Singapore still the best in Asia-Pac for global talent competitiveness: Insead

By

Nisha Ramchandaninishar@sph.com.sg@Nisha_BT

SINGAPORE has remained top in the Asia-Pacific for the third consecutive year for global talent competitiveness, according to an annual study. 

PHOTO: ST FILE

JAN 26, 201610:33 AM

SINGAPORE has remained top in the Asia-Pacific for the third consecutive year for global talent competitiveness, according to an annual study.

The Global Talent Competitiveness Index (GTCI) 2015-16 was published by Insead, together with the Adecco Group and the Human Capital Leadership Institute of Singapore (HCLI).

Globally, the top three countries ranked on talent competitiveness remain the same as in 2014, with Switzerland coming out tops, followed by Singapore and then Luxembourg.

The top three countries in Asia Pacific - Singapore, New Zealand and Australia - have all shown openness in their economies to attract talent, the study showed. In Singapore, nearly 43 per cent of its population was born overseas.

Ilian Mihov, dean of Insead, said: "This year's theme of international mobility and talent attraction is of high relevance to Asia Pacific. Asian countries are historically seen as talent exporters; however, this year's report highlights the increasing trend of talent relocating to this part of the world, including a key finding that jobs are moving to where talent is, such as China, South Korea, Philippines and Vietnam."

However, the report also suggested that Singapore could do better in terms of tolerance to migrants, empowerment of employees, and increasing the pool of vocationally trained people.

Wong Su-Yen, chief executive of HCLI, added: "Singapore's attractiveness as a talent hub has in recent years faced strong competition from its neighbouring countries, and that is likely to intensify. The country, which has seen a 33 per cent increase in the number of its citizens working and living abroad, signals that policymakers can increase efforts to attract them back, as this group of talent would offer a distinct and important combination of overseas work experience and strong local knowledge."

    
 

Japan, China seek new dialogue on yuan, China reforms: Nikkei

Japan and China are working to create a new framework to bring together government and central bank officials to discuss economic policy coordination, such as steps to stabilise the yuan, the Nikkei newspaper said on Tuesday. 

PHOTO: REUTERS

JAN 26, 20169:23 AM

[TOKYO] Japan and China are working to create a new framework to bring together government and central bank officials to discuss economic policy coordination, such as steps to stabilise the yuan, the Nikkei newspaper said on Tuesday.

The move, which comes as concern over China's economic slowdown jolts financial markets, could help ease market strains by signalling that Asia's two largest economies are working together closely to stabilise global growth.

Japan hoped to assist China's efforts in reducing excess capacity and reorganising state-owned companies through the new framework, while China would aim to draw more direct investment from Japan, the Nikkei said.

The pair hoped to reach an agreement in March to create the new framework by the end of this year, which would also address issues like taxation, the paper said.

The Bank of Japan and the People's Bank of China could use the dialogue to discuss resuming their yen-yuan currency swap arrangement, it said.

REUTERS

    
 

Saudi Arabia presents plan to move beyond oil

Saudi Arabia outlined ambitious plans on Monday to move into industries ranging from information technology to health care and tourism, as it sought to convince international investors it can cope with an era of cheap oil. 

PHOTO: BLOOMBERG

JAN 26, 20167:55 AM

[RIYADH] Saudi Arabia outlined ambitious plans on Monday to move into industries ranging from information technology to health care and tourism, as it sought to convince international investors it can cope with an era of cheap oil.

A meeting and presentation at a luxury Riyadh hotel was held against a backdrop of low oil prices pressuring the kingdom's currency and saddling it with an annual state budget deficit of almost US$100 billion - the biggest economic challenge for Riyadh in well over a decade.

Top Saudi officials said they would reduce the kingdom's dependence on oil and public sector employment. Growth and job creation would shift to the private sector, with state spending helping to jump-start industries in the initial stage. "It's going to switch from simple quantitative growth based on commodity exports to qualitative growth that is evenly distributed" across the economy, said Khalid al-Falih, chairman of national oil giant Saudi Aramco.

Over 2,400 people, including local and foreign officials, business, consultants and academics, registered for the event, staged by the government's investment promotion agency.

Commerce and industry minister Tawfiq al-Rabiah said Saudi Arabia had been a victim of the "Dutch disease" - a condition in which the oil sector had crowded out other parts of the economy - but was now working to correct that.

