Amazon, an American company, announced that it will invest S$12 billion (about 63.9 billion yuan) in Singapore over the four years from this year to 2028 to further develop AI and cloud technology by Amazon Cloud.
It's a luxury deal!
You must know that in the 14 years from 2010 to 2023, Amazon Cloud's cumulative investment in Singapore is only S$11.5 billion, and now, it will invest an additional 12 billion in four years, doubling the overall investment!
From 2010 to 2023, Amazon Cloud will support 4,800 jobs in Singapore every year.
Now this huge investment of 12 billion yuan will support 12,300 full-time jobs in Singapore every year, including the construction and maintenance of data centers in Singapore, engineering, telecommunications, etc.
By 2028, Amazon's investment is expected to contribute S$23.7 billion to GDP. This is equivalent to 3.5% of Singapore's GDP in 2023.
Thousands of enterprise users will benefit from Amazon Cloud's new AI and cloud technology projects, including Grab, Singapore Maritime and Port Authority, Singlife Insurance Company, Synapxe MedTech Company, and many more.
AI will form eight career trends
AI is evolving rapidly and will soon have a huge impact on human life. Not long ago, Ali Research Institute released the "AI+" Career Trend Report, which believes that there will be eight trends:
Singapore is developing AI talent
According to a survey, 80% of employers in Singapore listed AI skills as one of the key requirements for hiring employees, but 75% reported that they could not find suitable AI talent.
("Get-New Business" held a lecture on "The Development and Evolution of AI in Marketing" in Singapore)
Since 2017, Amazon Cloud has trained more than 400,000 cloud-savvy personnel in Singapore. In the future, AI skills will be a major focus of corporate training. The Singapore government has set a target to produce 5,000 graduates with AI capabilities each year over the next three years through ITE institutes and tertiary institutions. Nationwide, we aim to train 15,000 AI workers over the next five years.
The U.S. is the "No. 1 Source of Foreign Investment"
Coincidentally, not long ago, the Singapore government just released the 2023 report on the sources of foreign investment.
According to the report, Singapore's inward investment has been on the rise year after year since 2020, reaching S$214.3 billion in 2023.
In 2023, Singapore's top five sources of foreign investment are the United States, the Netherlands, Chinese mainland, Japan and China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
The United States alone will invest as much as 98.3 billion yuan in Singapore in 2023, almost half of Singapore's annual foreign investment.
In second place is the Netherlands with 13.7 billion; the third is Chinese mainland, 9.6 billion; the fourth is Japan, 7.9 billion; The fifth is the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, 7 billion.
These five companies totaled 136.5 billion yuan, accounting for 64 percent of foreign investment in the whole of last year, or almost two-thirds.
In fact, the United States has been Singapore's largest source of foreign investment for many years.
Except for the exceptional circumstances of 2018, from 2015 to 2023, US investment accounted for three to four percent of Singapore's total foreign investment.
Retail sales grew for the third month in a row, thanks to Chinese travelers and U.S. mildew
As we all know, the national economy is driven by the "troika" - investment, foreign trade, and domestic demand.
With just over 5 million inhabitants, Singapore has a small domestic market, but for many SMEs and MSMEs, Singapore's retail sector is fundamental to their livelihoods.
The good news is that retail sales in Singapore have grown continuously over the past three months, with 1.3%, 8.4%, and 2.7% respectively from January to March.
Retail sales growth in February was mainly driven by Chinese New Year consumption, while retail sales growth in March was mainly driven by Chinese tourists flocking to the country and tourists from the region who came to attend the concert.
(With the visa exemption between Singapore and China, cultural exchanges between the two countries are booming.) On May 4th, the novel "Weak Water" by the new writer Zhou Kaili was released, and the famous Chinese self-media person Liushen Leilei attended the dialogue)
The largest growth in retail sales in March came from restaurants and alcoholic beverages, which increased by 15.1% month-on-month; followed by cosmeceuticals, an increase of 8.8% month-on-month; Department stores grew by 7.7% month-on-month, followed by watches and jewellery with 4.5% month-on-month.
