Despite the global downturn, Singapore's strong fundamentals continued to attract high quality projects in 2009 that are capital-, knowledge- or innovation- intensive, the country's Economic Development Board (EDB) said on Monday.
Statistics released by the board on its website showed that investment commitment for 2009 stood at 11.8 billion Singapore dollars (8.25 billion U.S. dollars) in total fixed asset investments (FAI), and 6.8 billion Singapore dollars (4.75 billion U.S. dollars) in total business spending (TBS).
The projects are expected to contribute 12.5 billion Singapore dollars (8.74 billion U.S. dollars) in value-added (VA) per annum when fully
implemented, which is above the EDB's forecast range of 10-12 billion Singapore dollars (6.998.39 billion U.S. dollars).
These investments will create 21,900 new jobs, of which 53 percent will be in the manufacturing sector with the balance in the international services sector. And 69 percent of the jobs created will be for professionals, managers, engineers, research scientists and skilled workers.
For the year 2010, EDB seeks to expand the investment flows from global and Asian companies making Singapore their home for business, for innovation and for talent.
The board hopes to attract investments of 10-12 billion Singapore dollars in FAI, 7-9 billion Singapore dollars (4.89-6. 29 billion U.S. dollars) in TBS and VA per annum of 13-15 billion Singapore dollars (9.09-10.48 billion U.S. dollars) for the year ahead.
EDB is a government agency for planning and executing strategies to enhance Singapore's economy as well as its position as a global business center.