S$1.20 A SINGAPORE PRESS HOLDINGS PUBLICATION | businesstimes.com.sg | fb.com/thebusinesstimes | @BusinessTimes | CO REGN NO 198402868E | S$1.20 A SINGAPORE PRESS HOLDINGS PUBLICATION | businesstimes.com.sg | fb.com/thebusinesstimes | @BusinessTimes | CO REGN NO 198402868E | MCI (P) 051/12/2017 Tuesday, March 20, 2018

Swiss-based Pictet Group

says it has obtained a wholesale bank licence from the Monetary Authority of Singapore to expand its operations here. TOP STORIES / 5

The Singapore Exchange

suspended trading in YuuZoo Corporation shares on Monday evening after its auditors said they were unable to give an opinion on certain items in its latest financial statements. COMPANIES & MARKETS / 6

OCBC’s new S$240 million

regional data centre comes with blast-resistant walls and full back-up power. The six-storey facility is designed to serve all entities in the bank group for the next 30 years. COMPANIES & MARKETS / 7

China-based manufacturer

Shanghai Turbo has uploaded a video of events which took place when the company was under “siege” – including a violent stand-off at its factory. COMPANIES & MARKETS / 7

Peak Court in Thomson Road

has launched a tender for collective sale with an asking price of S$106 million. The freehold District 11 condo sits on 57,350 sq ft of land.REAL ESTATE / 13

Pollyanna Chu is no longer

Hong Kong’s richest woman after her listed company turned into Asia's worst performer this year. Worth almost US$12 billion as recently as January, she's seen more than half of her wealth wiped out. BANKING & FINANCE / 16

Gold prices extended losses

into a fourth session on Monday and hit a more than two-week low as investors expect the US Federal Reserve to raise interest rates. ENERGY & COMMODITIES / 17

Shares in Hyundai Motor

tumbled on a US probe into why airbags failed to deploy in some of its Sonata sedans. TRANSPORT / 21

By Anita Gabrielanitag@sph.com.sg@AnitaGabrielBT

SingaporeJEROME Powell’s first major policy act

as US Federal Reserve chairman will

be closely watched, but it is what he

says that will speak louder than what

he does.

Analysts say markets have already

priced in a 25 basis points hike to

1.75 per cent in the Fed Funds rate

during the two-day US Federal Open

Market Committee (FOMC) meeting

on March 20, with the CME Federal Re-

serve watch tool indicating a 94.4 per-

cent probability of that happening.

But while the general consensus is

that the Fed will raise rates, it is what

it will say – its assessment of the

world’s largest economy, including in-

flation and forward guidance or dot

plots (three or four-hike plan?) that

will draw the greatest market scru-

tiny.

The FOMC meeting is the highlight

of a super busy week for monetary

policy makers, be it in Buenos Aires

where G20 finance ministers and cent-

ral bankers are gathered or the policy

meetings in UK, New Zealand, Taiwan

and Indonesia. It will be Mr Powell’s

first FOMC meeting and press confer-

ence since he took over from Janet Yel-

len as Fed chief in February and

pledged greater transparency.

“A new boss’ management style

and approach can fundamentally

change a job. This is why this week’s

FOMC meeting is arguably one of the

most important policy setting meet-

ings in recent years... (it) will debut

his style, both in chairing the rate set-ting committee on how to come to a decision, and in his communication to the market,” said JP Morgan Asset Management’s chief market strategist for Asia Pacific Tai Hui.

“Could the fresh-faced Fed force four hikes?”, asked Ian Samson, mar-kets research analyst at Fidelity Inter-national. Therein lies the market’s chief fixation that explains its volatile behaviour since February: Will the Fed stay with the market’s default ex-pectations for three rate hikes this year or adopt a more hawkish tone and push up the “dot plots” to four?

Recent price-related data out of the world’s largest economy includ-ing CPI (consumer price index) and PPI (producer price index) showed little signs of price pressures picking up aggressively, which may suggest that the Fed’s gradual pace of normal-isation of interest rates could stay the course.

Yet, hawkish expectations have

been fuelled by “Fed speak” over the

past month, exuding stronger confid-

ence amid a more buoyant US eco-

nomy.

“The Fed sounds self-assured now,

but that’s easy to do after a long

period of plain sailing. The data still

shows no acceleration in inflation. As

such, if and when economic and mar-

ket conditions get tougher, at least

one of those four rises looks vulner-

able,” said Mr Samson, commenting

on the event of a four-hike plan.

