Myanmar is putting a step forward in restoring economic glory for the country by reaching out to Singapore. On the 18th of May, 2016, the Foreign Minister of Singapore was invited to visit Myanmar and he graciously accepted the invitation. Aung San Suu Kyi extended the invitation for the same. After taking on the mantle of Foreign Minister, she is currently dedicated to forging long lasting relationships with neighbouring countries.

After the removal of US sanctions, there has been a push towards changing old political setups in the country. Economic reforms are one part of the agenda, which is helping the country build new policies and strive to enter the global market once again.

The aim of the meeting was to discuss the creation of a treaty that would favour bilateral investments between the countries. This would the beginning of negotiations and talks between the government, aided by the visit taken by Vivian Balakrishnan. In his speech, he concluded that the inclusion of Singapore in the treaty would add a weight of certainty to the growth of the market in Myanmar. As of now, Myanmar entered into similar treaties with both India and China.

The country of Myanmar is currently facing a great deal of instability. This is reflecting in the differences of opinion and policy between the current civilian government and the previous military one.

There are a number of Singapore based businesses that have identified the country as a funding ground for building new partnerships. A change of policy to allow bilateral relations would ease their fears and create an environment of economic surety. After the difficulties faced by Parkway Panti – a company based out of Singapore, the need of the hour is to create a framework that favours international investments.

The task has a long way ahead of it, as it requires cementing policies in place for the next ten years to come. At the same time, the investments would have to be backed by a constant flow of support, which will come from both Singapore and Myanmar. Both the countries are taking the matter quite seriously at the moment, in the hope to develop an advantageous alliance.

If the discussions move forward and are encouraged by the government, then the areas for investment will grow in an exponential manner. The Singapore Foreign Minister believes that there is a scope to create new engagement in sectors that have been ignored for a very long time. His focus in particular was on the fields of higher education, development of food science and the creation of better infrastructure for the country.

At the same time, the bilateral treaty will present socio-political benefits to both the countries. There is a similarity in the culture and the goals present for the future. Tourism is an important industry for both, which allows them to exchange information and knowledge to create a better global standard for the same. However, the two Foreign Ministers are not strangers to the challenges they face in moving ahead with talks. They do believe that despite the difficulties, there would be a way to move ahead and create a society that accepts varied ethnicities and races. The final goal for the two is a noble one, that of unity amongst the country.

Minster Suu Kyi was of the opinion that Myanmar will be able to absorb a great deal of knowledge from Singapore. She referred to their movement towards a united society, which has been able to withstand the struggle and difficulties that come with removing bias and prejudice.

In honour of the first visit by Dr. Vivian Balakrishnan, there ill also be a dinner reception held by him. It will celebrate the completion of diplomatic relationships between the two countries, which have gone back as far as 50 years. He will also meet with Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, who currently serves as the military chief for the country as well as Shwe Mann, the former speaker of Parliament.

Aung San Suu Kyi has got lots of heat recently from the rohingya crisis but what many people don't realise is that Aung San Suu Kyi was not in control of the military when they use force on the rohingya people.

Singapore has realized that they will face a problem in the near future as the urbanization will grow rapidly and continuously. There will be about 70% people of the world living in the cities in 2050. The effects to cities are clear, such as overcrowding, transportation congestion, and pollution. They have a sustainable and comprehensive analysis to handle this problem and try to make a great solution on handle this tremendous urbanization afterward. It's got to be a long term solution, and also strategically to face the keep growing city. They have to join the government and corporate partnership.

Long before this problem steps up, they have faced a vulnerability on their city sustainability because of the land and lack of natural resources problem. Singapore has been succeeded to implement the urban solution and they make it sustainable. For the example, they make a policy about holistic water management. They didn't subsidize water pricing, and diversified the water sources by the new technology, with combined the supplies from 55 percent recycled water and 25 percent desalination of sea water. They also have a target to make 80% of their buildings to be certified as a green building, and they are committed to improving their energy intensity to 35 percent in 2030.

