Money Matters with Hongbin Jeong and Chua Tian Tian

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's shock announcement on Thursday (Jan 19) of her resignation has stunned the country and even her party. She said she “no longer has enough in the tank” to do the job, and would step down no later than early February. In The Straits Times’ The Big Story, Multimedia Correspondent Cheow Sue-Ann spoke with Correspondent Jonathan Pearlman for more on these developments. 

Ransomware attacks remain the number one cyber threat in the Asia Pacific, with groups adopting corporate structures and using zero-day vulnerabilities and supply-chain attacks to infect victims. On Tech Talk, Prime Time’s Timothy Go and Bharati Jagdish speak with Feixiang He, Adversary Intelligence Research Lead, Group-IB to find out his forecasts on the biggest threats we should be looking out for in 2023.

With Chinese New Year just round the corner, many of us may still be shopping for something to wear over the festive season.  But did you know that the world is currently seeing a shortage of cotton used to make our clothes, after extreme weather conditions wreaked havoc upon virtually all of the world’s largest suppliers? For instance, India saw heavy rains and pests last year dampening demand so much that it has to import cotton supplies. Brazil, which is the second largest cotton supplier in the world, also faced drought which led to a drop in output then.  But how are producers navigating those challenges and what’s next for cotton exporters? Where will prices of cotton move then?  On Market View, Prime Time’s finance presenter Chua Tian Tian posed these questions to Marcelo Duarte, Director of International Relations at the Brazilian Association of Cotton Producers (ABRAPA) and CEO of the Asia Brazil Agro Alliance.

To combat inflationary pressure, many people are looking at investment options. And some are raising a glass to wine investments. So from the bottle to the bank, Bharati Jagdish and Timothy Go speak with Jeremy Howard, Co-Founder, Cru World Wine on Prime Time's In the Spotlight to find out more about this alternative asset and how to position wine in your portfolio in 2023? Produced and edited by Anthea Ng (nganthea@sph.com.sg)

As we enter a new year, small and medium enterprises, as well as mid-sized companies, are looking at a challenging future with geopolitical tensions, hyperinflation and supply chain disruptions. Will 2023 break the curse? Prime Time's Timothy Go and Bharati Jagdish speak with Dr Rashimah Rajah, Lecturer of Management and Organisation at the National University of Singapore Business School to find out how finding the right talent can empower smaller firms. In the World Economic Forum’s report “Future Readiness of SMEs and Mid-sized Companies: A Year On”, co-lead author Dr Rajah advocates smaller firms to stand out in hiring by promoting their organisational values and use informality to their advantage. 

Consumers and businesses can now more easily spot companies that support better wages for lower-wage workers to buy goods and services from, by looking out for their Progressive Wage  Mark. The two-tier accreditation scheme was officially launched on Wednesday at an event held at Japanese apparel brand Uniqlo’s local flagship store at Orchard Central. Recommended by the Tripartite Workgroup on Lower-Wage Workers in August 2021, the mark is administered by the Singapore Business Federation on behalf of the three-way partnership between the Ministry of Manpower, National Trades Union Congress and Singapore National Employers Federation. In The Straits Times’ The Big Story, Multimedia Correspondent Cheow Sue-Ann spoke with Terence Ho, Associate Professor in Practice at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore to find out more. 

The Chinese economy and market is at the front and centre of our discussion today, after the country announced its GDP figures earlier in the week.  If you recall, Gross Domestic Product was up 3% last year. While the figure beat an earlier Bloomberg forecast of 2.7%, it was far lower than the 8.4% in 2021 and below the official 5% target.  But with China reopening its doors to international tourists and dialling back its strict zero-COVID strategy, to what extent can the country stage a strong recovery given the frailing property market? Meanwhile, the Chinese government has reportedly been taking up “golden shares” in units of Alibaba Group and Tencent Holdings, how would that affect the closely watched tech sector? On Market View, Prime Time's finance presenter Chua Tian Tian posed these questions to Nicholas Yeo, Head of China Equities, at abrdn.

Countries at U.N talks in Uruguay in December, discussed a future global plastics treaty which would cut pollution, with the hope of doing so entirely by 2040. Over in Singapore, we are also doing our part to reduce plastic usage. A new compostable hawker centre - a first in Singapore - to use fully 100% biodegradable and compostable packaging and zero plastics single use disposable boxes opened at Sembawang late last year. In the Spotlight on Prime Time, Bharati Jagdish and Timothy Go speak with Kelly Tan, Managing Director of iGreen, to find out more about the effort and roadmap towards zero plastic at our hawker centres. Produced and edited by Anthea Ng (nganthea@sph.com.sg)

A breakneck surge in private residential rents hammered Singapore’s tenants with increases of about 21% in the first nine months of 2022, and the pain looks set to continue this year. Despite the pace slowing, analysts predict that rents are set to rise by another 10-15% this year. In Powering Your Property, Prime Time's Timothy Go and Bharati Jagdish speak with Nicholas Mak, Head of Research and Consultancy, ERA Realty for his outlook for the private property sector here. 

We’ll put the focus on the state of the global economy today.  According to the International Monetary Fund, severe fragmentation of the global economy could reduce global economic output by up to 7%. But which will be the economies most affected by the change?  And with the World Economic Forum underway, to what extent could we expect the meeting to help policymakers navigate challenges in Europe? Closer to home, the Bank of Japan and Bank Indonesia are set to announce their rate decisions in the days ahead - but what can we expect and what will the central bank decision mean for the two economies? On Market View, Prime Time’s finance presenter Chua Tian Tian sat down with Dr Felix Brill, Chief Investment Officer at VP Bank for more.