[h=1]S'pore's financial star rising fast[/h]
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my paper
Thursday, Aug 11, 2011
By Suresh Menon
THE financial crisis has actually been a boon to Singapore's fortunes as a financial centre, a new survey by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (Acca) has revealed.
The survey found that Singapore is one of the clear winners in the downturn, gaining in significance as there are clear signs of a global power shift from developed to emerging economies, along with a shift from the traditional centres of economic power in Europe and the United States.
The latest edition of Acca's Global Economic Conditions Survey - the largest of its kind in the world with more than 2,000 respondents - included questions to measure the impact of the 2008-2009 financial crisis and subsequent downturn on the significance of financial hubs around the world.
Nearly half (46 per cent) of all respondents in Singapore rated it as a centre of global significance, well above the average of 18 per cent across all locations, while a third (34 per cent) rated it as a centre of regional significance, again much higher than the global average of 24 per cent.
Overall, Acca members located in financial hubs were more likely to say their cities had become more important (36 per cent) than to say they had become less important (15 per cent).
However, the ratio in Singapore was much more favourable, with 61 per cent saying it had become more important as a centre, as opposed to 9 per cent who said the city had become less important.
In fact, 36 per cent of respondents in Singapore report that the city had become "much more important" as a financial centre.
The survey noted a general shift in financial influence, with Africa and the Asia-Pacific region emerging as the clear winners. For individual markets, results suggest that China, excluding Hong Kong, was the biggest winner among the selected countries.
Mr Darryl Wee, country head of Acca Singapore, said: "It's not a secret by now which way the global balance of power is shifting.
What's more interesting are the detailed findings which show a small group of global financial centres, including Singapore, enjoying an ever-growing advantage over their competitors.
"Going forward, we expect that many emerging economies will redouble their efforts to develop global financial clusters."
The main survey showed that there had been a loss of confidence in the Asia-Pacific region, with Hong Kong and Malaysia particularly affected, while the Chinese mainland has managed only a small loss of confidence.
Only Singapore has bucked the trend by recording further confidence gains.
Overall, more respondents in the region still believe that global economic conditions are improving or about to do so (49 per cent) than the opposite (41 per cent).
But the report also notes that there is a wider trend at play; the region's accountants have seen ever-smaller confidence gains in the last two years and the recovery in Asia is being delayed by the Western world's continued economic malaise.
Inflation remains a concern throughout the region, with 71 per cent of respondents reporting rising operating costs for their organisations and clients, up from 62 per cent in the last quarter.
Respondents in the region have revised their expectations on medium-term - five years - government spending downwards.
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my paper
Thursday, Aug 11, 2011
By Suresh Menon
THE financial crisis has actually been a boon to Singapore's fortunes as a financial centre, a new survey by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (Acca) has revealed.
The survey found that Singapore is one of the clear winners in the downturn, gaining in significance as there are clear signs of a global power shift from developed to emerging economies, along with a shift from the traditional centres of economic power in Europe and the United States.
The latest edition of Acca's Global Economic Conditions Survey - the largest of its kind in the world with more than 2,000 respondents - included questions to measure the impact of the 2008-2009 financial crisis and subsequent downturn on the significance of financial hubs around the world.
Nearly half (46 per cent) of all respondents in Singapore rated it as a centre of global significance, well above the average of 18 per cent across all locations, while a third (34 per cent) rated it as a centre of regional significance, again much higher than the global average of 24 per cent.
Overall, Acca members located in financial hubs were more likely to say their cities had become more important (36 per cent) than to say they had become less important (15 per cent).
However, the ratio in Singapore was much more favourable, with 61 per cent saying it had become more important as a centre, as opposed to 9 per cent who said the city had become less important.
In fact, 36 per cent of respondents in Singapore report that the city had become "much more important" as a financial centre.
The survey noted a general shift in financial influence, with Africa and the Asia-Pacific region emerging as the clear winners. For individual markets, results suggest that China, excluding Hong Kong, was the biggest winner among the selected countries.
Mr Darryl Wee, country head of Acca Singapore, said: "It's not a secret by now which way the global balance of power is shifting.
What's more interesting are the detailed findings which show a small group of global financial centres, including Singapore, enjoying an ever-growing advantage over their competitors.
"Going forward, we expect that many emerging economies will redouble their efforts to develop global financial clusters."
The main survey showed that there had been a loss of confidence in the Asia-Pacific region, with Hong Kong and Malaysia particularly affected, while the Chinese mainland has managed only a small loss of confidence.
Only Singapore has bucked the trend by recording further confidence gains.
Overall, more respondents in the region still believe that global economic conditions are improving or about to do so (49 per cent) than the opposite (41 per cent).
But the report also notes that there is a wider trend at play; the region's accountants have seen ever-smaller confidence gains in the last two years and the recovery in Asia is being delayed by the Western world's continued economic malaise.
Inflation remains a concern throughout the region, with 71 per cent of respondents reporting rising operating costs for their organisations and clients, up from 62 per cent in the last quarter.
Respondents in the region have revised their expectations on medium-term - five years - government spending downwards.