Singapore has made itself as a living laboratory on their objective to throw the government and corporate together in a partnership. Singapore let the corporate to take a role in analyzing, developing, and make an innovative solution the urban infrastructure, so the government can make a summary of the data given from the corporate, which one is the best technologies and solution to be used. The corporate also have a benefit to market their products solutions. Another partnership between corporate and government also happen with IBM, as they provide the sensor networks for gather the data about consumer trends and behavior. They also make a snatch with EDF and Veolia from France to build the eco-towns, with Panasonic to maximize their energy usages such as solar energy, lithium ion batteries, home management energy, and more efficient energy of air conditioning.

That's not all. Singapore has done to establish more of increasing their sustainability. They also invest a huge scale of money to build and funding the Research and Development section for many sectors, which reaches 800 million SGD on 2011 until 2012. Tag along with the R&D, they also give a post graduates scholarship and specialized courses to find talented person to help with their research of urban solution, and also a national challenge program

The results from Singapore efforts is they have this big solution to fix the country, and they exporting the solution to the countries in the world for their urban infrastructure techniques and the eco-cities program. The examples are Tianjin Eco-City and Singbridge, which develop eco-cities in Asia. One of its landmarks is Guangzhou Knowledge City. Singapore also becomes a number one destination for the mayor around the world to learn about how to develop and implement sustainable solutions for their city.

Chemicals and oil & gas sectors are Singapore's main economic pillars and the Development Board for Economy has been working tirelessly to spur growth and employment prospects. This article profiles some industry veterans for an in depth look inside the industry.

Mr. Keng Yang, a general manager for maintenance for Chevron Oronite, has an important task of ensuring top notch safety conditions at its company plant located in Jurong Island. Safety is top priority and workers are mandated to halt production under different circumstances. People are constantly watching out each other's safety by reminding each other to out on protection glasses or safety helmets. The work revolves around human lives and not just dealing with machines. He is responsible for overseeing 70 team members under maintenance and 150 contractors. Communication and interaction is part of every day's job. Mr Lim started in supply chain management after graduating from NUS and likes to go fishing during his free time. He rose to become the general manager in 2010 and is on the way to relocate to California for his overseas posting. He hopes to bring in fresh perspective and knowledge to contribute to the Singapore plant.

Mr. Julian is a VP for site operations for Croda International, a chemicals manufacturer. He oversees 5 production centers around Asia. His role centers on interaction with diverse team members. His hobby is sports where he enjoys tennis, badminton as well as golf. Mr Yeo graduated from NUS as well and rose up the ranks and currently is on heavy travelling schedule. His experience includes heading a new Jurong plant commissioning by starting out as a process engineer before being promoted as head for operations. He craves the challenge and complex decisions which entails from his role. His ambition used to become a doctor but he is satisfied with his current standing and career path.

Ms Justina Ibrahim is an unlikely corporate high flyer in the oil & gas industry, she has stamped her mark as an engineer who is independent and competent with the role of project manager for Cameron Singapore. She is the team leader for 12 different project managers whom are responsible for pitching equipment deals for oil extraction. It is a far cry from the vibrant electronics sector where it is much more dynamic and involves big equipment. Projects can take many years to materialize. She switched career path after getting a degree in management engineering. Things move really fast and she work hard day and night to ensure client's satisfaction. She rose from the ranks of planner and specialist. She relishes the challenge every day as well.

The future of chemicals, oil as well as gas sector is looking good. China and India has growing appetite for energy source. UN estimates that in 2030 we will consume 45% more energy. Thus exploration activities for oil & gas moved into the deeper oceans. More high tech equipment are needed and Singapore has taken advantage to be a manufacturing hub for specialized equipment. The sector grew 10% for every year since 2007 up till 2012.Singapore was made the regional HQ for many big global players. Halliburton Completion Toll is one prime example. Another company is Cameron International. The refining sector and petrochemical industry had grown by leaps and bounds too at the expansion at Jurong site.

