Singapore (Oct 7): “Officially Tuas is designed to handle 65 million TEUs (20-foot equivalent units), but I am sure PSA can squeeze a little more out of it if we work hard.” – Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, at the groundbreaking of the Tuas Megaport on Oct 3.

Green infrastructure needed for Asia: Minister Indranee

Sustainable infrastructure development practices are needed to overcome the existential threats of global warming and rising sea levels to Singapore, says Indranee Rajah, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office. She was speaking on Oct 2 at the inaugural Asia Infrastructure Forum. Indranee, who is also second minister for finance and education, notes that “infrastructure built should not contribute further to climate change” through deforestation, ecological damage and carbon emissions. For this to happen, she says Asia needed “green infrastructure” focusing on better management of energy, water and land. The infrastructure will incorporate innovative solutions and technology, along with building materials that are responsibly sourced and durable. These green developments should also become “more resilient in times of disruption” as they factor in social, financial, economic and environmental concerns.

Asia’s infrastructure investments through 2040 are expected to total some US$51 trillion ($70.7 trillion), according to data from Global Infrastructure Hub. Meanwhile, Singapore will help to bridge a “green financing gap” for the Asean region from 2016 to 2030, says Indranee. The United Nations Environment Programme and DBS Bank have estimated this to be around US$160 billion. — By Amala Balakrishner

Singapore to dodge technical recession in 3Q

Amid a stagnating economy and low core inflation, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) is widely expected later this month to ease its monetary policy stance for the first time since April 2016. But analysts at Maybank Kim Eng Research believe Singapore could have narrowly dodged a technical recession in 3Q.

“Third-quarter GDP growth likely came in at a weak +0.2%, barely improving from +0.1% in 2Q,” says lead analyst Chua Hak Bin in an Oct 2 note. He assigns a “low 20% possibility” to Singapore slipping into a technical recession in 3Q, which would mean MAS is likely to take on “a more aggressive move” such as easing to a neutral bias with zero Singapore dollar nominal effective exchange rate (S$NEER) appreciation.

S$NEER is the trade-weighted basket of currencies against the Singapore dollar. It has been a key policy tool for MAS.

For now, on expectations of a “narrow escape” from a technical recession in 3Q, Chua expects MAS to likely reduce the slope of the S$NEER “slightly” from the current +1% appreciation path to +0.5%, but keep the width and centre of the policy band unchanged. — By Stanislaus Jude Chan

Singapore e-commerce to grow to US$7 billion by 2025

Singapore’s e-commerce market is set to triple in value to US$7 billion in just six years, in parallel with rapid growth across Southeast Asia that will see the total internet economy in the region reach a whopping US$300 billion by 2025, according to the “e-Conomy Southeast Asia report 2019”, released on Oct 3 by Google, Temasek and Bain & Co.

The gross merchandise value of Singapore’s internet economy, according to the report, will be worth US$27 billion by 2025, which is more than double the US$13 billion GMV expected this year. In addition to e-commerce, online travel, ride-hailing and food delivery services are expected to make up the bulk of that growth trajectory.

The same pattern is seen across Southeast Asia, with the region’s internet economy seeing a 39% increase to US$100 billion today, up from US$72 billion last year. Of this total, e-commerce accounts for US$38 billion; ride-hailing US$12.7 billion; online media such as advertising, gaming and subscriptions US$14.2 billion; and online travel bookings US$34.4 billion.

The report also highlighted that e-commerce will be the largest sector driving this surge in online spending, with the total regional GMV of e-commerce to reach US$150 billion by 2025. The second-largest sector contributing to the internet economy will be online travel, they predict, with the total GMV reaching US$78 billion over the same period. More significantly, digital payments are expected to cross the US$1 trillion mark by then, which will mean that one in every two dollars spent will be done digitally. — By Pauline Wong

Malaysia proposes $28.4 mil fine on Grab

Malaysia’s competition regulator on Oct 3 proposed a fine of over RM86 million ($28.4 million) on ride-hailing firm Grab for violating competition law by imposing restrictive clauses on its drivers.

The Malaysia Competition Commission (MyCC) ruled that Singapore-headquartered Grab had abused its dominant position in the market by preventing its drivers from promoting and providing advertising services for its competitors.

MyCC also imposed a daily penalty of RM15,000 beginning Oct 3 for as long as Grab fails to address the concerns. Grab will have 30 working days to make its representations to the commission before a final decision is made.

“We maintain our position that we have complied fully with the Competition Act 2010,” a Grab spokesman told Reuters, adding that the firm would submit its written representations by Nov 27.

Malaysia would be the third country in the region to penalise Grab after its deal with Uber Technologies. Last year, both firms were fined by anti-trust watchdogs in Singapore and the Philippines for their merger. — Reuters

Facebook’s Libra payments partners waver

Four payments companies that joined Facebook as founding members of the Libra Association are wavering over whether to officially sign on to the cryptocurrency project, according to people familiar with the matter.

Visa, Mastercard, PayPal Holdings and Stripe are undecided about formally signing onto Libra’s organising charter because they are concerned about maintaining positive relationships with regulators who have reservations about the project, the people said.

Executives at the payments companies believe Facebook oversold the extent to which regulators were comfortable with the project, and are concerned about the perception that the social network has not behaved responsibly in other areas — such as how it has handled user data and privacy, the people said. — Bloomberg

Challenger bank Monzo upsets customers

According to the UK press, Monzo, a UK-based digital bank, has upset customers by closing its fee-charging packaged premium current account, Monzo Plus, after launching it in April this year. The services offered by Monzo Plus included travel insurance and travel money.

The bank initially offered a discounted monthly fee of £3 ($5). Then in August, it unveiled a range of bundles costing up to £12 a month. Monzo is refunding some of those who signed up.

The tech website Which? says that it analysed the initial Monzo Plus travel insurance just before it launched, and the insurance cover did not appear as good as those in other packaged accounts. Monzo then switched its travel insurance provider before axing the entire Monzo Plus account.

Monzo sees itself as a “challenger bank”. Ironically, Which? says the best fee-charging packaged premium account in the UK is Nationwide FlexPlus, which is offered by Nationwide Building Society, formed in 1846.

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