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And StarHub services 'fully restored' after hours of disruption.

The Blockchain Association Singapore will provide upskilling to mid-career workers.

Buyers continue to hold back on purchasing as sentiments worsen.

Positive developments were seen in Q1 despite the sombre tone.

Home and retail sales dropped, whilst offices’ capital values and leasing volumes held firm.

CapitaLand offices in Singapore to adopt 100% renewable energy by end 2020. CapitaLand has secured a total of $400m in two bilateral green loans to catalyse the greening of their global portfolio by 2030, according to a press release. The proceeds will be used towards the development, investment, and acquisition of certified green buildings. The $150m four-year green loan is provided by DBS Bank (DBS) whilst the $250m three-year multi-currency green loan is provided by the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited – Singapore Branch (HSBC). CapitaLand’s corporate offices across three locations in Singapore will be 100% powered by renewable energy by the end 2020. This furthers CapitaLand’s objective to achieve at least 20% energy consumption from renewable energy by 2025. The group will also purchase Renewable Energy Certificates (REC) from the clean energy generated from over 21,000 solar panels installed atop CapitaLand’s six industrial properties. The RECs will be used to reduce carbon emissions in its corporate offices within Capital Tower, Galaxis and eCapitaHub, starting with Neuros and Immunos in 2020 and Nexus@one-north and Nucleos in 2022. The green buildings are expected to achieve a Green Mark GoldPLUS certification by the Building & Construction Authority of Singapore (BCA) or a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold rating by the United States Green Building Council. The company has been awarded Building & Construction Authority of Singapore’s (BCA) Green Mark Platinum ‘Super Low Energy (SLE)’ certification for LogisTech, with its rooftop solar panels estimated to generate over 2,000 megawatt hour (MWh) of energy per year. Other initiatives include a highly efficient water-cooled chiller plant and air handling units with estimated efficiency of 0.62 kW/RT and 0.18 kW/RT, respectively. CapitaLand now has 16 properties in Singapore, China, Belgium, and India and four business parks in India that are fully or partially powered by renewable energy.  

Commercial sector remains the most attractive for investors. Singapore remains a top property investment destination as sales volumes grow at an average of 5% per annum (pa) over 2019-2024, according to Colliers Research. This is despite the 24% forecasted drop YoY in 2020 as Singapore’s strong policy response reinforces its safe haven status. The report stated that commercial real estate activities in 2020 are to match 2019’s levels, mainly on the REITs’ merger and acquisitions (M&A) activities, even as commercial investment sales crashed 46.9% QoQ and 35.4% to $758m YoY. “The commercial sector remains the most attractive for investors [as] short-term disruption could offer long-term opportunities,” said Jerome Wright, senior director of capital markets at Colliers International.

It aims to collect $3.5b in aggregate principal amount of mandatory convertible bonds.

The initiative aims to assist media practitioners affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) rolled out the $8m Public Service Content Fund to catalyse more production projects, according to an announcement. This aims to benefit media companies with opportunities and reduced operating costs, and to assist media professionals and freelancers.

It has since grown its staff tenfold and expanded its working space by 25 times.

Limited supply of homes and surge in rental demand prompted landlords to raise rents.

Confident and financially comfortable investors typically have high net worth.

Airalo takes advantage of telcos' growing interest in 'embedded SIMs'.

The platform reduces the costs of investing by up to 20 times.

Work from home arrangements fuelled growth in the sector.

And foodpanda co-founders launch iSaveSG.