Singapore’s importance as a gateway city has make it an attractive destination for investors. Investments in Singapore has grown despite talks of an ailing economy.
Research by professional services firm Accenture has reported that fintech investments in Singapore for the nine months ended 30 September jumped 69 per cent, from US$435 million in the corresponding period last year to US$735 million. The payment category doubled to about US$251 million from US$117.5 million and accounted for 34 per cent of fintech fund raising. Series funding which typically targets companies looking to grow their business with external capital, jumped 66 per cent to US$442 million.
In the first half of the year, Singapore attracted almost S$8.1 billion in fixed asset investment (FAI) commitments, up 52.8 per cent from the S$5.3 billion during the same period last year, according to figures from the Singapore Department Of Statistics (DOS). The surge was led by the manufacturing sector, which contributed S$4.59 billion.
Zooming into the real estate sector, real estate investment sales in the third quarter more than doubled to $16.74 billion from $6.7 billion in the previous quarter, on the back of big ticket office transactions. Two major office transactions were the acquisition of Duo Tower and Galleria at S$1.58 billion and the sale of Bugis Junction Towers for S$47.5 million (S$2,200 psf). The residential sector, meanwhile, accounted for $3.03 billion.