(Feb 9): Singapore is pulling in bigger investments, but getting fewer jobs in return, with employment pledges dropping to decades-low levels even as fixed-asset commitments rose last year.
The commitments are expected to create 15,700 jobs over the next five years, the lowest projection since at least 2006, according to the Economic Development Board’s annual reviews. They are also estimated to generate S$18 billion ($22.9 billion) in value-added per year once realised, the weakest since 2021.
The outlook comes even as the city-state secured S$14.2 billion in fixed-asset investment commitments in 2025, a 5.2% increase from a year earlier, helped by strong demand in the artificial intelligence and electronics sector. Manufacturing-related projects, including semiconductors, biomedical sciences and aerospace, accounted for S$12.1 billion.
China emerged as the second-largest source of fixed-asset investment commitments, accounting for 20.6% of the total, up from 2.5% a year earlier. The US share dropped to 17.3%, compared with 55.5% in the prior year. Europe remained the top contributor.
Uploaded by Magessan Varatharaja
