Friday, 15 June 2012
The Singapore Business Federation (SBF) and Temasek Holdings today jointly organised the SBF-Temasek Forum, which received a turnout of some 130 Singapore businessmen who were interested in hearing perspectives on the business environment in the months ahead. Madam Ho Ching, CEO of Temasek Holdings and Mr Tony Chew, Chairman, SBF attended the session.
At the forum, Mr Rohit Sobti, Managing Director of Temasek's Strategy Unit, shared Temasek's views on the global economic environment, elaborating on the impact of the Eurozone crisis on Singapore's businesses. Credit availability is expected to be an issue, while a rising inflation risk looms on the horizon.
Panelists in the Q&A discussion that ensued included Mr Rohit Sobti; Mr Benny Koh, Director, Treasury of Temasek; Ms Chng Bey Fen, Associate Director, Treasury of Temasek and Mr Ho Meng Kit, CEO, SBF. The session was chaired by Professor Annie Koh of the Singapore Management University. The questions centred on the challenges which lay ahead and the emerging opportunities which could be tapped upon.
The Federation's in-house research unit also took the opportunity to gain a better understanding of the business sentiments among the attendees. Some 44% of respondents surveyed expected a 10 - 20% reduction in their profit margins for Q3 2012, while 31% expected a 30 - 40% reduction. Respondents also indicated rising business costs (54%) and manpower issues (33%) having an impact on their businesses. Despite that, companies are still remain optimistic in the longer-term, with 36% having plans to expand overseas within the next 1 - 2 years, and 64% of respondents setting their sights on expansions in the Asia Pacific region.
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