Even so, the debate around four

versus three hikes, he said, doesn’t quite matter. “In terms of US and global economic growth, two hikes in 2018 aren’t that much different from three or four hikes. In that sense, Fed hikes were never our worry for growth and risk assets this year. We were more concerned about a sudden rise in the oil price, or a harder land-ing in China,” he noted.

❚ Continued on next page

☛ Editorial: Fed’s Powell musttake US out of last recession, avert next one, Page 22

By Jacquelyn Cheokjaccheok@sph.com.sg@JacCheokBT

Singapore

E-COMMERCE giant Alibaba is pump-

ing another US$2 billion into Lazada –

raising the stakes in the fierce battle

for South-east Asia’s online shoppers

and causing further hand-wringing

among Singapore retailers.

Alibaba Group’s latest announce-

ment to inject more ammunition into

the Singapore-based, South-east

Asia-focused startup which it already

controls will matter for the next

phase of growth for major e-com-

merce players.

To show that it means business,

Alibaba is not only forking out big

bucks for Lazada’s regional expan-

sion. It also announced on Monday

that current Lazada chairman Lucy

Peng – one of Alibaba's 18

co-founders – will assume the addi-

tional role of chief executive to “drive

Lazada’s growth strategies”.

Lazada founder Max Bittner, who

has served as CEO since 2012, will

take on the role of senior adviser to

Alibaba to “assist in the transition and

future international growth strategy”.

Chua Hak Bin, senior economist at

Maybank Kim Eng, told The Business

Times: “Alibaba’s huge investment

suggests that South-east Asia is be-

coming the next battleground for

global tech giants.” He said that while

the region’s consumers will benefit

from greater price competition and

choice, traditional retail players will

face an even greater risk of disruption

and displacement. “Many local brick

and mortar retail names do not have

the deep wallets or tech know-how to

compete. Local players will have to

find their niche and partner the

global tech titans to survive the com-

ing onslaught.”

Anuj Jain, chief of startup builder

Startup-O, said that “the writing has

been on the wall for some time now”,

as global players including Alibaba,

Sea Ltd, JD.com and Amazon increas-

ingly deepen their foray into

South-east Asia, a region with “huge

growth potential”.

“This reiterates their might and

strong intent to play hard in this re-

gion, which will intensify the competi-

tion, ultimately benefit consumers,

and hopefully stir up some merger

and acquisition activity in the e-com-

merce startup space.”

Alibaba’s latest investment will

bring its total investment in Lazada to

US$4 billion. In 2016, it acquired con-

trol of Lazada with an investment of

US$1 billion, and in 2017, boosted its

stake in Lazada to 83 per cent with an

additional US$1 billion investment.

BT understands that the new funding

will raise Alibaba’s stake in Lazada,

but Lazada declined to disclose more

details.

BT also understands that Lazada’s

valuation is US$3.15 billion as of

2017. Its parent company Alibaba has

a market cap of some US$513 billion

as of Monday. In comparison,

Amazon’s market cap is about

US$760 billion and JD.com’s is US$64

billion. Singapore-based, New

York-listed Sea, which runs e-com-

merce platform Shopee, has a market

cap of approximately US$3.66 billion.

A Shopee spokeswoman said: “Shopee will continue to focus on in-novating and improving our plat-form, features and services to cater to the needs and preferences of users across the region. We believe that Shopee’s home court advantage and business model provide an exciting platform for long-term value cre-ation.” Amazon declined to comment.

A JD.com spokesman said the com-pany’s “commitment to authentic products and consistent anti-counter-feit positioning”, as well as its “unpar-alleled logistics capability which offer the fastest delivery service in the world” will serve as the competitive advantages of its local platforms across South-east Asian countries, among them Indonesia and Thailand.

HyunWook Cho, CEO of homegrown player qoo10, told BT that the region’s e-commerce sector is “still at its very early stage” compared with markets such as China, Korea, Ja-pan and the US where e-commerce penetration is over 15 per cent, and therefore requires “a lot more invest-ments” to expedite its growth.

He added: “Qoo10’s focus is Singa-pore. We will tackle the rest of the re-gion’s markets wisely with a proper strategy. Being No 1 early on in the e-commerce market is a very costly money-game. We will play smart.”

