Govt tenders in FY 2008 projected to exceed $8b
By S. Ramesh, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 14 April 2008 1240 hrs

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SINGAPORE: The Finance Ministry has announced that the government will be calling S$8 billion worth of tenders this financial year.

The bulk of it or S$5.8 billion will go to building and construction projects which are proceeding as planned.

Projects that improve the flow of traffic at the central expressway (CTE) and those that go into the making of Gardens by the Bay are just some of the projects which tenders are being called for, according to the Finance Ministry statement.

Song Seng Wun, CEO & Regional Economist, CIMB-GK Research, said: "We have got probably this year around S$27 billion worth of contracts in the construction sector to be awarded, with the government accounting for about a quarter of that.

“At the end of the day, it will still be seen as to accommodating what the overall industry needs itself. Essentially, we see government spending on areas they need to spend rather than all things and sunder because everything has cost a lot more this year."

And costing the government S$1.2 billion are goods and services, including those that operate the automated toll system at the checkpoints.

Much attention is given to developing Info-Comm and Technology (ICT).

The Ministry said ICT projects are expected to be worth at least an additional S$1 billion.

More details of these will be revealed at an industry briefing by the Infocomm Development Authority (IDA) in May.

Also expected to remain strong this year is Singapore's job market. As a result, economists said the pressure on wages in Singapore will continue to remain high.

Mr Song added: "We talk about very strong demand for labour within the construction sector itself as many countries are embarking on many big projects. Within the services side we see a lot of domestic activities driven by a robust demand for leisure and hospitality and creative industry.

“We don't know when the effect of the slowdown of the external economy will affect the job market but certainly for this year, most sectors will see fairly strong demand for labour. Hence, wages are still facing upward pressure."

That's why economists believe there are still jobs being created in Singapore despite widespread fears of a US recession. - CNA/vm