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My one big wish
Published February 5, 2007 If you had to choose just one item from your Budget wish-list, the one you want most to hear announced in Parliament on Feb 15, what would it be? And why?
A RECENT study by KPMG identified Singapore as the third most popular outsourcing destination in the Asia-Pacific region, after India and China. The study revealed that although we have a sizeable lead over the Philippines (the fourth most popular destination in the region), we nevertheless remain some distance behind India and China. A RECENT study by KPMG identified Singapore as the third most popular outsourcing destination in the Asia-Pacific region, after India and China. The study revealed that although we have a sizeable lead over the Philippines (the fourth most popular destination in the region), we nevertheless remain some distance behind India and China.
Therefore, I hope the government will announce new measures in the upcoming Budget to reduce the gap between us and the region's two biggest players. Singapore is actually an ideal place for companies to outsource non-core IT functions. We have numerous competitive advantages such as a stable, pro-business government, strong intellectual property protection laws, a highly educated workforce, an excellent national IT infrastructure and well-documented best practices. In fact, Fujitsu Asia, being a leading regional IT services provider and the Asean headquarters of our parent company Fujitsu Limited, currently acts as the nerve centre for our regional managed services business which includes outsourcing. However, in terms of its appeal as an outsourcing hub, Singapore trails India and China in one vital area - cost competitiveness. Fiscal expenditure can mitigate this shortcoming in other ways. Examples include accelerating efforts to attract skilled IT professionals here, upgrading the national IT infrastructure and offering incentives for technology vendors to consolidate their business operations in Singapore. This is crucial since globalisation has eliminated many of the barriers that once restricted the cross-national migration of companies, workers and jobs. A pro-IT Budget will encourage more technology giants such as Fujitsu Asia to consider a larger Singapore footprint. In the long run, it will also help Singapore to catch up with - and hopefully overtake - India and China as the premier Asia-Pacific outsourcing hub. - Noboru Oi Group CEO Fujitsu Asia Pte Ltd Cut corporate taxes by at least 2 per cent
I WOULD like to witness a more drastic reduction in the overall corporate tax by at least 2 per cent. This reduction may be cushioned by a 2 per cent increase in GST from the perspective of the government. A cut in corporate tax is imperative to maintain Singapore's competitive position to attract Foreign direct investments vis-a-vis economies such as Hong Kong, Hungary and Luxembourg. Hong Kong has a vast hinterland, China, to drive its economy. Similarly, Luxembourg and Hungary have the mammoth European Union market. Singapore is rather impoverished as far as its domestic market is concerned notwithstanding the frail Asean bloc. In order to incentivise corporations to generate profits and placate employers in lieu of an increase in employers' CPF contribution, corporate tax needs to be cut and the cut must be significant. - Leslie Wa CEO & Executive director HLN Technologies Ltd
This will enhance our company's overall competitiveness against competitors that operate in a lower tax environment. - John Chuang CEO Petra Foods Ltd
- Mohamed Ismail Chief Executive Officer PropNex Realty Pte Ltd THE one item from my Budget wish-list is a reduction in corporate tax now that GST will rise to 7 per cent. My wish is that the government would dare to reduce corporate tax by no less than 2 percentage points to just 0.5 per cent higher than Hong Kong's. SA Tours is planning to launch its initial public offer within this year; with a reduced corporate tax, shareholders will benefit from the dividends payable to them. Our staff will benefit, too, as they will be shareholders and possibly earn stock options while working hard for SA Tours. With higher GST, their income must also increase to meet their needs and wants. Shareholders will also enjoy more privileges as shareholders of SA Tours. - Ng Kong Yeam Group Executive Chairman Sino-America Tours Corporation Pte Ltd
A cut of 2-3 percentage points will be positive for the market as it will have a direct impact on corporate earnings. Moreover, it will help defray some operating costs as well as an increase in wages due to tight labour supply. - Shamsher Zaman Managing Director Linkers (Far East) Pte Ltd SINGAPORE'S effective personal tax rates are probably the lowest in the world, lower than those in Japan, the UK, the US, and Hong Kong. Its corporate tax rate has been progressively shaved since 1986 and is now just 2.5 per cent more than Hong Kong's 17.5 per cent. Hong Kong has the competitive advantage of attracting foreign investment because of its China hinterland. Singapore, therefore, has to move boldly on cutting corporate tax rate to raise its competitiveness. - Tan Kok Leong Principal TKL Consulting