❚ Continued on Page 4

❚❚ DAILYDIGEST

FOMC MEET

Markets wait for Jerome Powell to set the tone

Alibaba pumps US$2b into Lazada to wage war in SEA e-commerce marketAnalyst sees white-knuckle ride ahead for Singapore retailers; others say latest push a plus for consumers, regional e-commerce and logistics

HOCK LOCK SIEWSGX cracks down on offending firms

COMPANIES & MARKETS / 6

BEAUTY FOR THE BUSYIkeda Group moulding skincare brands for

women with fast paced lifestyles SME / 26

MARKETSMonday Change

EN BLOC SALEKwek Leng Beng

/Quek Leng Chan

controlled entities

secure Pacific

Mansion for S$980m

TOP STORIES / 2

STI

KL COMP

NIKKEI 225

HANG SENG

SHENZHEN B

DOW (11.45 EDT)

3,498.29

1,847.94

21,480.90

31,513.76

1,176.78

24,662.22

-13.85

+1.55

-195.61

+11.79

-2.04

-284.29

S$6.4m FINESMAS fines

StanChart units

for breaching

laundering, terror

financing rules

TOP STORIES / 2

Lazada US$3.15b (not listed) Alibaba, Temasek, Lazada management

JD.com US$64b (Nasdaq) Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, Kingdom Holding

Sea Limited US$3.66b (NYSE) General Atlantic, Khazanah Nasional

Amazon US$760.86b (Nasdaq) Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers

PLAYER VALUATION/MARKET CAP BACKERS (WHEN THE COMPANY WAS PRIVATE)

e-commerce: A costly battle

Source: Compiled by BT

All eyes on US Fed meeting with analysts saying a rate hikeis “done deal”

Saudi Arabia cultivating a new resource – entertainmentMove is part of strategy to reduce dependence on oil

to fund the economy as well as create jobs / 25

Lazada chairman Lucy Peng – one of 18 Alibaba co-founders – will take on additional role of CEO.

By Janice Hengjaniceh@sph.com.sg@JaniceHengBT

SingaporeSOUTH-EAST Asian firms’ divestment

intentions have caught up to those of

their global peers, according to the

latest annual EY Global Corporate Di-

vestment Study.

Of respondents in the region, 88

per cent plan to divest in the next two

years, similar to the global figure of

87 per cent.

This is in stark contrast to last

year’s study, where just 26 per cent

of South-east Asian respondents had

divestment plans, compared to 43

per cent globally.

The survey of 1,000 corporate ex-

ecutives included over 70 from

South-east Asia, of which 20 were

from Singapore.

Asked why divestment intentions

have risen so sharply since the previ-

ous study, Ernst & Young Solutions

representatives did not pinpoint any

specific reasons for the timing.

But Geophin George, transaction

advisory services partner, suggested

that pressure from technological

change has driven firms to reassess

their business.

“A lot of companies are feeling un-

competitive,” he said, adding that

firms in Asia might have taken a cue

from those in Europe or the United

States, where divestment activity has

been going on for a while.

Almost seven in 10 respondents in

the region agreed that changes in

technology are influencing their di-

vestment plans.

For just over half of them, the

need to fund new technology invest-

ments was a factor behind their most

recent major divestment.

This was the third most-cited

factor, coming after a business unit’s

weak competitive position, and op-

portunistic bids.

“As soon as you’re being pressed

into making new investments, you

need to think about costs and fund-

ing,” said Vikram Chakravarty,

Asia-Pacific head of strategy and man-

aging partner for transaction advis-

ory services Asean. The region’s in-

creased interest in divestment is over-

due, he added.

In the survey, 47 per cent of com-

panies in South-east Asia admitted

they had held onto assets longer than

they should have.

One reason for the reluctance

might be cultural, said Mr Chakrav-

arty, adding: “Nobody should see a di-

vestment as a loss of face.”

Rather, the strategic aspect of di-

vestments should be acknowledged,

he said.

The study found that globally,

companies which conduct portfolio

reviews annually – assessing which

business units or brands to grow or

divest – were twice as likely to exceed

performance expectations in divest-

ing “at the right time.”

Geopolitical shifts may also

prompt divestment.

Nine in 10 South-east Asian firms

said tax policy changes “may affect”

their plans to divest. Almost as many

said that labour and immigration

laws would do so.

Over six in 10 said cross-border

trade agreements might have an ef-

fect. But Brexit was a distant concern,

with 17 per cent of firms in the region

seeing it as a factor, compared to 42

per cent globally.

