Daily Briefing: Singapore strengthens trade ties with China; MAS chief flags local data storage risks

And Woodleigh Residences sold 60% of released units at soft launch.

From Channel News Asia:

China and Singapore inked several deals including the upgrade of a bilateral free trade pact, which will allow greater market access for Singapore companies through businesses preferential treatment, which leads to lower tariffs, for exports of certain petrochemical products and greater access to China's legal, maritime and construction services sectors.

Investment protection, customs procedures and trade remedial measures will also be improved, while new areas of cooperation, including in e-commerce and the environment, will be forged.

The countries’ leaders also witnessed the signing of the first Memorandum of Understanding on the Southern Transport Corridor.

The project, which aims to connect western China and Southeast Asia through rail and sea links, will be renamed the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor (ILSTC), to better reflect two-way trade.

Singapore and China will cooperate in several areas - financial services, transport and logistics, as well as information and communications technology and other modern services. These are the priority sectors of the Chongqing Connectivity Initiative (CCI) - the third government-to-government project between the two countries.

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From Reuters:

Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) managing director Ravi Menon warned that concerted moves by countries to force companies to store data locally can pose risk to the rise of the digital economy.

“We need more data connectivity, and less data localisation. This is a serious risk,” Ravi Menon, managing director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) told the opening session of the Singapore FinTech festival, which is expected to draw over 40,000 participants from 100 countries over three days.

“Not all data localisation is bad: there may be some legitimate concerns about national security. But a good part of data localisation that is happening in the world today is due to misguided notions of cyber security or data privacy or, worse still, old-fashioned protectionism,” said Menon.

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From iCompare Loan: 

The Woodleigh Residences was able to divest 60% of the 50 units released for sale during the soft launch, prompting joint developers Kajima Development and Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) to release another 50 units.

The developers said that units sold over the weekend achieved an average of above $2,000 per square foot.

Located at the junction of Upper Serangoon and Upper Aljunied Road, this premium housing project sits on 25,440 sqm of land and is Bidadari’s only integrated development with residences built above The Woodleigh Mall, as well as a transportation hub with an MRT station and linkway to Singapore’s first underground bus interchange. It is also integrated with a neighbourhood police post and a community club, offering a complete and convenient living experience.

Residents of Woodleigh Residences will enjoy direct access to Woodleigh MRT Station and Singapore’s first air-conditioned underground bus interchange. As part of community building, Kajima and SPH will work with the People’s Association and the Singapore Police Force to build a 6,000 sqm Community Club and a 2,190 sqm Neighbourhood Police Centre in the integrated development.

Read more here.