Under the reforms, parts of the national health care system would be converted into independent commercial companies, officials said.

Participants in the conference, including the chief executives of US aerospace firm Lockheed Martin and Pepsico, discussed subjects ranging from how to foster entrepreneurs to ways of developing dynamic cities and increasing the role of Saudi women in the business world.

The heavy presence of foreign business representatives suggested many saw opportunities in the Saudi strategy. Although Riyadh is burning through its foreign assets to cover the budget gap, it still had US$628 billion in November, enough to finance years of new projects.

Some participants expressed doubt about the scale of the planned change in a country where about two-thirds of local workers are in the public sector, preferring it to more rigorous private employment.

There is little tradition of entrepreneurship in the world's biggest oil exporter, and financial and legal systems have not been set up to encourage it. "The transition away from being a rentier state is not a comfortable one," said David Chaudron, managing partner of the California-based Organized Change Consultancy, which works with Saudi companies. "They're trying. But the fundamental question is: will their trying bear enough fruit before the downside of the current system hits? Or is it a day late and a dollar short? Will the forces of change ultimately be enough to overcome the inertia of the current system? I don't know." The US ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Joseph Westphal, pointed to risks in administering the plans. "Saudi Arabia has to have a government system that is adaptable," he said, adding that top officials would need to delegate decisions and authorities would have to be willing to take risks in the recognition that there would be some failures.

Nevertheless, many participants at the conference recognised that strong political momentum had now built up behind the reform plans, many of which had previously been discussed for years without result.

The momentum has increased since King Salman took the throne in January last year and created a powerful Council of Economic and Development Affairs chaired by his son, Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The government is believed to have hired hundreds of Western consultants to work on the plans.

Falih said that in addition to using its spending to start industries such as shipbuilding, Saudi Aramco would use its extensive educational and vocational training programmes to help create the human capital needed for the transformation. "Saudi Aramco will be a bridge for a transition away from itself," he said.

REUTERS

    
 

Hillary Clinton calls Johnson Controls-Tyco inversion 'outrageous'

Hillary Clinton called the planned inversion by Johnson Controls and Ireland-based Tyco "outrageous," and said as president she would block such moves using an "exit tax." 

PHOTO: REUTERS

JAN 26, 20167:21 AM

[WEST DES MOINES, IOWA] Hillary Clinton called the planned inversion by Johnson Controls and Ireland-based Tyco "outrageous," and said as president she would block such moves using an "exit tax."

"These efforts to shirk US tax obligations leave American taxpayers holding the bag while corporations juice more revenues and profits ," Mrs Clinton said in a statement. "I have a detailed and targeted plan to immediately put a stop to inversions and invest in the US, block deals like Johnson Controls and Tyco, and place an 'exit tax' on corporations that leave the country to lower their tax bill."

Johnson Controls announced on Monday a plan to buy Tyco for US$16.5 billion, which the companies said will save US$500 million in taxes in the first three years and an additional US$150 million a year through tax synergies.

REUTERS

US dollar lower against euro ahead of Fed meeting

 

The dollar slipped against the euro but gained on the pound Monday as weak inflation was in focus ahead of the Federal Reserve's first meeting since a December interest rate hike. 

PHOTO: BLOOMBERG

JAN 26, 20167:01 AM

[NEW YORK] The dollar slipped against the euro but gained on the pound Monday as weak inflation was in focus ahead of the Federal Reserve's first meeting since a December interest rate hike.

The greenback fell by more than a half cent to US$1.0851, while edging up slightly to US$1.4247 against the pound. Japan's yen was slightly down on the euro and higher on the dollar.

Markets are waiting to see what the policymakers of the Federal Open Market Committee might say about weaker-than-expected inflation after they raised the near-zero benchmark federal funds rate by a quarter percentage point in December.

In announcing the first rate increase in more than nine years, the FOMC expressed confidence in US growth.

Since then oil prices have plunged further, several Fed officials have expressed concerns about weak inflation, and European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi said last week the ECB could take action to strengthen growth and battle deflation by March.

The Fed is not expected to take any policy action at the two-day meeting that opens Tuesday, and instead was seen waiting a bit longer to see what US economic data tells it.

Nevertheless, the turmoil in global markets could force the FOMC to acknowledge more risks in front of the economy when it issues its policy statement Wednesday.