By Chia Yan Minchiaym@sph.com.sg@ChiaYanMinBT

SingaporeTHE Ministry of Trade and Industry

(MTI) has appointed 18 people – in-

cluding prominent members of the

business community – to the board

of Enterprise Singapore with effect

from April 1.

The new one-stop government

agency, which aims to help Singa-

pore companies scale up and go

global, will be established on April 1

following the merger of Spring Singa-

pore and International Enterprise

Singapore.

Former civil service head Peter

Ong Boon Kwee will be officially ap-

pointed chairman on the same date.

MTI's second permanent secret-

ary, Png Cheong Boon, who used to

head Spring and JTC Corporation,

was named Enterprise Singapore's

first chief executive last year. His ap-

pointment as CEO will also take ef-

fect on April 1.

Mr Png will concurrently be ap-

pointed to the board of the Economic

Development Board (EDB).

The Enterprise Singapore board

members are:

■ Peter Ong, chairman, Enterprise

Singapore;

■ Png Cheong Boon, chief executive

officer, Enterprise Singapore

■ Beh Swan Gin, chairman, Economic

Development Board (EDB);

■ Piyush Gupta, chief executive of-

ficer, DBS Group Holdings;

■ Vivek Kumar, assistant dir-

ector-general, National Trades Union

Congress;

■ Andrew Kwan, group managing dir-

ector, Commonwealth Capital

Group;

■ Jeanne Liew, principal and chief ex-

ecutive officer, Nanyang Polytechnic;

■ Lim Chow Kiat, chief executive of-

ficer, GIC;

■ Max Loh, managing partner, Asean

and Singapore, Ernst & Young;

■ Pierre Lorinet, non-executive dir-

ector, Trafigura;

■ Low Ming Wah, executive director,

president and chief operating officer,

Micro-Mechanics (Holdings);

■ Mohamed Nasser Ismail, senior

vice-president, head of Equity Cap-

ital Market (SMEs) and head of Capital

Market Development, Singapore Ex-

change;

■ Dilhan Pillay Sandrasegara, deputy

chief executive officer, Temasek In-

ternational;

■ Viswanathan Shankar, chief execut-

ive officer, Gateway Partners;

■ Teo Siong Seng, chairman, Singa-

pore Business Federation;

■ Eugene Wong, founder and man-

aging director, Sirius Venture Cap-

ital;

■ Audrey Yap, co-founder and man-

aging partner, Yusarn Audrey; and

■ Renny Yeo, chairman, Singapore

Accreditation Council

MTI said in a statement on

Monday that it would like to thank all

members of the Spring and IE Singa-

pore boards for their invaluable con-

tributions, in particular Philip Yeo,

the outgoing chairman of Spring, and

Seah Moon Ming, the outgoing chair-

man of IE Singapore.

MTI permanent secretary Loh

Khum Yean said: “Over the years,

both Mr Philip Yeo and Mr Seah Moon

Ming have played a key role in lead-

ing Spring and IE Singapore to

provide strong enabling support for

many Singapore companies to build

up their capabilities and expand into

international markets. I would like to

express MTI’s deep appreciation for

their invaluable contributions.”

By Tan Hwee Hweehweetan@sph.com.sg@HweetanBT

Singapore

PORT and terminal operator PSA Inter-

national posted a 5.1 per cent rise in

full-year net profit to S$1.23 billion

on higher revenue and container

throughput at its terminals world-

wide.

Revenue for the year ended Dec

31, 2017, was 7.8 per cent higher at

S$3.97 billion.

The port and terminal operator

handled 74.24 million TEUs

(20-foot-equivalent units) of cargo

during FY17, up 9.8 per cent from

FY16.

PSA’s flagship Singapore terminals

contributed almost half of this

volume or 33.35 million TEUs, a 9 per

cent increase compared to the year be-

fore.

PSA terminals outside Singapore

accounted for 40.89 million TEUs of

throughput, 10.4 per cent higher over

2016.

PSA International group CEO Tan

Chong Meng said in 2017, global con-

tainer throughput had its “strongest

showing” since 2011, helped by

stronger economic growth in many

countries.

“The frenzied container line ship-

ping consolidation in 2016, which per-

colated into service deployment

changes in 2017, also contributed to-

wards PSA’s group throughput for the

year.”

PSA’s Singapore terminal has be-

nefited from the diversion of CMA

CGM’s cargo volumes from Port Klang

after the French shipping giant com-

pleted the acquisition of Neptune Ori-

ent Lines.

