Singapore Morning News For August 30

PM Lee to meet President Trump at White House in October
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong will meet US President Donald Trump at the White House in October, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) said on Tuesday (Aug 29).
— Channel NewsAsia

Google Wifi lands in Singapore with StarHub as exclusive partner
Internet giant Google on Wednesday (Aug 30) announced it will be offering its mesh networking device Google Wifi in Singapore, as part of an exclusive partnership with telco StarHub.
— Channel NewsAsia

Singapore Factory Output Surpasses Estimates: ETFs In Focus
Singapore’s manufacturing data has been strong for July 2017, driven by strong expansion in the electronics sector. Factory output surged 21% year to date in July. This was way past economists’ expectations of a 12.9% rise. On a monthly basis, it expanded 1%, as against expectations of a 3.9% drop.
— amigobulls

Singapore looks into common QR code for cashless payments
BY the end of this year, Singapore may have a common quick-response (QR) code through which users can make payments by just scanning those squiggly squares with their smartphones.
— The Business Times

Commentary: Singapore’s new tourism tagline deeply aspirational, but what does it mean?
Last week, the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) and Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB) jointly launched a new brand initiative and slogan to market Singapore internationally.
— Channel NewsAsia

S’pore ready to help in Hurricane Harvey relief efforts
SINGAPORE is ready to send its CH-47 Chinook helicopters to assist in the relief operations following Hurricane Harvey’s devastation of parts of Texas, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong told US President Donald Trump in a phone call on Tuesday.
— The Business Times

E-payments use in Singapore only scratching surface: PayPal
SMACK on the heels of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s call to transform Singapore into a Smart Nation is global online payments service provider PayPal’s research showing just how much further Singapore needs to go to achieve that.
— The Business Times

Clinical research coordinators get S$35m boost from MOH
THE Health Ministry (MOH) has pumped S$35 million to fund the salaries of 100 clinical research coordinators (CRCs) for the next five years and the implementation of national training and certification programmes to ensure a steady flow of qualified CRCs.
— The Business Times

Popular car models to exit Singapore
Over a dozen car models – including some popular mainstays – will not meet the Euro 6 emission standard which kicks in on Friday.
— The New Paper

Singapore: Sloane Court Hotel to be acquired for $59.4m
Singapore-listed Tiong Seng Holdings and Ocean Sky International are jointly buying Sloane Court Hotel and a small adjoining plot for a consideration of S$80.5 million ($59.4 million) for redevelopment, the companies announced in pre-market exchange filings on Monday (Aug 28).
— DealStreetAsia

Amazon in Singapore: ‘A case of keep your friends close and your enemies closer’
Amazon Prime Now was launched in Singapore some time ago to a lot of buzz. Shopaholics in Singapore crashed the app and some of the deliveries had to be fulfilled by taxis.
— Mumbrella

Yuan-clearing volumes in Singapore soar to $35 trillion
Singapore continues to thrive in its leading position as one of the world’s largest offshore centres for China’s currency, the yuan.
— The Straits Times (paywall)

Singapore’s DBS starts mobile banking in Indonesia
Singapore’s largest bank by assets, DBS Group Holdings, launched Tuesday a mobile banking service in Indonesia, looking to tap into mobile-savvy millennials in Southeast Asia’s largest country.
— Nikkei Asian Review

Singaporeans cut back on shopping, entertainment, holidays
SINGAPOREANS were more watchful about their discretionary spending in the second quarter of 2017, according to a Nielsen survey.
— The Business Times

Scrapping of underground road network to give more urban planning options: Experts
Scrapping plans to build a 30km underground road network will not only give urban planners and landowners more flexibility to build “higher or lower”. It will also reduce the inconvenience and costs for developers since they will no longer have to take the network alignment into consideration in their planning, property and transport experts said on Tuesday (Aug 29).
— Today Online

Security agencies can tap on tech to keep Singapore safe
In the move to become a Smart Nation, it is important that security agencies in Singapore also make use of technology to keep the Republic safe, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong yesterday.
— The New Paper

SoftBank, Singapore’s EDBI back $33m Series C in Taiwan’s Appier Group
Taiwan-based artificial intelligence (AI) company Appier has secured a Series C investment of $33 million from SoftBank Group Corp., LINE Corporation, NAVER Corporation, Singapore-based EDBI and Hong Kong-based AMTD Group.
— DealStreetAsia

Singapore: GLP to divest four Japanese properties in $472m deal
Global Logistics Properties (GLP), a global provider of modern logistics facilities, has sold four wholly-owned properties in Japan for a consideration of JPY51.6 billion ($472 million), as part of a capital recycling strategy.
— DealStreetAsia

Presidential Election: 2 forums to be broadcast on TV
There will be two televised forums instead of one for the September Presidential Election, and candidates will be allocated time for televised campaign broadcasts on more channels.
— Channel NewsAsia

Pre-school educators to get Teachers’ Day off for first time
Early childhood educators will be getting Teachers’ Day off on Thursday (Aug 31) as the school holiday is extended to pre-schools in Singapore for the first time this year.
— Channel NewsAsia

PolicyPal to be first digitised direct insurance broker
Consumers will soon have the option to log into an online platform, upload their insurance coverage, and have a personalised insurance portfolio prepared. All this will be made possible through digitised insurance services which use automated, algorithm-based tools. Services are provided online or via the PolicyPal mobile application with limited or no human interaction with clients.
— Today Online

Feature photo Peter Gronemann
Find our previous morning news feature photos in the AEC News Today Morning News Feature Photos gallery where you will find a pictorial display of daily life throughout the Asean Economic Community (AEC).

Singapore morning news by AEC News Today is your one stop source for Singapore news on matters of governance and policies affecting Asean business communities. It is published M-F by AEC News Today: Governance, not government; policies not politics.

Singapore Morning News For August 30 added by Leakhena Khat on August 30, 2017
View all posts by Leakhena Khat →

Bio
Latest Posts

Leakhena Khat

Leakhena is a junior journalist at AEC News Today who is also currently studying International Relations, which she finds adds perspective to her work reporting on the Asean Community.

“I love what I am doing so much as it gives me a lot of great experience and provides challenges to my mind.