Singapore

Air Transport, Solar and Wind Power News

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 A Japanese airline (a conglomeration of All Nippon Airways and ANA) will begin low cost domestic flights in November and services to China next year.  According to the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) over 5 million passengers were transported during the Spring Festival through domestic carriers, organizing close to 40,000 flights to meet increased holiday travel demand.  Services will be expanded between Dalian in China’s Liaoning Province and Toyama, Japan to Beijing.  Turkish airlines has grown, as well as Air China, the latter which transported 102,500 tons of mail and cargo.  Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific Airways – with its subsidiary Dragonair – last month transported 2.24 million passengers, 6.8 percent higher than last year.  China Southern Airlines and China Eastern Airlines likewise reported a significant increase in passenger transportation over the last year.  Spring Airlines will be using AsiaPay’s payment processing solution for its online flight booking, enabling clients to pay for tickets in local currencies.


In terms of airline partnerships, news is that first, China Harbor Engineering Company Ltd (CHEC, a subsidiary of China Communications Construction Company Ltd.) just clinched a US$1.22 billion deal for the construction of a new international airport in Khartoum, Sudan.  Second, China Telecom Corporation Limited has entered into a strategic partnership with Hainan Airlines potentially enabling the latter to be “China’s first air carrier to provide in-flight phone calls and Internet.” New services will be added to Italian airlines too and a Tibet-based air carrier (Tibet Airlines) will be the first air-carrier in the region and will start its operation launching a Lhasa-Beijing service.
 

News from solar power is that China Solar Energy Holdings Ltd. will be acquiring domestic thin-film solar photovoltaic module maker Target Samoa for US$45 million in stock and convertible notes enabling the addition of amorphous silicon thin-film module production.  Taiwanese Neo Solar Power Corp (NSP) said its revenues last month escalated over 150 percent and this trend looks set to improve.  Volthaus GmbH (German solar power developer) is due to receive 20 MWp of solar modules in an agreement with EGing Photovoltaic Technology (Chinese module maker).  There is good news in the solar cell market too in the country, with the use of Maple solar cell technology (broader and flatter silicon cells with fewer grain boundaries).


There is work on potential wind power projects via China Resource New Energy which recently stated it would put US$728 million to US$984 million in wind power developments in pursuit of 150 gigawatts of overall installed capacity by 2020.  A US company CleanTech Innovations informed of its striking a wind tower supply deal from power producer China Guodian.

Substantial Drop in Asian Shares

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Recent world events – New Zealand earthquake, Japan’s credit rating downgrade and continued Middle East and Libyan unrest – led to a significant drop in stock markets across Asia.  For example, South Korea’s Kospi, the Nikkei 225 stock and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index all plummeted around 2 percent.  As well, Japan had trouble dealing with its huge debt following Moody’s Investors Service downgrading its outlook for the country’s credit rating, citing “increasing uncertainty” over Japan’s capacity to effectively deal with rising debt.  This doesn’t spell good news for the country which only last month had its sovereign debt rating cut by Standard & Poor.  Australia, China, Singapore and Taiwan are currently in the same boat vis-à-vis stock markets. The only good news for the region of late has been the increase in oil prices.

 

Singapore’s Budget Stretches Its Wings

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Tharman ShanmugaratnamSingapore’s Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam assured that his country’s soon to be released budget has “something good for Singapore.” As of yesterday he insisted that the budget “is likely to benefit more than just low-income groups.”

Shanmugaratnam made it clear that Singapore’s government is “not just focused on one group of Singaporeans.” He insisted that the government aims to include all sectors in Singapore into consideration when it deliberates its annual budgets.

Pointing out “that inflation has risen across the region, most obviously in China, India and Indonesia,” he insisted that Singapore’s inflation has been slower to rise because of its strong currency ratings.

Tharman Shanmugaratnam added: “It’s uncomfortable for many people and we know that, and we’ll make sure we help families where we can.”

Thakral Sets New Strategy For Real Estate Business

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Thakral Corporation will partner as a financial investor with with developers to implement its new strategy for its real estate business.
In its filing with the Singapore Exchange, the company wrote that as a capital investor, it seeks to invest in affordable mid-sized residential developments located in cities in Asia Pacific and Australia.

Thakral indicated that its new strategy will generate a second revenue stream for the company.

The firm is seeking returns of 15 to 25 per cent, with an exit strategy in 12 to 36 months.

Mr Singh said, “We will receive our returns and capital when the projects are completed and all units already pre-sold to buyers are settled.”

Thakral already owns commercial and residential property holdings in Hong Kong and China.

In addition to real estate, Thakral also distributes consumer electronic products in Singapore, India, China and Japan.

Panamanian President to visit three countries in Asia for investment

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Ricardo MartinelliPanama’s president, Ricardo Martinelli, begin on Friday a tour of Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan to strengthen relations with these countries and attract investment, said the Panamanian Foreign Minister Juan Carlos Varela.

Martinelli will meet with the presidents Sellapan Rama Nathan (Singapore), Lee Myung-Bak (Korea) and Ma Ying-jeou (Taiwan), with whom he seeks bilateral relations on economic issues, according to Carlos Varela.

“The president’s visit (Martinelli) is to bring bilateral relations and encourage foreign investment in the country,” Varela told reporters.

Varela said the tour, which will take 9 days, seeks to promote Panama as “a logistics center and convergence” of passengers and cargo for distribution in the continent.