During the same period, Singapore's inflation rates from January to March were 2.9%, 3.4%, and 2.7% respectively; Inflation was 3.0% in the first quarter.
The authorities judged that Singapore's inflation rate for the whole of this year should be between 2.5% and 3.5%.
Jinsha and Genting made a lot of money
Marina Bay Sands' revenue surged 37% in the first quarter of this year, driven by a surge in visitor numbers and spending during the Lunar New Year period, and the implementation of the visa-free policy between China and Singapore in February.
(Marina Bay Sands. Source: Singapore Eye)
(Marina Bay Sands Casino, Photo: Suckee Park)
Genting Singapore, which operates Resorts World Sentosa, saw its revenue soar 62% year-on-year to S$784.4 million. Net profit soared 92% year-on-year to S$247.44 million!
Chinese enterprises "go overseas" Singapore has become the first choice
The scale of U.S. investment in Singapore has taken many people by surprise, with some readers exclaiming, "It turns out that the U.S. also has a certain position in Singapore's economy"!
However, Chinese mainland has firmly established itself as Singapore's largest foreign trade partner, and it has been for quite many years. This is also true.
Although Chinese enterprises do not invest as much in Singapore as American enterprises for the time being, in recent years, it has become a trend for Chinese enterprises to go overseas.
And, the trend is here to stay.
(Huawei has been in Singapore for 20 years.) Singapore's Minister for National Development, Lee Chee Tsang, listens to a presentation on Huawei's "New Intelligent Optical Storage Solution". Source: Huawei FB)
In 2023, a large number of outstanding enterprises represented by Chinese technology and Chinese brands are accelerating their overseas layout and exploring new growth points. Looking ahead to 2024, China's policy of adhering to a high level of opening-up remains unchanged, and it is expected that "going global" will continue to become a new growth strategy for many Chinese enterprises under the strong impetus for enterprises to seek development.
In this "going global" wave, Singapore is the most attractive investment destination for Chinese mainland investors, which can be described as far ahead.
The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) released the Chinese mainland outbound investment index report 2023, pointing out that Singapore is the most attractive for Chinese investors for several factors.
First, Singapore has the status of a global business hub; Second, Singapore has cultural similarities with Chinese mainland; Third, Singapore remains neutral amid tensions between China and the West.
For Chinese investors, the combination of these factors means that operating in Singapore is less risky and less likely to be subject to the constraints commonly found in other countries. In addition, Singapore can serve as a hub for Chinese companies to enter the Southeast Asian market; At the same time, Singapore has certain R&D capabilities, which makes it attractive to innovative companies.
China is Singapore's largest trading partner Singapore is China's largest foreign investment destination
Singapore has been the largest source of foreign investment in Chinese mainland since the Belt and Road Initiative was launched in 2013, a record that has been maintained for a decade. As of 2022, Singapore has invested US$72.3 billion in China. This shows the attractiveness of Chinese mainland to Singaporean investors.
At the same time, China is Singapore's largest trading partner in goods, the largest export market, the largest source of imports, and the third largest trading country in services. Since 2013, China has been Singapore's largest trading partner for 11 consecutive years. According to the latest data from the Singapore Department of Statistics, the bilateral import and export value of goods between Singapore and China in 2023 will be S$167 billion, or about US$125.3 billion, or the highest in 11 years.
China's new investment is focused on trade, oil, shipping and power. In 2022, the non-financial direct investment of Chinese enterprises in countries along the Belt and Road continued to grow, with Singapore ranking first among the major investment destinations.
Singapore is a high-opportunity, low-risk
The EIU report believes that all things considered, Singapore is a high-opportunity and low-risk country for Chinese investors.
In the ranking of "high business opportunities, low risks", Indonesia ranked second.
The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) ranked third due to its low risk.
Neither Russia nor the United States is very attractive to Chinese investors due to certain risks.
ABC丨Editor
CY丨Editor
Network data collation丨Source
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