Singbridge and Singapore

* how Singbridge is more than an investment subsidiary and how Singbridge bridges businesses between Singapore and China to develop the Chingapore Model and even more

What is Singbridge
Singbridge, a wholly owned subsidiary of Temasek Holdings, invests in, develops and manages integrated cities and sustainable solutions internationally which leverage on Singapore’s successful development experience. Formed in June 2009 (Temasek Holdings, 2010), Singbridge has key staff with extensive experience in large scale integrated projects in Singapore and overseas.
What is its mission
Singbridge’s strategic intent is to capitalize on the two global mega trends of massive urbanization and environmental improvement, especially in Asia, to create a new growth platform for Singapore. (Singbridge, 2013)
Why this mission (知“己”Knowing Itself)
With extensive study of the development trend of global cities and Singbridge’s portfolio, I believe that Singbridge is effectively practicing excellent strategic management decision. With the following Strength, Weakness, Opportunity and Threat (SWOT) analysis and dissection of the company’s mission statement, we can better understand how Singbridge can effectively capitalize on its expertise to create its Blue Ocean in urban development.
Strength:
1. A team of experts in urban planning and development with recognized experience. 2. Strong country brand capital enables Singbridge to sell its expertise and command higher market premium. 3. Singapore’s cordial relationship with developing countries, especially countries in Asia which shares similar needs and problems, facilitates Singbridge to outreach to foreign projects with government support. 4. Ability to invest in the projects that it works on assures partners with Singbridge’s dedication towards projects and provides exceptional competitive edge.
Weakness:
1. Less transparent organizational structure which deters possible partners to know more about the company by research.
Opportunity:
1. The pressing need of urbanization and development problems shared by developing countries in Asia, especially China, presents Singbridge with many potential large-scale projects to invest in and manage. 2. The increasing recognition of Singapore as a successful city state with sustainable urban planning and resilience over world problems provides Singbridge with consistent brand name to appreciate. 3. The investment that Singbridge holds in its projects in foreign territories enables Singbridge to generate more profit from the model that it builds and also provides Singapore local firms with better overseas market to venture in.
Threats:
1. Overseas engineering firms with expertise in specific engineering solutions, such as WSP Group, AMEC Engineering Firm may venture into Asia and secure similar development projects in competition with Singbridge. 2. Threat of loss of investment if overseas projects are not successful.
With SWOT analysis of Singbridge, we are able to appreciate some reasons of its mission and focus. Creating Blue Ocean with its expertise in the competently emerging Asian market allows Singbridge to allocate its resources effectively with better returns. Before discussing about the formulation of strategies, we analyze specifically the interconnection between strength, weakness, opportunity and threat as so to see how Singbridge is tapping on its strength to secure opportunities while working on its weakness to surpass competitors.

