Kuala lumpur - singapore

Wednesday, April 12^th 2017- Kuala Lumpur, Singapore

After a very short night for most of the participants of our excursion and a “friendly” wake up call at 5 am we had to say “Selamat Tinggal” Kuala Lumpur. Due to the expected “heavy traffic” during the rush hour in the morning, we had to leave the hotel already at 7 am to go on the 45-kilometer-long bus-ride to the International Airport of Malaysia’s capital city. Since traffic out of the city was running smoothly, the group was able to reach the airport in 50 minutes, so we had enough time for the Check-In procedures for flight SQ107 heading to Singapore and the subsequent customs clearance.

With a short delay of about 30 minutes the plane left Kuala Lumpur for a one-hour flight. Singapore’s International Airport “Changi” was reached at 10 minutes after 12 pm. After quick immigration and customs, a hired bus took our group to the “Hotel Concorde”, located on Orchard Road, one of the most famous shopping areas of Singapore. During the bus trip, we were already able to gather many impressions of the specialties of the Southeast Asian city with a size of about 720 square kilometers and 5.6 million citizens. In addition, our tour guide provided many explanations about the people and special practices in all social areas of the society. Our new hotel, located very close to the presidential palace was the ideal basis for all activities during our three-day stay.

The first official meeting on the insular state was scheduled at 4 pm at the headquarters of UBS Singapore. The building was just a short metro ride away, located in Raffle Square in the heart of the Central Business District.

Mr. Sutter, Director Client Advisor and responsible for the wealth management and relations with investors located in German-speaking countries was our host and welcomed us on level 50, about 250 meters above sea level.

Our meeting was divided into several sessions. After a short tour through the meeting-room area, which is taking up the entire 50^th level of the skyscraper with a breath-taking view of the harbor, Marina Bay and the city center the group came together in a prepared meeting room.

After the introduction of the business model applied by UBS Singapore, which calls itself “Gateway to Asia” we had time to talk also about the assets and the trading volume of about 285 billion US-Dollars, which makes the UBS the biggest investment bank in the city state. After this, we also had enough time to learn and discuss more about the economic situation and uniqueness of the city. Foreign investors are especially attracted due to the stable planning environment, supported by a political one party system. In addition, the city is famous for its quick adaption and changing cycles in order to realize also major projects in short term. As a consequence of the small amount of land and reclaimed land, real estate can only be lent by the state for 99 or 999 years, which is interesting information for foreign investors.

Some of us followed the advice of Mr. Sutter and tried the hawkers kitchen close by. Hawking is an old Asian way to sell goods and food on the streets. Prohibited by law, hawkers use central places to do so. As a result of that, there are many different types of food concentrated  in one place. So, everybody will find their favorite meal.

Our group finished the day by walking around the Central Business District and having a drink at 1 Altitude – Singapore’s highest rooftop bar with amazing views all over the city.

Thursday, April 13^th 2017

The schedule for day five of our excursion included two official appointments. In the morning, the group left the “Hotel Concorde” in the city-center at 9 am with a hired bus in order to go the “German Centre”, located about 15 kilometers in a westerly direction.

The “German Centre” Singapore is a company of the “Landesbank Baden-Württemberg” and a member of the global “German Centre” network. This network supports small and medium-sized German entities with their expansion into new markets and countries. Host of the meeting was Mrs. Ravens, managing partner of the division.

After a short welcome and introduction round, the group received a presentation of about 45 minutes, including facts and figures about the applied business model and the service catalogue for customers. At the moment, approximately 150 entities are hosted under the roof of the building. In addition, the office of the German Foreign Chamber for Commerce (AHK), with about 20 employees, is also located there.

The wide range of services includes a lot of offers and selections starting with the possibility to rent small spaces for desks or offices, the introduction of trading partners or the support with hosting a company event. After the presentation, we had a short visit to the office of AHK and a tour through the building, in which we were able to get a very good impression of the facilities and the partners. We finished the first meeting of the day around 12 pm.

The hired bus took the group back into the city center, where the second meeting of day five was scheduled at 3pm.

After a long lunch break, in which all participants were able to gather new energy from local specialties of Singapore, we visited Lazada Group, located in the AXA Tower.

After a short trip through the office facilities, in which only the managing partner and his deputy are able to enjoy the luxury of a closed office, we had our presentation in the biggest conference room, just the right size for our big group. Very impressive for many of us was the low noise level, since many people were sharing a very small office and taking care of the tasks and responsibilities.

Currently, 50% of the shares of the “Lazada Group” are owned by the Chinese e-Commerce platform “Alibaba”.

In contrast to many other e-Commerce platforms, “Lazada” generates only 10% of its turnover through its own trade. Within this business model, goods are purchased, bundled in company owned warehouses and distributed by company-employed drivers, who are mainly using  scooters to reach the customers. The payment is mostly done in cash when the customer receives the goods from the drivers, a necessary measure since online-banking or credit cards are not widespread, especially in the South East Asian countryside.