PSA’s terminals worldwide have

also benefited from another mega

trend – shipping lines joining forces

by forming vessel-sharing alliances.

Group chairman Fock Siew Wah

noted that such alliances have chosen

to “hub their shipping services in

many PSA terminals”.

He also said PSA’s growth traject-

ory has withstood threats from the

macro-environment, including some

“chaotic operating conditions

brought about by malicious

large-scale cyber attacks on certain en-

tities in 2017”.

Danish giant, AP Moller-Maersk,

was one of the unnamed entities. Last

June, the Danish conglomerate ac-

knowledged via Twitter that it was

one of the victims of the global cyber

attack from the Petya ransomware. It

saw outages at its computer systems

across the world, which affected its

shipping line and other businesses.

Yet, the Petya episode only raises

the urgency for international ship-

ping and operators of ports and ter-

minals to work to digitalise world-

wide and enhance cyber security.

Acknowledging the digitalisation

wave and an “increasing quest for

cargo flow visibility”, Mr Tan said that

PSA, with its vast operating footprint

at key nodes of global trade and sup-

ply chains, is in a good position to

“work with our customers and part-

ners to create a new suite of solutions

that exploit the opportunities which

digitalisation offers”.

By Janice Hengjaniceh@sph.com.sg@JaniceHengBT

Singapore

THE process by which the Competi-

tion Commission of Singapore (CCS)

gives confidential advice to busi-

nesses planning to merge has now

been codified, under amendments to

the Competition Act passed in Parlia-

ment yesterday.

In the debate, Henry Kwek (Nee

Soon GRC) asked if the speculated

merger between ride-hailing apps

Uber and Grab would achieve market

dominance and crowd out taxi com-

panies.

In reply, Senior Minister of State

for Trade and Industry Koh Poh Koon

noted that the CCS has the power to

review any merger that may result in

a substantial lessening of competi-

tion in any market in Singapore. The

Commission is monitoring the mat-

ter, he added.

The new section 55A applies in

situations where information about a

merger is not yet in the public do-

main. In the spirit of confidentiality,

the CCS will base its assessment of

such anticipated mergers on informa-

tion provided by the merging entit-

ies. It will neither request information

from any third party nor conduct a

public consultation.

As such, advice issued under sec-

tion 55A is not binding on the CCS.

Previously, such advice on anticip-

ated mergers was given via a process

laid out in the CCS Guidelines on Mer-

ger Procedures 2012.

From 2013 to 2017, CCS has invest-

igated nearly 100 cases of potential in-

fringements of the Competition Act.

Responding to Mr Kwek’s call for a

committee to look into profiteering,

Dr Koh said the government will mon-

itor the situation and take the neces-

sary measures against businesses

found to be profiteering.

Other changes relate to CCS invest-

igations. Businesses under investiga-

tion can now offer legally-binding commitments to address any anti-competitive conduct involving sections 34 and 47 of the Act.

This allows the CCS to take action more swiftly against a firm that provides but then breaches a commit-ment, as the CCS does not need to re-open fresh investigations, Dr Koh said in response to Nominated Mem-ber of Parliament Azmoon Ahmad.

The interview process during an in-spection has also been streamlined and simplified.

❚ Continued from Page 1

Matteo Sutto, chief marketing officer of price comparison site iPrice, noted that the key challenge is still to get more consumers to shop online. “In-vestments in e-commerce such as Alibaba’s could further increase the speed of innovation in South-east Asia’s online retail space, making the e-commerce pie bigger for every-one.”

Alvin Ea, CEO of PSA-backed con-tainer haulage startup Haulio, agreed that Alibaba’s investment will lead to greater volumes in the region’s e-commerce space, which will en-gender more trade and activity for supporting industries such as ship-ping and logistics. “This can help bring talent into the logistics tech in-dustry, as we all attempt to tackle the many pains of this fragmented space.”

P a u l C o u t t s , C E O o f Alibaba-backed logistics company SingPost, said as much: “Any invest-ment of this magnitude can only ac-celerate the growth of e-commerce in Singapore and the region. We con-tinue to focus on initiatives that un-lock the full potential of the e-com-merce market that these investments create, to advance SingPost’s trans-formation into a leading Postal and e-commerce logistics company.”

