Daily Briefing: Deals buoy commercial property sector in Q1; Singapore lifts passport stamp requirements on departing foreigners

And Go-Jek poaches an ex-Bain consultant from Apple as VP of strategy and planning.

From eFinancialCareers:

Go-Jek has poached an ex-Bain consultant from Apple as its Singapore expansion starts to gather pace. The Indonesian tech unicorn, which is valued at about US$9.5b and backed by Google, Temasek and Tencent, has hired Shobhit Singhal as its Singapore based VP of strategy and planning.

Singhal spent more than five years at Apple’s Singapore office, latterly as a senior manager in supply demand management, according to his online profile. Prior to that, he worked as a consultant at Bain & Company between 2006 and 2011, focused on “growth planning, M&A and operational optimisation projects” in the information technology and telecommunication sectors. Go-Jek needs to hire people with a consultancy background to help drive its strategy of becoming a so-called super app across Southeast Asia, offering services from ride hailing to hairstyling.

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From Channel News Asia:

Starting 22 April, foreign travellers will no longer have to line up and have their passports stamped when departing Singapore, the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority said.

ICA said it will cease the issuance of departure immigration endorsements, or stamps of departure dates on travel documents, as part of efforts to streamline processes and speed up immigration clearance.

Previously, all foreigners departing Singapore would have their passports stamped with the date of their departure by the immigration officer at the manned counters.

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From ICompareLoan:

Colliers International’s Asia Market Snapshot Q1 report said that Singapore’s commercial property sector and hotel market remain buoyant. Despite the optimism in the commercial property market, the residential market remained subdued said the report.

Tang Wei Leng, Managing Director of Colliers International, Singapore, said, “In Singapore, the hospitality sector continued to grow in Q1 2019 driven by keen interest from investors and developers who shifted focus to non-residential sectors.” She added that the commercial property sector also enjoyed some deals after months of negotiations and due diligence thanks to a recovery in the office rental market and limited short-term supply opportunity. The commercial property in Singapore is expected to remain highly attractive to investors and developers, with office rental growth continuing.

Read more here.