The 2010s have seen Stockholm’s ascent as a major European startup up and development of a finance centre perceived as a contender to London. More notably, it has evolved a sustainable entrepreneur-finance-growth nexus (EFG nexus) that offers insights and inspiration for policymakers, investors and entrepreneurial centres globally. Besides more obvious…

Singapore’s 65 Equity Partners (65EP) establishing a market maker fund (MMF) can catalyse further liquidity in Singapore equities. It also mutually reinforces existing efforts to augment the domestic equities market. Reports of Singapore special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) listing applications by Temasek-linked entities — French asset manager Tikehau Capital, Vertex…

Foreword: I would like to extend thanks to my collaborators, Ms. Daria Luzina, Program Manager, Sistema Asia (Singapore) and Mr Yogeindran Thiayagarajah, , Regional Group Director, Russia CIS, C&E Europe & Central Asia, Enterprise Singapore. They contributed extensively to the research underpinning this article. Singapore entrepreneurial ventures should explore the…

Singapore’s policymakers have driven a coherent campaign promoting Singapore as an Asian technology centre, in addition to its role as a global finance centre. But does the city-state have sustainable fundamentals in place across scale, scope and ecosystem economies to establish itself as Asia’s pre-eminent technology capital? Despite a number…

Note: I first posted this piece on LinkedIn. It retreads prior developements from previous pieces and amalgamates in from a new angle, about the lack of a finance-growth nexus in Singapore. In the post-COVID world, Singapore’s efforts to sustain its commercial-finance centre and entrepreneurial hub ambitions, underwritten by significant economies…

Ecological sustainability will underpin the post-COVID 19 economic recovery in Southeast Asia and the broader Indo-Asia Pacific (Indo-APAC). …

The initial public offer (IPO) of Nanofilm Technologies on the Singapore Exchange (SGX) may represent the same inflection point that the listing of Xero Technologies did for the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX). The listing of Xero in late 2012 laid the foundation for the ASX to establish its brand as…

With Singapore seeking to revive its lacklustre equities market, it may have the potential to forge a niche as a dual listings node for corporates looking to tap Asian capital markets and internationalise. If the secondary listing of NYSE-listed AMTD International on the Singapore bourse in April 2020 is any…

Singapore can revive its economic engine and equity markets with Central Provident Fund (CPF) reforms. Tapping CPF cash to induce positive feedback loops between Singapore’s pension assets and capital markets can economically revive the domestic economy and mitigate the risks of income disparity in the post-COVID world. Successful financial centres…