Commentary

The Budget provides Singapore SMEs with defence and growth measures – it’s now up to businesses to take them!

Unless you have been living in the remotest part of the world, you will probably be closely following the developments of the 2019-nCoV situation like most people.

In the weeks leading up to Budget 2020, the Singapore Government made no secret of the sudden rush to incorporate stability measures for sectors affected by the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak across Asia.

At the core of businesses' IT strategies today sits a familiar and fundamental building block: the cloud. Adroit Research from 2018 estimates that cloud computing revenue for Southeast Asia could reach US$40.32b by 2025, with Singapore leading the way.

From Sasa to once-popular departmental stores such as Metro and Isetan, a number of retailers have left Singapore shores or announced plans to do so over the last decade. However, while it is true that there have been some troubling signs such as store closings and an increase in the number of retailers filing for bankruptcy, they don’t quite tell the whole story. Here in Singapore, over 90% of retail sales are still spent at a physical location, with e-commerce making up only 5.6% of all shopping. Physical retail is far from dead. However, staid retail experiences that are boring, unimaginative and disengaging is making its way out.

Businesses in Singapore have for many years enjoyed a significant degree of stability compared to those in other countries, be it political stability or the fortunate absence of natural disasters. As such, discussions around flexible working arrangements - allowing people to work from home or whilst they’re on-the-go - have primarily been around achieving a better work-life balance for employees. Addressing the possibility of major, unplanned business disruption has always been a distant second priority and objective in these conversations.

In the last decade, data has shown itself to be more than just facts and statistics that a company collects - it has become integral to business growth for firms in Singapore. When analysed, data can provide a company with insights that help it become more efficient and strategic, and identify new business opportunities that may have otherwise been overlooked.

In the era of digital economy, industry 4.0, and climate change, organisations, globally and in Singapore, are swiftly transforming their business, operating and talent models to keep pace with the times.

Blockchain has been one of the most talked about technologies in recent years. Though blockchain has not reached its full potential, respondents to Deloitte’s 2019 global blockchain survey reported a shift in focus from cryptocurrency applications towards other applications.

Looking back as I completed my bachelor graduation ceremony, I wished someone had shined light on how different realistic work life was going to be from my own expectations.

The World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations’ agency for international public health, is having its annual executive board meeting in Geneva this week, from the 3rd to 8th of February. This is the meeting where the global public health agenda for the upcoming year will be set. This time, the meeting will be under intense public scrutiny, due to the looming public health crisis of the outbreak of the Novel coronavirus. Therefore, coordinating a response to such drug resistant transnational diseases should be a top priority since the world will be looking to the WHO for leadership in fighting them.

When Chinese New Year arrives each year, millions of red packets exchange hands as part of a centuries-old tradition that has gradually evolved to suit the times. From heavy gold coins threaded with red to lightweight paper notes stuffed in envelopes, the conventional ang bao has now been digitised into a virtual gift that can be sent to anyone anywhere over the internet.

Fueled partly by positive regulatory environments and a highly educated population, Singapore has established itself as a startup hub. Across sectors, record new businesses are launching – but too many of these startups aren’t also getting to the finish line.

The protectionist sentiment that is spreading throughout the global economy has put governments around the world on tenterhooks. Even as Singapore continues to perform well, it narrowly avoided a technical recession in the third quarter of 2019 and will need to remain vigilant.

The global economy has slowed significantly over the last 12 months. According to the International Monetary Fund, global growth likely fell from 3.6% in 2018 to an estimated 2.9% in 2019 (IMF, 20 January 2020).

In Singapore, revenue in the Travel & Tourism market is expected to reach US$3,402m by 2023. Furthermore, it’s thought that a whopping 79% of this revenue will be generated through online sales, also by 2023. This tells us that Singapore’s online travel market is booming.