News Highlights Saturday 29 March 2008

Singapore’s ties with India now ‘issue-free’
Against the background of an issues-free relationship, Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong pushed for new ways to take the engagement forward. One potential area is education. Singapore, which hosts 2 Indian management institutes, is keen to see the Indian Institutes of Technology open a campus here. It also plans to set up an Institute for Technical Education in the planned Singapore-India Special Economic Zone (SEZ).

- The Straits Times, P16



$256m centre to research cancers that hit Asians hardest
Singapore will pump $256 million into cancer research centre over the next 7 years, focusing on cancers that are more common among Asians. The National University of Singapore will house the centre, which will be headed by a professor from the Harvard Medical School.

- The Straits Times, S12



$360m green centre to draw top minds here
A future research centre costing $360 million could come equipped with solar panels, a system that recycles water and corridors bathed in natural light. Officials hope the Campus for Research Excellence and Technological Enterprise (Create) will attract top universities to set up research centres here. Besides that project, the Research, Innovation and Enterprise Council, which charts Singapore’s research direction, has also approved a budget of $350 million from this year to 2012. The Research, Innovation and Enterprise Council will spend more than $1 billion to push research and development as well as commercialise innovative ideas.

- The Straits Times, S13



LTA awards site at Serangoon for transport hub development
Singapore will have 10 integrated public transport hubs in 10 years. The LTA awarded a “white” site at Serangoon Central for an integrated development to a unit of Pramerica Real Estate Investors (Asia). 4 more integrated public transport hubs will be built – at Marina South, Jurong, Joo Koon and Bedok – over the next 10 years. Typically, these developments comprise air-conditioned bus interchanges, MRT stations and retail/other developments. Another 2 – at Boon Lay and Clementi – are being built and slated for completion by 2009 and 2011 respectively.

- The Business Times, P8



Sim Lian clinches bid for Ubi industrial site
Privately-held Sim Lian Development’s unit 3 Link Development emerged the highest bidder for a 60-year leasehold industrial site at Ubi Avenue 4/Ubi Road 2 at a state tender. Its top bid of $23.9 million reflects a unit land price of $88.74 psf ppr. Sim Lian Development executive director said that a seven or eight storey flatted factory development will be built and the breakeven cost would be around $270 psf. The state tender drew 4 bids. According to Colliers International, the level of competition among the 4 bidders for the industrial site reflects developers’ optimistic outlook on the industrial market in the medium term. Separately, the URA awarded the tender for a 99-year leasehold condo site at West Coast Crescent to Cheung Kong unit Billion Rise.

- The Business Times, H8