Singapore GLS Program Suspended
Singapore GLS Program is suspended due to significant and dynamic changes in global economic conditions. This was announced a few hours ago by the Ministry of Trade and Industry which cited the current global uncertainties that are expected to continue well in 2009. It therefore comes as no surprise that sites previously offered (but not taken up) have been removed from the Confirm List and return to the Reserved List.
As land is a scarce and vital resource to a country as small as Singapore, this decision to withhold the sale of new sites is seen as a stabilizing factor in real estate prices in a time of recession. The growth factor for 2008 has yet again been revised down to 2.2% and economists predict next year's growth to drop to minus 1%.
Fewer tourists are expected to grace Singapore's tropical shores in 2009
Singapore's economy is predominantly driven by tourism, services and exports. It is hardest hit by global economic disasters due to fewer tourist arrivals and fewer ships that call at its port. As a matter of fact, a lot of businesses here are dependent on foreign investments that flounder during economic crises. Such being the case, the policies of the Government must remain flexible if it is to weather the cyclic economic storms of our times.
Flexibility to GLS Program
Regardless the current suspension, the Government will still release land as and when the need arises. Applications made for sites listed on the Reserved List shall still be entertained should the Government, in its sole discretion, feel that the intended use of such sites benefits the economy and does not compromise the supply and demand for property across the board.
Despite the economic downturn, the Government shall add 2 new industrial sites to the Reserve list. Half a dozen more sites in the Reserved List of 2008 shall be brought forward from the 2nd half of this year to the first half of next year and allotted to the Reserve List of 2009. The 15 hectares of land that these 8 sites constitute may even be brought forward to the 2nd half of 2009's Reserve list if necessary.
No one knows what the future holds as this downturn is expected to be one of the worst we've seen in a very long time. Multi-National Corporations are already announcing retrenchments as the Government works tirelessly to formulate aid packages to be announced next month.
Whatever the outcome, one thing is for sure: economic recessions are but one of the seasons in endless cycles of business that no country can escape.
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