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Daily Archives: 18 Sep 2009

Singapore is Asia-Pac’s 2nd most competitive IT market

Posted on 18 Sep 2009 | Comments Off

The Republic has inched ahead of Taiwan and South Korea to become the second most competitive information technology market in the Asia-Pacific region, a new study by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) reveals.

The annual report, sponsored by anti-piracy trade group Business Software Alliance (BSA), scores 66 countries around the world on six key yardsticks which EIU uses to ascertain the competitiveness of a nation’s tech sector.

These include a country’s business environment, technology infrastructure, legal framework, as well as its research and development (R&D) landscape.

Singapore scored 68.2 out of a possible 100, placing it just behind regional frontrunner Australia, which garnered a score of 68.7. The tally moves it to second position from fourth last year.

Taiwan and South Korea, which clinched first and third position in 2008, dropped to fourth and fifth place in the latest EIU rankings. On a worldwide basis, Singapore retained its ninth ranking this time around.

According to Manoj Vohra, EIU’s director of research, Singapore was in pole position in five out of the six categories used to measure IT competitiveness. EIU ranked Singapore first in the region in terms of its R&D environment and support for the IT sector, thanks to the strong backing of the local government. Continue reading →

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Posted in General, Property Market / Real Estate

Tagged Business Software Alliance, Economist Intelligence Unit, Singapore Rankings

Office rent decline eases as confidence returns

Posted on 18 Sep 2009 | Comments Off

Recovery seen next year, but market remains fragile in short-term

OFFICE rents fell for the fourth consecutive quarter, but the pace of decline has eased on the back of returning business confidence, a new report from CB Richard Ellis (CBRE) showed.

Data from the firm said that prime office rents averaged $7.50 per square foot per month (psf pm) in the third quarter. This reflected a 12.8 per cent quarter-on-quarter decrease, compared with the 18.1 per cent decline in Q2 2009 and 18.6 per cent contraction in Q1 2009.

In all, prime rents have fallen 53.4 per cent since their peak in Q3 last year.

Similarly, rents of Grade A office space – which is the top range of prime office space – slipped to $8.80 psf in Q3 2009. This represents a 13.3 per cent quarter-on-quarter decline, which is an improvement over the 18 per cent contraction in Q1 and 17.5 per cent decline in Q2.

However, vacancy rates continued to climb. Grade A vacancy rose to 4.2 per cent in Q2 2009, up from 3.6 per cent in the past quarter. It was 1.2 per cent just a year ago in Q3 2008. The take-up for Grade A space for the first three quarters in 2009 amounted to negative 223,397 sq ft. Likewise, the islandwide take-up was negative 570,000 sq ft for the first half of the year. Continue reading →