SINGAPORE - Value-added investments expected to come in at S$11b in 2007

Channel NewsAsia, 29 January 2007

Investments in Singapore are expected to come in at between S$11 and S$11.5 billion this year in value-added terms, creating up to 26,800 new jobs. The upbeat forecast from the Economic Development Board (EDB) follows a glowing report for last year, when investments hit a record value-added of S$13.4 billion and 26,000 new jobs were created. The figure of S$13.4 billion refers to the total contribution of the projects to the economy when completed. With 450 investment projects committed last year, job creation was at its highest since 2001. The EDB expects some 26,800 new jobs to be created over the next few years, when the projects are fully implemented. Some 60 percent of the new jobs will be in manufacturing and 40 percent will be in services. The lion's share of factory investments last year came from the electronics sector at S$4.3 billion, followed by the chemicals industry at S$2.6 billion. A number of projects secured last year were worth over S$1 billion in fixed asset investment. Some of these include the multi-billion dollar Shell Eastern Petroleum Cracker and MEG plant, and the S$4.7 billion Intel and Micron flash memory wafer fab.

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