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I HEARD that the Home Office Scheme is now extended to five years. What businesses can I run from home?

Examples of businesses that are permitted under the Home Office Scheme include:
Accountancy Services

Architectural Services

Consultancy Services (Business)

Consultancy Services (Engineering)

Consultancy Services (Information Technology/Management)

Consultancy Services (Education)

Design/Advertising Services

Transportation Services

Estate Agency

Insurance/Financial Planning Services

Technology based and knowledge intensive business

Trading Office

The owners, tenants, authorised occupiers and subtenants of HDB flats, who are 21 years old and above, are eligible to apply under the scheme.

The business should be registered with the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority unless it is exempted from registration under the Business Registration Act. The business should also comply with the regulations of other government authorities and relevant licences/approvals must be obtained before the commencement of business.

To search for the licences/approvals that may be required for the business, please use the Online Business Licensing Service at the EnterpriseOne portal www.business.gov.sg

Build your brand in a competitive setting

I am starting up and planning to develop my brand. Are there assistance programmes on branding? In what ways can they help me?

The BrandPact programme launched by Spring Singapore and IE Singapore provides brand training, assessment and resources to meet companies’ brand development needs.

You can attend workshops to learn about branding and how to build a strong brand. A list of the workshops and seminars can be found on Spring Singapore’s and IE Singapore’s websites.

You can also do an online self-assessment at www.bizenquiry.gov.sg/toolkit/ie_new/start_assessment.asp to find out about the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats that your brand faces.

If you need consultancy advice on your company’s specific branding needs, you can visit the Enterprise Development Centres. They are located at:
Association of Small and Medium Enterprises

Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry

Singapore Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry

Singapore Malay Chamber of Commerce and Industry

Singapore Manufacturers’ Federation.

For enquiries, please visit www.business.gov.sg or email enterpriseone@spring.gov.sg

Source : Straits Times - 30 Apr 2008

Expenditure in this year’s Budget could reach $43 billion from $36 billion last year. This, however, would not have a significant impact on inflation, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has said in its Macroeconomic Review.

Private consumption will rise 0.2 per cent this year due to the growth dividends and personal income tax rebates.

Government spending, meanwhile, will increase due to social and health-care expenditures.

It will, however, be offset by the deferment of government projects worth nearly $3 billion.

This will shave 0.7 per cent off investment growth for the year, the MAS said.

The Budget was also, by nature, non-expansionary, it added.

It aims more to provide medium- to long-term growth by fostering a competitive and innovative business climate, and to cope with the ageing population.

Source : Straits Times - 30 Apr 2008

The decision earlier this month to allow the Singapore dollar to strengthen will help to alleviate inflation and provide support to the economy as it eases to a more sustainable growth rate, said the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) yesterday.

In its latest half-yearly Macroeconomic Review, the central bank said that its most recent monetary policy decision affirmed that the exchange rate path is consistent with the prevailing macroeconomic conditions.

‘Singapore’s GDP growth is projected to moderate to a more sustainable pace of around four to six per cent this year after four years of robust growth above seven per cent between 2004 and last year,’ MAS said.

It added that its monetary policy remained focused on ensuring medium-term price stability in the economy as the basis for sustainable economic growth.

Source : Straits Times - 30 Apr 2008

Dissipating effects of GST hike will rein in prices of basic goods
 
Singapore’s inflation rate will moderate to about 4 per cent in the second half of the year after a surge to an average of 6 per cent in the first six months.

In its latest half-yearly Macro-economic Review, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said the moderation would partly be due to the dissipating effects of the higher goods and services tax.

Released yesterday, the review said the surge in inflation in the second half of last year and the first three months of this year was due to price pressures from abroad and the build-up of domestic costs after several years of strong growth.

The global consumer price index is expected to average 3.7 per cent this year from 3.1 per cent last year. Inflation around the world is projected to be higher in almost all regions due to higher demand for food, oil and other commodities, the report said.

But apart from food and oil, the inflation of imported prices of metals and other primary commodities is likely to remain benign. Any upward pressure on the prices of such commodities - due to growing demand in emerging economies, among other factors - is expected to be offset by the falling prices of electronics and other technology products.

The MAS said inflation would stay high this year due to external and domestic factors. It retained its forecast for the rate to come in at the upper half of the 4.5 per cent to 5.5 per cent range the Government issued earlier.

‘However, there are upside risks to global oil and food prices,’ the MAS said. ‘Even if these prices were to level off, upward pressures on wages and rentals, reflecting domestic capacity constraints, are likely to remain.’

Considering all these factors, along with the low base in the first half of last year, the MAS said inflation could average above 6 per cent in the first six months of the year. ‘In the second half, inflation is expected to taper off to an average of around 4 per cent, partly due to the dissipation of the GST hike effect.’

The MAS also said its decision to allow the Singapore dollar to strengthen earlier this month, while reducing revenues of exporters, would also have a moderating effect on inflation. Exporters will cut back on resources and services like industrial space and labour in response to the toll on their profit margins, it explained.

‘This lowers the demand and income of owners of factors of production…which, in turn, reduces the domestic demand for non-

tradable goods and services.’ As a result total derived demand for resources in the economy eases. This, in turn, moderates inflationary pressures.

Source : Straits Times - 30 Apr 2008

CCT defers office plans for carpark

CAPITACOMMERCIAL Trust (CCT) is deferring its planned redevelopment of Market Street carpark into a $1 billion to $1.5 billion premium office building due to volatile market conditions.
The plan was announced early this year amid concerns that the carpark crunch in Raffles Place is worsening. Now, a decision will be made not earlier than mid-2009, said the trust’s manager yesterday.

‘Taking into consideration the significant size of this project, rising construction costs and the present volatility in financial markets, the manager is carefully evaluating the financial viability of the funding structure for the redevelopment,’ said its chief executive, Ms Lynette Leong.

In early January, CCT was granted provisional planning permission for the redevelopment - conditional upon the trust paying a development premium for changing the use of the 58,964 sq ft site from a carpark to an office tower.

This is to be assessed by the chief valuer. A second condition is that there will be no extension of the site’s existing leasehold land tenure.

Ms Leong said the deferment would give CCT time to plan and develop a sustainable architectural plan for the building.

She said a decision to redevelop will take into account the amount of development premium payable.

Source : Straits Times - 30 Apr 2008