With Russia´s re-entry into the global economy, a largely unexploited market has been opened up. Which sectors hold the most promise for Singapore companies?
Keppel Offshore & Marine finds that increasing oil and gas exploration and production activities in the Arctic present tremendous opportunities for specialised and robust vessels.
Singapore´s exports to Russia increased to S$754.9 million and Singapore-Russia trade turnover was recorded at S$1.8 billion in 2007. Russia plans to increase bilateral trade to US$5 billion.
UPS Insights
By Paul Chee, Business Development Manager, UPS Singapore (Also an iAdvisor)
The predominant issues that concern Asia SMEs in this economic
downturn are revealed in the recent UPS Asia Business Monitor
(UPS ABM) 2009. Aside from giving insights into business
financing, workforce projections and investment strategies, this
survey looked at how SME leaders manage their existing supply
chain in reaction to the global recession.
The majority of Singaporean SMEs remain indifferent about improving supply chain efficiencies; 37 percent of them have no plans to change their supply chain practices, while 40 percent focus on simply reducing transportation and distribution costs. Although the former group is not looking into supply chain improvements, it does not indicate that they are optimising their supply chain capabilities. Last year’s ABM showed that nearly a third of Singaporean SMEs were either under-utilising or neglecting their supply chain operations.
In their perception of supply chain management (SCM), 29 percent of the regional SME leaders look upon SCM as a useful means to cut cost, while 20 percent feel that it is a reliable method of quality assurance.
Similarly, 31 percent of the local SME leaders recognise SCM as a means to reduce costs, 20 percent view it as a method for quality assurance, while 16 percent identify visibility of supply chain as a means to maintain control.
Adopting cost-saving measures is not a sustainable solution and will not be beneficial to SMEs in the long run. They will have to learn quickly that sustainable initiatives will be critical to ride out the economic storm.
However, it is noteworthy that 23 percent of Singaporean SMEs are re-evaluating their supply chain to better manage their businesses. They do this either through near-sourcing, shifting from air freight to ocean freight, or shifting from express shipments to air freight. These measures are being implemented in a bid to counter the adverse effect of the ongoing economic crisis.
As a global leader in supply chain and freight services, UPS works closely with customers to enhance their internal processes. This approach not only streamlines operations and cuts expenditures, it ensures that SMEs can operate smoothly and efficiently in the long run.
Since its launch in 2005, the UPS ABM has been conducted annually to deliver the latest insights on the changing business needs of the largest business community in the region, the SMEs. As discussed at the third APEC Business Advisory Council Meeting in August 2008, SMEs make up 95 percent of all businesses in the Asia-Pacific region and employ 80 percent of the workforce. This year, the UPS ABM 2009 surveyed 1,200 company owners, proprietors, CEOs, Managing Directors and other top management employees across 12 markets.
A complimentary service by www.iadvisory.com.sg
Name: Paul Chee
Company: UPS
Expertise: Import/Export
Market: Asia Pacific, Europe
Hear Singapore's perspective
in the 2009 UPS Asia Business Monitor survey.
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