Singapore attracted a record S$16.1 billion (US$11.2 billion) in manufacturing commitments from investors last year, almost double that of the previous year, the government said yesterday.
Last year's record fixed asset investments (FAI) commitments exceeded the Economic Development Board's own target of between S$8.5 billion and S$9 billion, it said.
FAI refers to capital investments in facilities and equipment.
Despite signs of a slowing economy, the board said Singapore is confident of matching last year's figure. It said it was targeting manufacturing commitments that are worth between S$16 billion and S$18 billion this year.
"The consensus view is that there will be a slowdown by 2008," said Beh Swan Gin, the board's assistant managing director for planning and policy, at a media briefing.
"Nevertheless, the slate of projects that we have announced over the past few months for Singapore gives us a certain degree of confidence that the momentum that we achieved in 2007 will be continued in 2008," he said.
Elaborating on the board's optimism for this year, chairman Lim Siong Guan said many global companies take a long-term view when assessing investment plans.
"Quite frankly they do the assessment of what the longer-term trends are ... they assess their strategic needs to position themselves," he said.
The board said almost 400 projects were committed to last year. These are expected to create 28,600 jobs and add S$11.6 billion annually to Singapore's GDP when they are fully implemented.
Meanwhile, Singapore's government said it would take a "hands off" approach on investments made by its sovereign wealth funds in banks including Citigroup Inc amid the subprime meltdown, Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam said.
Temasek Holdings Pte and Government of Singapore Investment Corp (GIC) have invested about US$23 billion in UBS AG, Citigroup and Merrill Lynch & Co since last month as the banks turned to investors after record write-downs and losses.
Singapore wants the two funds, which each manages more than US$100 billion in assets, to pursue investments based on commercial reasons, rather than government directives, as sovereign wealth funds globally face more scrutiny. The city-state has tried to set itself apart by disclosing investment returns and some financial information on the funds.
Taiwan’s technology protection rules prohibits Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) from producing 2-nanometer chips abroad, so the company must keep its most cutting-edge technology at home, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. Kuo made the remarks in response to concerns that TSMC might be forced to produce advanced 2-nanometer chips at its fabs in Arizona ahead of schedule after former US president Donald Trump was re-elected as the next US president on Tuesday. “Since Taiwan has related regulations to protect its own technologies, TSMC cannot produce 2-nanometer chips overseas currently,” Kuo said at a meeting of the legislature’s
TECH WAR CONTINUES: The suspension of TSMC AI chips and GPUs would be a heavy blow to China’s chip designers and would affect its competitive edge Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, is reportedly to halt supply of artificial intelligence (AI) chips and graphics processing units (GPUs) made on 7-nanometer or more advanced process technologies from next week in order to comply with US Department of Commerce rules. TSMC has sent e-mails to its Chinese AI customers, informing them about the suspension starting on Monday, Chinese online news outlet Ijiwei.com (愛集微) reported yesterday. The US Department of Commerce has not formally unveiled further semiconductor measures against China yet. “TSMC does not comment on market rumors. TSMC is a law-abiding company and we are
FLEXIBLE: Taiwan can develop its own ground station equipment, and has highly competitive manufacturers and suppliers with diversified production, the MOEA said The Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) yesterday disputed reports that suppliers to US-based Space Exploration Technologies Corp (SpaceX) had been asked to move production out of Taiwan. Reuters had reported on Tuesday last week that Elon Musk-owned SpaceX had asked their manufacturers to produce outside of Taiwan given geopolitical risks and that at least one Taiwanese supplier had been pushed to relocate production to Vietnam. SpaceX’s requests place a renewed focus on the contentious relationship Musk has had with Taiwan, especially after he said last year that Taiwan is an “integral part” of China, sparking sharp criticism from Taiwanese authorities. The ministry said
US President Joe Biden’s administration is racing to complete CHIPS and Science Act agreements with companies such as Intel Corp and Samsung Electronics Co, aiming to shore up one of its signature initiatives before US president-elect Donald Trump enters the White House. The US Department of Commerce has allocated more than 90 percent of the US$39 billion in grants under the act, a landmark law enacted in 2022 designed to rebuild the domestic chip industry. However, the agency has only announced one binding agreement so far. The next two months would prove critical for more than 20 companies still in the process
RSS