Singapore (III): Economist

choi

Business and finance | Many Spokes to Its Hub. In managing Singapore’s global business niches, the government still seems ahead of the game. Economist, July 18, 2015.
http://www.economist.com/news/sp ... t-still-seems-ahead

Quote:

“THE COMPARISON WITH Hong Kong is inevitable. Both are thriving ports and financial centres; both have Chinese-majority populations and legal systems inherited from the British. But in the past 30 years Singapore and Hong Kong have trodden very different economic paths. With the opening of China, Hong Kong’s manufacturing industry shifted over the border, falling from about 20% of GDP in 1980 to just 1% now (see chart). In Singapore, it has dropped from about 28% a decade ago, but only to 19%. That is far below the 30% or so seen in places such as China, South Korea or Taiwan, but far above the levels in other developed countries such as America, Britain, France or Spain, let alone Hong Kong.

“despite having no hydrocarbon reserves, Singapore is the world’s third-largest producer of refined oil for export and has expanded into downstream petrochemicals.

Note:
(a) “In the 1980s, thanks to Seagate, an American firm, and other multinationals, Singapore accounted for 60% of hard-disk drives (HDDs) shipped globally. As production moved to Thailand, Malaysia and China in the 1990s, Singapore became the centre for production of higher-margin ‘enterprise HDDs.’  By the early 2000s Singapore had 80% of this global market and had already begun to shift to the next level, hard-disk media, in which it now has a market share of about 40%.”
(i) Seagate Technology
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seagate_Technology
(is incorporated in Dublin, Ireland, with operational headquarters in Cupertino, California; Founded 1979 (as Shugart Technology [with Alan Shugart as a co-founder])
(ii) The “enterprise HDDs” are HDDs for businesses rather than consumers.
(iii) What Is Hard Disk Media?  In “Our Technology.”  Showa Denko HD Singapore, undated
http://www.showadenkohd.com.sg/tech_01.html
("Hard disk media is the primary medium for memory storage in computers. It is commonly formulated on an aluminium or glass substrate base. Thin films of magnetic alloys are then sputtered on to the substrate and this will contain all the memory in the form of magnetic bits. Just imagine a pizza with everything on it!")
(A) In this Web page, the left column--topped with Our Technology"--includes "Manufacturing Process," which calls aluminum or glass discs "substrates."
(B) sputter deposition
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sputter_deposition
(section 1 Uses of sputtering)

But I still do not know what it is.
(C) Showa Denko
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Showa_Denko
(Shōwa Denkō Kabushiki-gaisha [sic; should be kaisha, which together with Kabushikia, accounts for "KK" whose English translation is "Co, Ltd"] 昭和電工株式会社; Formed in 1939 by the merger of Nihon Electrical Industries and Showa Fertilizers; Headquarters  Tokyo)

choi

(b) “Singapore, says Beh Swan Gin, chairman of the Economic Development Board 经济发展局 [a government agency], which promotes inward investment, is now seeking a ‘much more expansive role’ in the business activities of the firms located there—not just as an offshore manufacturing location but as home to many more of their functions.”
(i)
(A) 马宣仁医生 (Dr Beh Swan Gin) 局长 新加坡经济发展局 [EDB, August 2010]
www.edb.gov.sg/etc/medialib/imag ... of_Dr_Beh_Swan_Gin_(MD)_-_Aug2010.pdf
(B) The same EDB in another, all simplified Chinese (without English words) Web page states,

"马宣仁医生在2014年12月1日被委任为新加坡经济发展局主席。他也同时担任经济发展局投资有限公司的董事会主席。 * * * 马医生毕业于新加坡国立大学医学院。他是美国斯坦福大学的斯隆学者 [Sloan Fellow]，并获颁该大学商学院的管理学理学硕士学位。马医生也完成了哈佛商学院的高级管理课程。"
(ii) Southern Min  闽南语
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Min
(section 4.2 Vocabulary: Horse -- 馬 -- Bey [pronunciation in 'Taiwanese Hokkien'])

My Taiwanese pronunciation for 馬 is "Mey."  Somehow I observe my pronunciation is often at odd with (written) Taiwanese dictionaries edited by government or civilian (online) publishers, which are also at odds with one another.


