The changing face of Singapore industry
Recent research into demographic trends in Singapore has revealed that industry is beginning to demonstrate subtle changes in growth. Where wholesale and manufacturing industries were once prominent on the economic landscape, there has been an inexorable shift towards companies in transport and construction. There has also been a lot of expansion in the hospitality sector.
The local newspaper The Straits Times has reported that these facts are reflected in the list of the 50 fastest growing companies in Singapore, as compiled by the DP Information Group. The Group compiles its listings by applying various criteria to a qualifying short-list of companies who have maintained profitability and double-digit revenue growth over three years.
The hardest hit sector of the Singapore economy was undoubtedly financial companies. The recent global crisis has left many economies reeling, and while Singapore has managed to weather the worst of the storms, the markets remain volatile and unpredictable. As a result of the crisis, between 12 and 25 fewer firms were unable to meet the specific criteria for the case study.
Financial companies, battered by the recent financial crisis, predictably took the biggest hit this year, with 12 or 25 fewer firms unable to meet the criteria.
Manufacturing was the next worst hit, 56 firms qualified - down from last year's total of 75. While the wholesale sector was reliably well covered by the terms of the survey, with a sizeable 108 firms fully meeting the criteria, this figure was actually 13 fewer than the comparable figures from last year.
These figures could be compared to 17 more transport firms, and 14 more involved in the construction industry, compared to the same totals in these sectors from 12 months ago. The transport sector actually matched the wholesale industry by contributing four companies in the survey's top 10.