About 100 companies have established footprints on the island with a refining capacity totaling 1.3 million worth of barrels every day, making Singapore ranked 4th in Asia in terms of refining capacity.Jurong island attracted in excess of $35 billion foreign investments and contributes about 30% in terms of manufacturing output for Singapore. The companies liked the business friendly environment in Singapore and skilled workforce that enable emerging technologies to be developed fast. Talent is important to drive further growth and productivity in this dynamic industry. Technologies go obsolete real fast and there is constant need for upgrades and knowledge update in order to operate a plant effectively while driving down costs and increasing output per hour. Singapore has many capable workers who are able to handle complex research projects and manufacturing facility. Singapore Government is always looking to attract talent by organizing new initiatives. A groundbreaking Chemical Process Center of Technology was launched in Jurong in 2004 to provide skilled training for engineering fresh graduates.

A Professorship programme for Petroleum Engineering will be launched in the coming year to equip engineers with petroleum engineering knowledge. NUS launched a subsea engineering programme as well to bolster R&D competencies for those in the subsea engineering field. Singapore will continue to invest in the promising sector. Opportunities are everywhere for interested engineers. Singapore can proudly claim to invent advanced products in the coming years while having a global presence and recognition from customer all over the world.

The real estate developers, taking a few steps further and constructing the Condominiums, to benefit the people as the prices for land are increasing day by day, so naturally people are intended to live in condominiums said the deputy CEO. Last year, as a part of the development program in Cambodia, the country launched retail units for sale. The property developers have started marketing in eight global markets. Singapore is the first to invest in these markets and added Hong Kong and now Cambodia also added last year.

The Bridge, joint venture is located in the center of the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh. The venture is of five storey platform where there can exist nearly 630 retail and approximately 2, 35,000 sq ft saleable area. The mall contains a supermarket and also a food plaza. There are different sized units; the retail units are smaller than that of the strata F&B units. The joint mixed development venture consists of more than 700 residential towers, where the maximum units are occupied. The estimated price of the retail units is approximately US$750-800 psf, with a starting price of approximately 90,000 to 1,00,000 US$, There is a price variation for the F&B units, it is nearly double the retail units, their starting average price is approximately 2,00,000 -2,50,000 US$

To attract the foreigners, the venture has shared some of the units to other countries. In this connection Oxley is going to allot one third of its retail and F&B ventures for Singapore. The Oxley company is going to charge a registration fee nearly 1,400 to 1,500 US$ at the time of launch. After the registration, the clients have to pay a down payment of 20% of the slab and sign on the sale or purchase deed. To facilitate the clients, the company is offering an installment payment. After the initial down payment, the client can relax for six months and later he has to pay 10% as second payment. After the second payment the client can take time for the remaining amount around a couple of years, and has to pay after the completion of the project that is going to be completed in 2018.

The Cambodian law states that foreigners are not supposed to buy land and they are not supposed to buy even the residential and commercial complex in the Cambodian units in the ground floor, to fulfill this, The Bridge allows the Cambodians in the ground floors and the top floors are allotted to the foreigners. The Bridge is providing another novelty to its clients that are the developer will manage the units on behalf of the owners. He will lease the units and controls them. This is the first time in Cambodia, this type of facility the investors are enjoying. This even further facilitates the investors by enjoying the higher rents. In this issue the company, Oxley is assuring the clients with 6% of the rental yield for a period of minimum five years. This deal has an extension of further five years. The executive Chairman of Oxley expresses that an extension in the rental strengthens the clients and lessen their fears, those who are having a different opinion that the rental malls are not properly managed. The organization, Oxley has opened a consulting unit to facilitate the clients. Suppose if any investor wants to dispose of his unit, the purchaser and the owner both have to sign on the agreement with the developer.

The Oxley future plan is to launch a third venture in Phonon Penh by the ending of this year.s In this third venture the developer is planning to develop a mixed units like residential and hotel units and the executive chairman also stated that his fourth venture is purely residential. The fourth project contains only condominiums and strata houses only. Let us wait and select the venture we prefer for.