"With global equity markets down substantially over the last several weeks, the US dollar reaching new cyclical highs, and a clouded inflation outlook, the FOMC statement should strike a more cautious tone," said Deutsche Bank US economist Joseph LaVorgna in a client note.

However, he added: "It is too early for Fed officials to signal greater concern about the growth outlook."

AFP

      

Greece blasts 'lies' in EU migrant talks

Greece lashed out on Monday at what it called "lies" by its EU partners following calls for Athens to be suspended from the Schengen passport-free zone if it fails to staunch the flow of migrants into Europe.

PHOTO: REUTERS

JAN 26, 20166:51 AM

[AMSTERDAM] Greece lashed out on Monday at what it called "lies" by its EU partners following calls for Athens to be suspended from the Schengen passport-free zone if it fails to staunch the flow of migrants into Europe.

At a tense meeting of EU interior ministers in Amsterdam, Austria and Germany urged Greece - the European gateway for thousands of migrants each day - to do more to tackle the continent's worst migration crisis since World War II.

But Greece's interior minister for migration Yiannis Mouzalas insisted his country - already buffeted by a debt crisis that almost drove it out of the euro last year - is doing its best in difficult circumstances.

"We are tired to listen that we cannot secure our borders," Mouzalas told reporters in Amsterdam. "We are told that we don't want coastguards, it's a lie - we want more coastguards."

The short sea crossing from Turkey to the Greek islands accounted for most of the one million migrants and refugees who arrived in Europe last year, but Mouzalas said it would be illegal under international law to push them back.

Ewa Moncure, spokeswoman for EU border agency Frontex, also stressed the illegality of turning asylum seekers away from Greek waters.

"Under international law, every person who crosses a European border can claim asylum," she told AFP.

She added that Greece's geography, with its scattered islands and long coasts, made it practically impossible to stop the arrival of flimsy boats carrying people fleeing conflict and misery in the Middle East and elsewhere.

The rest of the EU is, however, turning up the pressure on Athens.

Last week, Austrian Interior Minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner warned Athens could face "temporary exclusion" from Schengen, the 26-country zone of mainly EU countries that embodies the European dream of free movement.

But in Brussels, European Commission spokeswoman Natasha Bertaud insisted on Monday that there was no plan to suspend Greece.

"We have never discussed either a suspension or exclusion. The possibility does not exist," she said.

Austria, Germany and several other Schengen member states have already reintroduced temporary checks at their internal borders, raising fears the passport-free system could collapse.

During a press conference after Monday's talks, Dutch State Secretary for Security and Justice Klaas Dijkhoff suggested the border checks could go beyond the current limit of six months because of the exceptional pressure.

"Member states invited the commission to prepare the legal and practical basis for the continuance of temporary border measures," he said.

Austria and Germany urged Greece to tighten its external EU borders.

"Greece has to reinforce its (border) resources and accept help," Mikl-Leitner told reporters in Amsterdam on Monday, adding that it was a "myth" that the Turkish sea border could not be secured.

German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere - whose country's decision last year to open its doors to one million asylum seekers sparked anger in transit countries - urged Greece to "do its duty." "We want to save Schengen, we want common European solutions, but the clock is ticking," said de Maiziere, adding that a deal with Turkey to staunch the influx is the key to solving the crisis.

Signed last year, the deal involves Brussels paying Ankara three billion euros (S$4.65 billion) in aid for Syrian refugees and speeding up its EU membership process, in return for Turkey tackling people smugglers and improving conditions for refugees.

The payment has been held up by concerns that Turkey is not complying, but EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said during a visit to Ankara on Monday that she was confident Turkey would get the three billion "in reasonable time".

Brussels is also exploring other ways of stemming the flow of migrants, particularly through the Western Balkans.

The European Commission confirmed on Monday that it had sent a mission to non-EU Macedonia to discuss how it could help staunch the large numbers passing over the border from Greece.

It said commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker had replied to a letter from Slovenian Prime Minister Miro Cerar, who last week called for Macedonia to effectively seal off its border with Greece and staunch the flow through the Balkans.

Mr Dijkhoff said the member states asked the commission to "explore the possibilities" for Frontex to "provide assistance at the border".

AFP

    
 

Yuan speculator says China reserves could drop US$200b in January

The monthly fall in China's hard currency reserves could almost double to around US$200 billion in January, bringing Beijing closer to a deeper devaluation of the yuan, one of the western hedge funds betting big against the currency said on Monday. 

