Singapore draws record value-added investments in
2006
Posted: 29 January 2007 1443 hrs
SINGAPORE - Investments in Singapore last year are expected to
contribute a record value-added S$13.4 billion (US$8.8b) to the
economy and create 26,800 jobs on completion, the government said
Monday.
"2006 actually is a bumper year for the investments," said Lim
Siong Guan, chairman of the Economic Development Board (EDB). "It's
the highest we have ever recorded -- the 13.4 billion (dollars) of
value add."
Value added investment refers to the total contribution of the
projects to gross domestic product when completed.
Last year's value-added investments exceeded EDB's forecast of
S$10.5b-S$11.0b and was better than S$10.8b achieved in 2005.
For 2007, EDB projects Singapore is likely to attract value-added
investments of S$11.0b-S$11.5b.
"The economic outlook worldwide and for Singapore for 2007 is
buoyant, although economic growth is expected to moderate," the EDB
said.
Singapore's economic growth in 2007 is targeted to slow to 4.0-6.0
percent after expanding 7.7 percent last year.
The EDB said a number of projects secured in 2006 were worth more
than one billion dollars in terms of fixed asset investments
(FAIs), bringing the total amount to S$8.8b, higher than the S$8.5b
recorded in 2005.
These included a S$1.7b wafer plant by South Korea's Samsung
Electronics and a S$1.3b disk media factory by US tech giant
Seagate.
"These substantial FAI projects further anchor our key industry
clusters and investors in Singapore," the EDB said.
"They represent long term commitments and reflect Singapore's
competitiveness as a global manufacturing hub."
Europe was the leading FAI investor last year, pouring in S$2.3b,
followed by the US with S$2.2b, the EDB said. - AFP/ir
