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.
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