(c) When it comes to domestic business, it is striking, in a country that boasts about keeping the state lean, how many of its most successful companies are ‘GLCs’ (‘government-linked’ [companies]) in which, through Temasek, the government has a substantial stake. They include DBS (the largest domestic bank); NOL (shipping); SingTel (telecoms); SMRT (public transport); ST Engineering (high-end engineering services); CapitaLand (property); Keppel (marine engineering, such as jack-up rigs, in which Singapore has a 70% global market share); and SembCorp (marine engineering and utilities).”
(i) For GLCs, see state-owned enterprise
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State-owned_enterprise
(section 4.8 Singapore)

Quote: "The term 'government-linked company' (GLC) is sometimes used to refer to corporate entities that may be private or public (listed on a stock exchange) where an existing government owns a stake using a holding company. There are two main definitions of GLCs are dependent on the proportion of the corporate entity a government owns. One definition purports that a company is classified as a GLC if a government owns an effective controlling interest (>50%), while the second definition suggests that any corporate entity that has a government as a shareholder is a GLC.

(ii) Difference, if any, with SOEs?
(A) Carlos D Ramírez and Ling Hui Tan, Singapore Inc versus the Private Sector: Are Government-Linked Companies Different?  IMF Staff Papers (published by International Monetary Fund, 51: 510-528 (2004).
http://www.imf.org/External/Pubs/FT/staffp/2004/03/ramirez.htm
(abstract: “Government-linked companies (GLCs) have a significant presence in Singapore’s corporate sector. Unlike parastatals in many other countries, these companies are run on a competitive, commercial basis, ostensibly without government privileges. Based on data from publicly listed GLCs and non-GLCs, we indeed find no evidence that GLCs have easier access to credit. However, we do find that being a GLC is rewarded in financial markets with a positive premium, over and above what can be explained by the usual determinants of Tobin’s q”)
(B) Reforming China’s state-owned firms | From SOE to GLC. China’s rulers look to Singapore for tips on portfolio management. Economist, Nov 23, 2013
http://www.economist.com/news/fi ... -management-soe-glc

Quote:

“On the eve of the latest third plenum, held earlier this month, the Development Research Centre (DRC) 国务院发展研究中心, a government think-tank, advertised an ambitious set of reform proposals, including an overhaul of China’s inefficient state-owned enterprises (SOEs). Simply privatising these companies remains out of the question for China’s leaders. But there are alternatives, and Singapore provides one.

“The DRC’s plan named Temasek, a holding company for SOEs in Singapore, as a potential model. It was created in 1974, when it inherited 35 companies from the finance ministry. * * * Its [Temasek’s] domestic holdings are concentrated in what Singapore calls ‘government-linked companies’ (GLCs), such as Singapore Airlines (of which it owns 56%) and SingTel, a telecoms company (52%).

Temasek’s charter obliges it to increase the value of its holdings over the long term. This is a remarkably simple aim compared with the Chinese government’s manifold ambitions. It [China] wants its holdings to promote technological progress, favoured industries and national security, among other things.

As well as clarifying objectives, the Temasek model also allows the state to distance itself from the management of its enterprises, without relinquishing ownership. Temasek avoids meddling in the day-to-day running of the GLCs in its portfolio, which are free to hire professional managers at market rates. With a few exceptions, it does not directly appoint board members either.

“In judging the performance of Temasek’s GLCs, the counterfactual is important. They may not be as obviously successful as private titans from the region such as Samsung or LG. But they are not nearly as bad as most SOEs, including China’s.