- V R Srivatsan Vice-President, South Asia Business Objects Asia Pacific
In relation to my sector of activity - wealth management - much has been done to develop Singapore's stature as an international financial and trust centre of choice, for businesses as well as families' wealth. Further refinement of Singapore's existing income tax laws could facilitate moves by wealthy families in using Singapore as their centre for family wealth management activities, such as inter-generational succession planning, family investment activities, setting up of family office, as well as strategic family philanthropic giving. - Michel Longhini Chief Executive Officer BNP Paribas, Private Bank Cut personal taxes too
- Chaly Mah CEO Deloitte Singapore & South-east Asia
- Dora Hoan Group CEO Best World International Ltd
This would help soften the impact of a one-off GST hike from 5 to 7 per cent - boosting consumer sentiment along with the retail sector, which drives growth of the payment sector for key players such as NETS. There is a strong likelihood of seeing this happen as the government is planning to cut corporate taxes to attract more investments, and it is likely to align itself with the best global practices; the trend in other countries has been to lower rates for both income tax and corporate tax concurrently. - Poh Mui Hoon CEO NETS
- Wee Piew CEO HG Metal Manufacturing Ltd
- George Wong Managing director - Asean BEA Systems Singapore Pte Ltd Top-ups and higher CPF rate
Firstly, CPF was introduced with the aim of providing for retirement and old age. Singaporeans must have sufficient savings in their CPF for their old age. Thus, the increase in employers' CPF contributions is a welcome boon for our workforce. Secondly, businesses must factor in their cost of business, especially wages, including CPF, for long-term planning and competitive advantage. Thus, the early announcement of CPF hike will enable employers to plan ahead. Thirdly, government must fulfil its election promises to the unions to restore the CPF rates to gain the unions' support and maintain industrial harmony. Therefore, I feel that raising CPF is a priority issue that concerns Singaporeans this year. - Derek Goh Executive Chairman/Group CEO Serial System Ltd
Give them - housewives and househusbands - a CPF top-up. - Lee Kwok Cheong CEO SIM Pte Ltd
- Lars Ronning President, North & South-East Asia, Australia & New Zealand Tandberg Health is wealth
When more Singaporeans adopt a healthy lifestyle, we can expect our national state of health to improve, and consequently our health costs per capita to come down. Health costs are increasing globally, and Singapore is no exception. Given that Singapore has an ageing population, it is important that we take steps to contain costs early, if not to reduce it. We could introduce an Individual Health Balance Scorecard which the government could use as a cost savings incentive. This would be given to individuals to offset expenses in the move to adopting a healthy lifestyle - for example, gym memberships, purchase of exercise equipment, health checks, health supplements and to redeem benefits such as better insurance premiums - much like the no-claim bonus in the car industry. I see this incentive package as a win-win for the government and our fellow Singaporeans, as we will then have a nation of healthy people who will be able to contribute more to the economy and, eventually, better economic growth. - Lim Soon Hock Managing Director Plan-B ICAG Pte Ltd THE single Budget wish that I look forward to most in the Feb 15 Budget announcement is something on health care welfare. 'Health is wealth', so goes the saying. In short, we need good health to pursue our dreams. We need to be fit to make a living and to provide for our loved ones. If one suffers from ailments and is constantly unwell, it is nearly impossible to function. Our closest kin would need to work harder to foot the medical bills. When one has good health, we can do more for the community. This is very important as Singapore has a high percentage of the elderly. - Jerry T H Tan CEO Wanin Industries Pte Ltd
We hope that the coming Budget will not only feature a reduction in corporate tax, extended tax holidays for selected industries, and reduced rent and utility charges, but in addition, a new paradigm shift in the government's thinking, which is to place healthcare needs of the workforce, especially as Singaporeans age, on an equal or higher priority than workforce education and training. The announcement of this one item would bring much joy and cheer to many hearts. - R Theyvendran, PBM Chairman/Managing Director Stamford Media International Group Help for specific industries
- Michael Reading Managing Director Island Power Company
- Ravi Kumaraswami Managing director Ariba Inc.
