This is the first instalment of an Asian double-header from Singapore and then Hong Kong, representing the ACT, meeting our members and students and a whole bunch of other people too! And meeting taxi drivers as well….and like taxi drivers everywhere, the ones in Singapore are not short of an opinion!
So, you ask, what’s business like? Well, they say, given that next week is the night F1 race which shuts much of the city centre and no-one in Singapore (apart from the Government) is that fussed, it could be better! In seriousness though there is a nervousness in SE Asia that China is beginning to stretch and flex which is causing regional tension. In addition there are concerns that maybe the low-cost employment party is over. Maybe automated, stateless manufacturing won’t see Vietnam or Laos as its natural home and go wherever a set of economic or political policies take it. Singapore as the region’s trade and trade finance (meaning banking) hub might be exposed
In trade and trade finance, the picture is mixed – in value terms trade it’s down, in volume terms of goods, up. There are lots of nuances here of course and more than one voice suggesting that the old concepts of import/export are redundant with no-one really understanding how services move on the internet and how manufacturing of things involves so much cross-border movement which is hard to track from a value perspective.
Having said all that, Singapore is better placed regionally than most with its highly educated people (my taxi driver for my journey to the airport speaks English, Hokkien, understands Mandarin and Hindi) and its focus on education and skills. Singapore also has political and legal stability which encourages inward investment and as an example he pointed out that many of the apartment blocks on the expressway to the airport are Indonesian and Thai owned; they don’t come for the weather….and yes, he knew all about the Russians and Arab money in London! Lastly the Singapore government has been frenetically developing its fintech sector (and tech in general) and in the words of the Monetary Authority (central bank) financial services benefits from its ‘tough but pragmatic’ regulatory stance (read sensible and clean Government).
So, where does that leave us as treasurers? Well, quite well placed. Yes, there’s lots of information to manage and process and of course there’s new technology to master. But who else dear reader is equipped to do it? And best of all, it’s not constrained by borders or culture – there’s a place for treasurers in Singapore and Southend!
My next missive will follow the Asia Treasury Leaders’ Forum 2016, on 21 September. Lots of room for all to come along so if you have friends or colleagues in finance or business, please book now as it’s free for ACT members and folks from non-financial corporates! See you there!
