.

2010 is projected to be a great year for job seekers in Singapore as hiring is predicted to reach pre-recession rates, says a survey by Manpower Singapore.

The Urban Redevelopment Authority has revealed the event line up for 2010 to mark the completion of key developments in Marina Bay.

Tiger Airways is set to welcome 2010 with an initial public offering to help finance its Airbus A320s purchase.

The infrastructure and logistics group will be the sole supplier of ready-mixed concrete to Samsung C&T Corporation for its two MCE parcels.

SPH MediaBoxOffice will be launching a large facade LED screen and an in-mall video wall today in Orchard Road's newest shopping mall, 313@Somerset.

The Singapore Mercantile Exchange has received “in-principle” regulatory clearance from the central bank to start commodity derivatives trading in 2010.

UBS, Credit Suisse, and Citigroup forecast further gains for Singapore stocks in 2010 due to earnings estimates. The country's Straits Times Index is expected to rise to approximately 3,180 by the end of next year. Pegged at 14 percent, the foreseen increase is backed by continued upgrades in earnings estimates, according to Credit Suisse Group AG and UBS AG in a report by Bloomberg. As of 3:41 p.m. on 2 December 2009, the index was at 2,786.03.

Work may be a little harder to come by in the global recession, but it seems that older workers are having an easier time than their younger counterparts.

Dr William Fung Kwok Lun will assume the post of independent director with Singapore Airlines’ Board with effect from 1 December this year.

Engineering and steel contractor Yong Nam has been awarded the contract for Marina Coastal Expressway, a deal worth S$21.5 million. The dual five-lane, 5km long expressway will be a strategic underground east-west transport linkbetween three major expressways, catering to the anticipated increase in traffic volume generated by the high-density developments in the Marina Bay area.

MasterCard Worldwide has appointed Kevin Goldmintz as Senior Business Leader, Corporate Payment Solutions, Asia/Pacific, Middle East & Africa.

Shipping firms must be getting used to that sinking feeling. But it seems that for freight rates at least the market has bottomed and prices have increased by 15% since August. Raymon Krishnan, the President of the Logistics & Supply Chain Management Society reckons that despite the increase in freight rates, carriers are cautiously optimistic about the recovery of the industry. “The downward spiral of freight prices has certainly stabilized, compared to the first quarter of this year. From a bottoming out of the market that happened June – July, we are now looking at carriers implementing General Rate Increases and Rate Restoration Programmes for freight and bunker.” Since August rates have increased by as much as 15% in most trade lanes and we can expect to see even higher increases as we enter 2010. This works out to be between US$150 – US$300 per twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU). Carriers, just like everyone else nowadays, are being ‘cautiously optimistic’ as recovery is slow and there are no specific growth trends with the overall outlook in the industry matching what market experts predict i.e. we can expect things to return to pre 2009 performance in Q3 of 2010.” But contrary to popular belief, for some shipping companies it is business as usual.Krishnan reckons that regional carriers seem to be holding up pretty well. “The regional carriers like PIL and RCL seem to be holding up well as demand in the regional sectors are still quite strong. Also, carriers who have not invested in significant new builds like OOCL and Wan Hai are not as badly affected as some carriers, who in some circumstances have had to stop plying certain routes altogether.” Some analysts however believe that the sector is still hurting. OCBC’s investment research team is one who reckons that for shipping industry the outlook is still gloomy. “Supply side concerns remain high with continued deliveries of container ships, bulk carriers and tankers through the year adding to the glut. Repressed demand for container ships will move in sync with the sluggish global trade. While demand for bulk carriers may be buffered with the commodity gap in China, we think that a single country's fundamental demand appetite will not be able to prop up the whole subsector in any sustained manner. Crude tankers

Ms Goh will Chair the the Accounting Standards Council from 1 November 2009 to 31 October 2011. 14 other members representing various sake holder groups such as the government, education and accounting were also appointed as Council members.