Why urbanization and environmental improvement
(百战不殆 Knowing the Battle)
Urbanization is taking place at unprecedented rate and cities are facing increasing pressure to ensure urban infrastructure is able to meet the current and future needs. (TAN, 2012) Many countries also face challenges tackling environmental problems. “Singbridge is uniquely positioned to offer our suite of expertise in both in-house and through our partners to capitalize on these opportunities” (TAN S. , 2012) Hence, Singbridge’s expertise ensures its ability to invest in projects of its strength.
Why Asia, especially China (知“彼”Knowing the Partners)
China, in the next 15 years, is expected to add 350 million urban dwellers, equivalent of the US population today. (Singbridge, 2013) Hence, there is a strong demand of Singbridge’s capabilities from China, especially with the friendly political relationship (KOR, 2012) between the two countries and the similarities shared in terms of population and political situations. The initial focus on China and Asian market reduces Singbridge’s risks in foreign investment due to recognizable understanding of political situations and equip Singbridge with numerous potential projects to work on. “They (Chinese officials) are looking at us not as the only way, but as one example. And they find a solution that is workable and politically acceptable in China, and they move forward.” (Prime Minister Lee, 2012)
Differentiation strategy (求变 Pursuing Changes)
The ability of Singbridge to offer high value-added and differentiated service with investment capability leads to the extraordinary credentials. Its unusually positive brand name contributes to its competitive advantages. Singbridge’s organisational culture to constantly innovate and improve also leads it to its expansion into broader markets, which provide both better returns and more platforms for different kinds of Singapore firms to compete internationally. Mr Lim Chee Onn, senior international adviser of Singbridge, emphasised the company is still working to see how it can revamp itself and innovate in the Suzhou Industrial Park project, which was conceived 20 years ago. (KWOK, 2011)
How investment risks are managed (求稳 Pursuing Stability)
After examining the dissection of Singbridge, we need to see how it works as an investment subsidiary. Singbridge consists of two branches which are Singbridge Holdings and Singbridge International. Singbridge Holdings is the asset-holding part of Singbridge which make investments in large-scale projects overseas. Singbridge International will source for and evaluate large-scale or complex projects before making recommendations to Singbridge Holdings for viable investments. With a proper professional branch set up to evaluate viability of projects, Singbridge can acquire better investment information and risk analysis.
Furthermore, dedication and commitment from all governments are secured in order to precede on to make the investment and cooperation decision. Both Guangzhou Knowledge City (GKC) project and Jilin Food Zone (JFZ) project received high attention from Chinese and Singapore governments as both sides’ top officials witnessed the signing of contracts. Commitment from governments is also achieved in the agreement, such as a bigger stake (60%) for China to work on the politically sensitive JFZ project. In this way, risks to Singbridge are effectively managed with the stability and ensured government support. Nonetheless, many key positions of the JFZ project will be filled by Singaporeans so that Singbridge can still effectively ensure that the project meets Singapore’s standards. (Ho, 2013)
Last but not least, Singbridge management participates in regular large-scale development discussion and sharing forum with leading contributors in different industries so as to update their conceptual and practical experiences. (Vestasia, 2013)
How Singbridge makes its success as an investment subsidiary
Singbridge invests in high value-added large-scale city development projects. The projects receive steady government support and huge interest in cooperation from both private and government sectors across the world. GKC has gained investment and development of many successful global companies. (Singbridge, 2013) Investment projects are attracting global government collaboration and participation as well, as shared by United Kingdom Deputy High Commissioner and Director of Trade & Investment, Ms. Judith Slater, in her address of opportunities for UK in Guangzhou Knowledge City. (UK GOV, 2013) At the beginning of the Jilin Food Zone, more than 10 projects have either commenced operations or started construction works within JFZ. Joint investment promotion efforts undertaken by both shareholders have been on-going. (Singbridge, 2013) Such consistent and outstanding performance of Singbridge has made its success remarkable, as addressed by Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean that monetisable services such as …Singbridge are a type of intellectual capital that generates export earnings for Singapore. (Hamzah, 2013)
How Singbridge is more than a subsidiary of an investment company
Singbridge projects always carry beneficial effects to Singapore’s survival and prosperity.
Jilin Food Zone (JFZ), located at one of the most productive agricultural regions in China, has achieved a foot-and-mouth disease free zone. Such integrated and sustainable food zone can also turn into another source of vegetables and livestock for Singapore. (CHUANG, 2012)
Beyond creating value from its investment projects, Singbridge is also devoted to extending business platforms for Singapore firms. Such dedication benefits Singapore as limited island resources and population provide confined growth potentials for Singapore firms. Hence, with Singbridge’s ability to co-invest and co-manage large-scale urbanisation projects, it also helps local businesses go beyond Singapore to tap on foreign resources. For example, Singbridge benefits from opportunities to cherry-pick projects in the JFZ with good risk-return tradeoffs. (CRACE NG, 2013) Guangzhou Knowledge City also provided many opportunities for Singapore firms to secure deals in China. (Singbridge, 2011)
Ideas to ponder as Singbridge expands its services 1. How does Singbridge ensure that it maintains its “monopoly” within its Blue Ocean? 2. Should Singbridge go global as it gains more and receives better recognition? 3. Does the mission statement benefit the company alone? How will Singbridge adjust its mission statement when competition grows from overseas?
Bibliography
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[ 1 ]. Temasek Holdings is an investment company owned by the government of Singapore.
[ 2 ]. Board of advisors and consultants will be introduced in the appendix.
[ 3 ]. Blue oceans denote all the industries not in existence today—the unknown market space, untainted by competition. Harvard Business Review
[ 4 ]. World problems are activities that have global impacts such as SARS in 2001, global financial crisis from 2008 and Swine influenza in 2009.
[ 5 ]. WSP Group plc is a British-based business providing management and consultancy services to the built and natural environment.
[ 6 ]. AMEC is a focused supplier of consultancy, engineering and project management services to its customers in the world's oil and gas, mining, clean energy, environment and infrastructure markets.
[ 7 ]. Guangzhou Knowledge City agreement was witnessed by Mr Goh Chok Tong, then Senior Minister of Singapore; Mr Wang Yang, then Party Secretary of Guangdong; Jilin Food Zone agreement was witnessed by Singapore Prime Minister Mr Lee Hsien Loong and then China Premier Mr Wen Jiabao.