Haulio’s Mr Ea noted that the change in leadership in Lazada marks “the beginning of Chinese in-fluence and entry” into the South-east Asian markets, while Star-tup-O’s Mr Jain hailed the appoint-ment of Ms Peng as “a welcome step that provides an experienced execut-ive to lead the charge in the region”.

Mr Jain said: “Having a strong wo-man leader like her in the startup eco-system will also inspire many other indigenous women entrepreneurs in the otherwise male-dominated star-tup scene here."

Ms Peng, who joined Alibaba in 1999 as one of 18 co-founders, is a senior partner in the Alibaba Partner-ship. She is the executive chair of Ant Financial (Alibaba’s payments affili-ate), at which she was CEO from 2010 to 2016. Ms Peng also served as Alibaba’s Chief People Officer for over a decade, and was named one of the world’s most powerful women by Forbes for three consecutive years since 2013.

BT understands that Ms Peng had on Monday sent an email to Lazada employees to inform them of the latest developments, in which she also said that Lazada will focus on de-veloping young local staff as well as women employees.

By Yunita Ongyunitaso@sph.com.sg@YunitaOngBT

SingaporeCROSS-BORDER financing deals worth 25.3 billion yuan (S$5.3 billion) have been completed to date under the Chongqing Connectivity Initiative (CCI), Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) Chan Chun Sing said in Parliament on March 19.

The deals have helped provide Chongqing companies with “more fin-ancing options and raised their inter-national profile”, said Mr Chan.

He was responding to a question

by Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC MP Sun Xuel-

ing about the progress of the govern-

ment-to-government project, form-ally known as the China-Singapore

(Chongqing) Demonstrative Initiative

on Strategic Connectivity. Launched in November 2015, CCI

aims to help boost growth in China’s

less developed western region by im-proving Chongqing’s transport and

services links to the region and bey-

ond.Mr Chan added that aviation con-

nectivity has also grown from five

flights to 14 flights per week between Singapore and Chongqing due to CCI.

Since December 2017, three block train services have been commis-sioned between Chongqing and Guangxi per week, as part of a trans-port corridor project under CCI.

They are expected to become a daily service as volumes grow, said Mr Chan.

Port operator PSA and interna-tional shipping line Pacific Interna-tional Lines (PIL) are also working to create more seamless rail-sea con-nectivity that will help with tranship-ment flows and services.

Established under CCI in 2017, the CCI-Southern Transport Corridor (CCI-STC) project, aims to promote greater connectivity between Chongqing and Singapore, by linking Chongqing to Qinzhou in the south

by rail and from Qinzhou to Singa-pore and beyond by sea.

It could reduce the time needed to transport goods between Chongqing and Singapore to about one week, a third of today’s alternative routes. This in turn would reduce logistics costs.

Singapore will also work with China to “engage more provinces in Western China to expand this net-work”, he said.

Compared to earlier govern-ment-to-government projects between Singapore and China – Su-zhou Industrial Park and the Tianjin Eco-city – the CCI’s emphasis is on “building networks”, said Mr Chan.

Improved connectivity between re-gions can help both sides to export and import goods more efficiently to

and from South-east Asia and other parts of the world, he said.

“As cross-border trade activities in-crease, demand for related services like finance, legal and other profes-sional services will also increase,” Mr Chan said. “These in turn, create more opportunities for our busi-nesses and our people,” he added.

For example, Moneymax Financial Services and AP Oil International has launched a suite of financial leasing services. WiseNet Asia has entered Chongqing to provide HR recruit-ment services. A Singapore agri-tech startup, SmartAHC, has also de-veloped solutions for deployment in Chongqing.

Mr Chan said that he hoped that more companies will use the CCI plat-form to venture into Western China.

PSA full-year profit up 5.1% to S$1.23 billion

Competition watchdog monitoring talk of Uber-Grab link

More companies in S-E Asia planning to divest: survey

Alibaba pumps US$2b into Lazadato wage warin S-E Asia e-commerce market

Trade ministry names 18 to Enterprise Singapore board

PARLIAMENT

Chongqing project yields 25.3b yuan of financing deals, better connectivity

PSA International group CEO Tan Chong Meng said global container throughput in 2017 had its strongest showing since 2011. PHOTOS: PSA

Results helped by stronger economic growth in many countries and consolidation of container line shipping

Chongqing Connectivity Initiative’s emphasis ison building networks, says Chan Chun Sing

4 | TOP STORIESThe Business Times | Tuesday, March 20, 2018 ●