Daily Briefing: PM Lee says Singapore and EU ‘remain committed' to free trade; Resource centre for freelancers to launch in 2019

And a UK-based fintech firm eyes to link up with new instant payment schemes in Singapore and Hong Kong.

From Channel News Asia:

Singapore and the European Union (EU) remain committed to the values of free trade and cooperation amidst an era of trade tensions around the world, prime minister Lee Hsien Loong said after the signing of the EU-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (EUSFTA) in Brussels.

He also hopes that other countries will maintain this commitment and continue to uphold the rules-based multilateral system, which he says has benefited all countries.

Mr Lee added that he has told British Prime Minister Theresa May that Singapore can extend the terms of the EUSFTA to the UK for a separate trade deal post-Brexit.

Britain has also indicated their interest to join the 11-member Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), said Mr Lee.

Read more here.

From Yahoo! News Singapore:

Singapore is building a resource centre which would give art professionals art access through its online and physical facilities that will have shared services and information about various issues including legal issues, financial planning, and contract terms, the National Arts Council revealed.

Scheduled to launch in the first half of 2019, the centre will also aim to facilitate collaborations with potential partners to increase work opportunities for freelance arts professionals.

The NAC will also encourage employers in the arts sector to adopt the tripartite standard on contracting self-employed persons when engaging freelance workers.
Support for digital initiatives will allow the arts community to use technology as a tool to create, distribute and market the arts effectively.

Read more here.

From Reuters:

UK-based fintech firm TransferWise mulls to nearly double its Asia Pacific manpower and link up with new instant payments infrastructure in both Singapore and Hong Kong, TransferWise CEO and co-founder Kristo Käärmann said in an interview.

TransferWise is also part of a Monetary Authority of Singapore working group, exploring how non-banks can connect to the country’s Fast and Secure Transfers system, at present only available to banks.

The plans are part of the company’s broader expansion in the region. Käärmann said TransferWise aims to increase its headcount in Asia from roughly 80 now to 140 in the next year.

Read more here.

You're the reader we write for. You're also the person our partners want to reach.

If that sentence describes you — a founder, a C-suite, someone whose attention companies pay good money for — then you already understand why SBR works. We've spent twenty years earning the trust of readers exactly like you. Which is exactly what makes this an interesting place for your company to show up, too.

The ways it can show up are broader than most people assume — thought leadership articles, sponsored content, industry summits across Southeast Asia, regional awards programmes, podcasts, and media placements in print and digital. The right fit depends on what you're trying to do, which is why we'd rather start with a conversation than send a rate card.

If your company has something this audience should know about, we'd like to hear what you're working on.

No rate cards until we understand the brief. It's a better use of everyone's time.

Book a meeting

| Or download the media kit (PDF)

240,000 senior readers quarterly in print Top 1,700 Singapore companies reached

7 markets across Southeast Asia

Top News

30 One-Sentence Stories From People Who Have Built Better Habits

None of these stories are mine. They were sent to me by readers of Atomic Habits. My hope is that these examples will illustrate how real people are putting the book into practice. They will show you what people are actually doing to build good habits and break bad ones. And hopefully, they will spark some ideas for how you can do the same.

news conversion

SBR 5 Lorem Ipsum News 2 [8 May]

Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry's standard dummy text ever since the 1500s, when an unknown printer took a galley of type and scrambled it to make a type specimen book. It has survived not only five centuries, but also the leap into electronic typesetting, remaining essentially unchanged. It was popularised in the 1960s with the release of Letraset sheets containing Lorem Ipsum passages, and more recently with desktop publishing software like Aldus PageMaker including versions of Lorem Ipsum.

SBR 4 Lorem Ipsum [8 May Top Stories]