PHOTO: REUTERS

JAN 25, 20168:51 PM

[LONDON] The monthly fall in China's hard currency reserves could almost double to around US$200 billion in January, bringing Beijing closer to a deeper devaluation of the yuan, one of the western hedge funds betting big against the currency said on Monday.

A plunge in reserves of US$108 billion in December was the biggest monthly fall on record and one of the factors spurring a wave of sales of the yuan by Chinese traders and speculative western funds earlier this month.

Chinese reserves have fallen steadily over the past 18 months, from US$3.99 trillion in June 2014 to US$3.33 trillion in December.

Omni Macro Fund Chief Strategist Chris Morrison said a change in how The People's Bank of China intervenes on the offshore market in the yuan would help push that figure sharply higher this month.

"They are currently reporting zero for the intervention in dollar-CNH, because they have been rolling over the forwards and never actually delivering in US dollars," Morrison said. "What was interesting in January was they didn't roll over the forwards, so that should be reported and add to the fall in reserves. January's fall will be larger than December's, I'm thinking around US$200 billion."

Very few of the hedge funds that have rounded on the yuan as overvalued have been willing to talk about their trading strategies and the details of China's defence of the currency in wholesale financial markets. Omni has been betting against the yuan since the start of 2014.

Morrison, previously a proprietary trader for RBS and JPMorgan, said that after a "good result" from China's sharp one-off devaluation last August, the fund had taken more profit on the trade before a round of strong action by Chinese authorities to stabilise the currency earlier in January.

He said Omni had re-entered the trade when prices of currency forwards came back down just over a week ago.

China's FX reserves remain the biggest ever accumulated in nominal terms and while a fall for the yuan is one of the big consensus plays among bank analysts this year, most forecasts call for a decline of less than 10 percent.

Against that are the periodic bouts of panic seen on Chinese financial markets over the past six months and resulting capital outflows which have eaten into the reserves Beijing has to resist a large immediate drop in the yuan's value.

"Something in the region of a 15-20 per cent move (in the yuan) is perfectly reasonable," Morrison said. "But if China has a crisis, it is radically too conservative. Then it should be something like the dollar going from 6 to 9. I'm not just making that figure up to be dramatic, that's just what some other emerging markets have done, look at Turkey or Brazil."

REUTERS

    
 

Putin is 'picture of corruption': US Treasury offical

An official of the United States government has directly accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of corruption, in a BBC programme that airs Monday. 

PHOTO: AFP

JAN 26, 20166:42 AM

[LONDON] An official of the United States government has directly accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of corruption, in a BBC programme that airs Monday.

The US government imposed sanctions against a number of Kremlin insiders in 2014 after Russia's annexation of Crimea in Ukraine, but did not accuse Putin of direct involvement in corruption.

However, during a Panorama investigation into Putin's "secret riches", the acting under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence at the US Treasury said Putin was a "picture of corruption."

"We've seen him enriching his friends, his close allies, and marginalising those who he doesn't view as friends using state assets," Adam Szubin, who oversees US Treasury sanctions, told the Panorama programme, in an unusually strong statement from the government on Putin's personal finances.

"Whether that's Russia's energy wealth, whether it's other state contracts, he directs those to whom he believes will serve him and excludes those who don't. To me, that is a picture of corruption." The US government has know about this for "many, many years", he added.

The programme cited a secret CIA report from 2007 stating that Putin's wealth stood at around US$40 billion.

"He supposedly draws a state salary of something like US$110,000 a year," said Mr Szubin. "That is not an accurate statement of the man's wealth, and he has long time training and practices in terms of how to mask his actual wealth."

The programme also has an interview with Dimitry Skarga, who used to run state shipping company Sovcomflot.

He claims he managed the transfer of a US$35-million yacht to Putin from Chelsea football club owner Roman Abramovich, whose lawyers dismissed the claims as speculation.

Putin's spokesman told the BBC that "none of these questions or issues needs to be answered, as they are pure fiction".

Putin previously scoffed at claims he was Europe's richest man, saying: "It's simply rubbish. They just picked all of it out of someone's nose and smeared it across their little papers."

Moscow also on Thursday dismissed as a "joke" a British inquiry's findings that Putin "probably approved" the killing of ex-spy Alexander Litvinenko a decade ago in London.

