SINGAPORE, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- The Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB), a government agency under the Ministry of Trade and Industry, announced on Thursday that Singapore anchored investments committing 10.9 billion Singapore dollars (about 8.02 billion U.S. dollars) in fixed asset investments last year, compared to 9.4 billion Singapore dollars(about 6.9 billion U.S. dollars) for 2017.
Meanwhile, the city-state anchored 6.2 billion Singapore dollars (about 4.5 billion U.S. dollars) in total business expenditure per annum last year, compared to 6.5 billion Singapore dollars (about 4.8 billion U.S. dollars) for 2017.
When the projects with investments anchored in 2018 are fully implemented, they will create 17,400 new jobs, EDB said.
Beh Swan Gin, Chairman of EDB, said the 2018 investment commitment numbers are testament to Singapore's continued strength as a global business city and a hub for manufacturing. He said despite of the significant uncertainties in the global operating environment and signs of softening in many economies around the world, the level of investment commitments in Singapore is likely to remain resilient through 2019.
"EDB will continue to strengthen Singapore's positioning as a key node in ASEAN, help companies to adopt and innovate with digital technologies, and leverage our capabilities to venture into new growth areas that will create good jobs for Singaporeans," Beh said.
For 2019, EDB predicts that the fixed asset investments will stand at between eight and 10 billion Singapore dollars (5.8 and 7.3 billion U.S. dollars), while the total business expenditure per annum will stand at between five and seven billion Singapore dollars (3.6 and 5.1 billion U.S. dollars), and the forecast range for expected new jobs will be between 16,000 and 18,000.