It's no secret that Singapore is aggressively positioning itself as an International Maritime Centre (IMC) by offering an extensive range of services aimed at shipowners, operators and other entities in the shipping industry. While I think we have made significant headway towards this goal, we cannot afford to rest on our laurels as other ports, such as Hong Kong, Dubai and Cyprus, also harbour dreams of becoming IMCs. In addition, due to the increased global appetite for resources such as petroleum and natural gas, demand for such commodities is skyrocketing and thus the offshoring business is booming in many parts of the world, such as Western Australia. Although Singapore is currently the world's top builder of oil rigs - SembCorp and Keppel are the world's top two rig builders - by far, the worldwide demand for rigs remains high and we should stretch our lead further. Whether it be vessels or rigs, they will require prompt, reliable and comprehensive logistical support and mobilisation services as well as ongoing supplies of equipment, tools provisions and other necessities. Hence, regional marine supply and logistics players such as Sinwa will play an important part in sustaining the ongoing boom. Singapore has won countless accolades for its strengths in the shipping and offshore industries. We are currently the most important ship-storing port in the world, the number one bunkering port, the world's busiest port, a major builder of oil rigs, a major centre for ship repair and offshore marine engineering - the list goes on. Will we continue to remain the top player going forward? That will depend on whether we build on our existing competitive advantages - and the upcoming Budget is the right occasion to do so. - Mike Sim Executive Chairman/CEO Sinwa Ltd
With a brighter regional economic outlook for 2007 and a resulting higher consumer spending index, more local businesses will now have the capacity to expand regionally and internationally. Tax incentives will give small businesses the much-needed headstart and help us position ourselves favourably against big international players. - Patrick Wee Founder & CEO True Group (True Yoga, True Yoga and Fitness, True Spa and True' Est) THE government has striven to ensure that Singapore stays ahead of the technology cycle through its sustained commitment to local infocomm development, with initiatives like iN2015 and Wireless@SG. We hope that in Budget 2007, the government will build on these programmes and provide additional incentives that will encourage our technopreneurs to innovate and come up with the next big technology breakthrough while also enabling smaller businesses to leverage the power of IT. As a truly global company, we believe that Singapore will be best positioned to maximise the opportunities presented in a flat world by embracing the full potential of technology. Technology is an excellent equaliser and Lenovo looks forward to policies that will continue to bridge the digital divide between big and small companies and escalate IT adoption and innovation in small to medium-sized companies in Singapore. - David Miller President Asia Pacific/Japan Lenovo Help for the lower income PART of the justification for raising the GST rate is to help the low-income groups, and I am looking forward to see what other measures will be announced on Feb 15 that complements the GST hike. The Singapore government has been creative in helping the low-income groups without resorting to what some others are doing - i.e. penalise high income earners with hefty direct tax burdens. I will not be surprised if there is a new Bill that tries to bridge the widening income gap in Singapore. The advantage of this may not directly impact businesses, but the social importance of not having a disgruntled workforce cannot be ignored either! - Deb Dutta Vice-President, Asia Pacific/Japan Brocade Change vehicle tax structure MY WISH for Budget 2007 is a change in the vehicle tax structure - from a flat tax to a variable tax structure. Car owners are taxed based on their usage instead of having to pay a high levy at the point of purchase. This can be done via the ERP system or petrol taxes. A pay-per-use tax structure is fairer as consumers will now have to rationalise their usage and maximise their trips. A change like this is in line with the government's move to place more emphasis on indirect tax, for example, via an increase in GST, and to reduce the burden of direct tax such as the proposed reduction in corporate tax. In the long run, this will enhance Singapore's competitiveness by attracting more players into the market. - Glenn Tan Group CEO Motor Image Group Training initiatives
The initiative that I look forward to for Freight Links is training. If we cannot reduce costs, then we need to increase the contribution/value of each and every employee via up-skilling and training. In the short term, this is a difficult initiative for SMEs as they must spend before they receive the benefits. Initiatives that spread the cost of training and give immediate benefits to employers via subsidies and tax breaks are well received. We now also have to be much more cognisant of the work-life balance, both to attract talent and to engage workers towards becoming a true part of Singapore. Anything that offsets the initial cost of work-life balance initiatives would be appreciated. - Eric Khua Executive Director and CEO Freight Links Express Holdings Ltd Support entrepreneurship
The government has been an active advocate for entrepreneurship. According to Spring Singapore, currently there are over 130,000 SMEs in Singapore, playing a significant role in the economy, and of which many have strong potential growth. To facilitate survival and growth of entrepreneurship and SMEs, there needs to be more nurturing and support from the home ground, where ample resources can be made available and where financial facilities can translate into usage for investments, expansions and R&D initiatives. SMEs face major challenges as they compete head-on with MNCs. Although IDA, IE Singapore and Spring have assisted in local SME development, SMEs need first to be successful at home before they can be successful overseas. This remains difficult due to a small market with unbalanced competition from MNCs. Any initiative for SMEs to overcome this - whether in the Budget or through other policies - would be welcome. I feel there should also be room for greater development of laws and policies for local SMEs to grow in the face of MNCs, and their dominance and market power. This would provide a conducive environment for entrepreneurship, creativity, risk taking and venture capitalism. - J Anton Ravindran Group CEO & Co-founder Genovate Solutions IT initiatives
With the diversity of these projects, these departments will face the challenge of delivering services that operate seamlessly across mainframe, distributed and Web-based IT platforms. They are also expected to manage within regulatory compliance requirements, legislative initiatives, and numerous operational challenges such as additional reporting layers, higher-than-normal security levels and most of all, the rapid and dynamic changes that will, no doubt, be affecting all these requirements. Given the complexity due to the scale and impact of these deployments (initiatives that will impact the majority of Singaporeans), the government should take a leaf from the private sector's book and pay closer attention to the governance of these projects. Therefore, I'd like to see 'change governance' as a must-have item in the Budget to ensure the exciting work the Singapore government is carrying out, realises its full potential. - KC Yee Vice-President, Asia Pacific Serena Software
- Mark Leigh President Avaya Asia Pacific | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