AFP

    
 

MAS may ease up on monetary policy: economists

By

Kelly Taykellytay@sph.com.sg@KellyTayBT

There are now more signs that an easing in monetary policy could be on the cards, say economists, with Singapore's central bank on Monday indicating that it will be watching volatile oil prices closely. 

PHOTO: BLOOMBERG

 Still weak

JAN 26, 20165:50 AM

Singapore

THERE are now more signs that an easing in monetary policy could be on the cards, say economists, with Singapore's central bank on Monday indicating that it will be watching volatile oil prices closely.

In their joint statement on December's inflation figures, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) said that their forecasts for headline and core inflation remain the same "at this stage" - at -0.5 to 0.5 per cent and 0.5 to 1.5 per cent respectively.

"However, there is significant uncertainty over the outlook for average global oil prices for the year as a whole. MTI and MAS will continue to closely monitor the developments in global oil prices and assess their impact on domestic inflation."

The joint statement's cautious tone prompted several economists to flag the rising odds of a weaker monetary policy stance, come April - even if it isn't their base case yet.

OCBC economist Selena Ling told The Business Times: "For now, we still think it's less than a 50 per cent probability (that MAS will ease), but the risks have definitely grown over the last month."

These include the slippage in oil prices to below the US$30 per barrel mark, heightened volatility in financial markets, global economic uncertainty and rising geopolitical risks due to terror attacks.

Added Barclays economist Leong Wai Ho: "I'm coming round to the view that there's an increasing risk that they'll ease. You have a backdrop that is still highly disinflationary - with international oil prices - and activity doesn't seem to be rebounding. If anything, it's cooling off further.

"The last few times of easing were just token adjustments. This time, if easing happens, it will be more significant . . . Given that the slope (of the Singapore dollar nominal effective exchange rate - S$NEER - band) is already very flat, it might be a re-centring this time," said Mr Ho.

At its last twice-yearly meeting in October, MAS opted to retain the modest and gradual appreciation path for the S$NEER band, while "slightly" reducing its slope. No change was made to the width of the band and the level at which it is centred.

Credit Suisse's Michael Wan - who believes the probability of an easing stroke has risen following Monday's announcement - thinks a widened band is possible in April to account for more volatility. Even so, he believes a flattened slope could arise too - which would mean a shift to a zero appreciation stance.

But OCBC's Ms Ling, DBS economist Irvin Seah, and UOB's Francis Tan doubt that this will happen.

Said Mr Tan: "If they shock the market by adopting a neutral slope, people will be thinking: 'Wah, neutral you know?' This is hardly used except during recessionary times and periods of crisis . . . You could loosen your monetary policy, but your interest rate will go the other way and that will be quite tough on your homeowners and companies."

As for the chances of an off-cycle move before April, economists agree that this is highly unlikely. "At the end of the day, MAS wants to navigate monetary policy with at least a 'six-months-ahead' kind of outlook. The April decision has to be something they can carry through to October . . . They probably haven't made up their mind yet."

As for 2015's inflation performance, inflation eased to -0.5 per cent for the whole year, from 1 per cent in 2014, said the Department of Statistics. Noted DBS's Mr Seah: "This is Singapore's first full-year negative inflation since 2002 (-0.4 per cent) and also the lowest in 29 years (1986: -1.4 per cent)."

Unsurprisingly, the drag came from the housing and utilities (-3.5 per cent) and transport (-1.4 per cent) categories, which represent the first and third most heavy weights on the consumer price index.

Full-year core inflation - which excludes the costs of accommodation and private road transport - moderated significantly to 0.5 per cent, from 1.9 per cent in the preceding year.

For the month of December, inflation stood at -0.6 per cent year-on-year. The latest sub-zero print marked the 14th straight month of falling consumer prices - although this was slightly higher than November's -0.8 per cent. This was mainly due to a stronger pick-up in petrol costs and overall services prices, said MAS and MTI.

December core inflation rose marginally to 0.3 per cent from 0.2 per cent a month earlier, due to higher services inflation.

Overall services inflation picked up to 0.9 per cent in December from 0.7 per cent a month earlier, due to a faster pace of increase in holiday travel expenses and a smaller decline in telecommunication services fees.

Food inflation edged down to 1.5 per cent from 1.6 per cent in November, as increases in the prices of prepared meals such as hawker food moderated
.