Australia’s leading institutional investors and fund managers gained a deeper understanding of investment opportunities on the Australian Government’s first outbound investment mission to Singapore, as part of the Southeast Asia Investment Deal Teams initiative.
The delegation was led by Minister for Trade and Tourism Senator Don Farrell, and representatives from Austrade, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), and Export Finance Australia accompanied the delegation.
Meanwhile, the latest insight from Drewry describes Singapore as “a microcosm of transhipment ports around the world, […] experiencing a density of shipping containers in their terminals close to the records of the pandemic period.”
During Australia’ mission to Singapore, delegates engaged local experts from DBS, Sembcorp, Singtel, CapitaLand, Macquarie Asset Management, IFC, ADB and King & Wood Mallesons Australia. They were keen to understand how ASEAN’s growth rates, energy transition, digitalisation and rapid urbanisation are driving opportunities for Australian investors.
Indo Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) Forum
Mr Farrell led the delegation to attend the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) Clean Economy Investor Forum in Singapore. He hosted a roundtable with the Australian investor delegation to discuss the significant opportunities in Southeast Asia and the benefits of outbound investment for Australia.
Deal Team Hub launch
Senator Farrell launched the Singapore Deal Team hub at the High Commissioner’s residence in Singapore. The launch was attended by 60 senior executives from across Southeast Asia.
The Singapore Deals Team also covers Malaysia and Brunei. The team of Austrade, Export Finance Australia and DFAT specialists will help Australian investors access investable opportunities across ASEAN, while providing connections to help manage regional risks
Drewry’s Ports and Terminals Insight
Drewry’s latest Market opinion also focuses on Singapore. They note that key transhipment ports such as Singapore have witnessed a sharp rise in congestion due to the impact of Red Sea carrier service diversions, which have led to fewer vessel calls but larger average exchanges. This has added to yard congestion.
Port productivity has also taken a hit in recent months. The time spent by ships waiting before berthing at high-volume ports tracked by Drewry increased 43% between 3Q23 and 2Q24 – to over 400,000 hours.
“Singapore is in a microcosm of transhipment ports around the world, where changes to carrier service patterns in response to the Red Sea crisis, have wrought havoc to container terminal operations. It is experiencing a density of shipping containers in their terminals close to the records of the pandemic period,” according to Drewry’s Ports and Terminals Insight.
The rerouting of container vessel services away from the Red Sea in response to the Houthi attacks on shipping resulted in a 22% increase in “average parcel sizes” in the period between January and May, with a significant knock-on impact for port productivity.
Drewry expects congestion at major transhipment ports such as Singapore to remain high, but some easing is anticipated as carriers add more capacity and restore some of their disrupted schedules.
See our recent related article, Promoting Wine & Agricultural Exports to Asia.
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