(iii) DBS Bank
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DBS_Bank
(previously known as The Development Bank of Singapore Limited)
(iv) Neptune Orient Lines
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neptune_Orient_Lines
(NOL; section 1 History)
(v) SMRT Corporation
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMRT_Corporation
(operates bus, rail, taxi)

SMRT stands for Singapore Mass Rapid Transit.
(vi) ST Engineering
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ST_Engineering
(Singapore Technologies Engineering)
(vii) Keppel Corporation
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keppel_Corporation
(The name of the company Keppel was derived from a British ship captain, Captain Henry Keppel, who discovered a natural, deepwater harbour (the Keppel Harbour) in Tanjong Pagar [on the western bank of mouth of Singapore river] in 1848)
(viii) SembCorp Industries includes SembCorp Marine Ltd (ship repair, shipbuilding etc).

choi

(d) “Singapore does have innovative and expansive private companies, such as BreadTalk, a baker with a presence in 15 countries; Charles & Keith, an international chain of shoe shops; and Hyflux, which is building an export market using Singapore’s expertise in power- and water-management. But Singapore’s best-known brand remains that of a GLC: Singapore Airlines, its flag-carrier.”
(i) BreadTalk
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BreadTalk
(BreadTalk Group Limited 面包新语/ 面包物语 集团; 2000- )

founder: George QUEK Meng Tong  郭明忠
(ii) Charles & Keith
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_%26_Keith
(a fast fashion brand specializing in ladies' footwear and accessories; founded in 1996 by brothers Charles 黄文华 and Keith Wong 黄文杰)

However, the official website of Charles & Keith within China uses their English names, despite Chinese everywhere else.
(iii) Hyflux
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyflux
(a global environmental solutions company; 1989- )
(iv) Singapore Airlines
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singapore_Airlines
(Founded 1947 (as Malayan Airways) [Malaysia became independent from UK in 1963]; Temasek holds 56% of voting stock)

(e) Singapore is “a city that works. It sees great potential in marketing its urban services. Its second governmental joint venture in China, for example, after the ill-starred Suzhou industrial park, is to develop an “eco-city” in Tianjin. And a consortium of Singaporean firms is to design a new capital for the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh.
(i) China–Singapore Suzhou Industrial Park (CS-SIP; 中国—新加坡苏州工业园区; In the late 1990s, the heavy losses incurred by the park caused a scandal in Singapore.[1])  Wikipedia
(A) Reference 1 is

Ben Dolven, Suzhou Project: Wounded Pride. Far Eastern Economic Review, July 8, 1999.
http://web.archive.org/web/20060 ... /Other/suzhou3.html
("Suzhou municipal officials * * * instead marketed the rival park, called the Suzhou New District [to Germans for example] * * * The New District offered investors lower rental prices, and even paid for advertisements on some Air China flights * * * The agreement to transfer ownership looks like a partial exit strategy")
(B) Suzhou Industrial Park: 10 Things to Know About the China-Singapore Project . Strait Times, Oct 26, 2014
http://www.straitstimes.com/asia ... a-singapore-project
("Singapore initially held a 65 per cent stake in the China-Singapore Suzhou Industrial Park Development Group (CSSD), with the rest by China. Singapore subsequently cut its stake to 35 per cent to incentivise the local government to support the SIP. Its stake in CSSD is now 28 per cent")

There is no need to read the rest of this report.

choi

(f) “Its [Singapore’s] three local banks—DBS, UOB and OCBC—are protected in their local market * * * In terms of market capitalisation, Singapore’s stock exchange is dwarfed by those in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Tokyo, its main regional rivals as financial centres.  Yet the city has overtaken Shanghai and Tokyo to become the largest centre in its time-zone for foreign-exchange trading, and globally lags behind only New York and London.”
(i) United Overseas Bank  大华银行有限公司
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Overseas_Bank
(Founded in 1935 by Sarawak businessman WEE Kheng Chiang 黄庆昌)
(ii) Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation  华侨银行有限公司
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oversea-Chinese_Banking_Corporation
(1919- )

(g) “Stamford Raffles selected it [Singapore] as a base in 1819”

Stamford Raffles (1781 – 1826; English; founded Singapore in 1819 with “a small military presence” after making sure Dutch had not owned it)