The Knowledge to Decide

The FIFA World Cup 2018 is widely seen as one of the best World Cups in recent memory, with many surprises and goals aplenty. One talking point was the role of teamwork as opposed to just superstar talent. What lessons can businesses learn from the beautiful game? Leon Perera, CEO of Spire Research and Consulting, shared his thoughts in The Business Times – Views from the Top section on 23 July 2018. As World Cup fever draws to an end, the game lived up to its hype with breath-taking goals and outstanding performances. Perera highlighted the role of 'team effort' over mere individual talent, which was evident in the early failure of teams with world-class superstars like Argentina and Portugal. Perera also pointed out the importance of investing in new talent pipeline development, which paid rich dividends for France, the winning team and also one of the youngest teams in the World Cup. The game also highlighted the role of risk-taking. A relentless approach t

As Singapore turns 52 amidst global and domestic uncertainties, how should it evolve its global brand image? Leon Perera, CEO of Spire Research and Consulting shared his insights in The Business Times – Views from the Top section on 7 August 2017 on the future trajectory of the Singapore brand. Singapore’s brand is synonymous with efficiency, anti-corruption along with an effective civil service. These strengths should be maintained. Perera opined, however, that Singapore needs to develop its global brand to become associated with the opposite category of strengths too – those associated with entrepreneurship, freedom of expression and creativity. In an age of artificial intelligence and perpetual economic disruption, the Singapore of the future will need to groom innovators, knowledge-seekers and artists. https://www.spireresearch.com/newsroom/media/singapore-turns-52-what-next-for-the-national-brand/

With the global Halal cosmetics market expected to reach USD55 billion in 2017, Spire Research and Consulting shared its views on the outlook for this category in an article published in Techno Business Insight. As the global Muslim population reaches 1.6 billion people, awareness of Halal cosmetics has surged. Halal cosmetics are not permitted to contain any animal blood, pigs or alcohol content. The entire supply chain, production, packaging as well as distribution process needs to comply with these rules to be certified as Halal. The rise of e-commerce has pushed the demand for Halal cosmetic products even further. https://www.spireresearch.com/newsroom/media/global-halal-cosmetics-market-continues-to-prosper/

After 20 years of becoming an independent judiciary, does Hong Kong continue to remain a financial and business hub? Will this impact businesses in Singapore? Leon Perera, CEO of Spire Research and Consulting shared his insights in The Business Times – Views from the Top section on 10 July 2017 on Hong Kong’s economic climate and its impact on businesses in Singapore. Hong Kong continues to attract investors due to many factors such as a high- quality civil service, economic linkages to China’s Pearl River Delta economy as well as geographic proximity to the economic giants of Korea, Japan and China. Perera opined that despite economic and political uncertainties as well as what some perceive as political encroachment from Beijing, Hong Kong will remain an important business hub for the foreseeable future. Hong Kong both complements and competes with Singapore. Many multinational corporations (MNCs) use both cities as Asia-Pacific regional headquarters (RHQs). Shanghai

With a USD450 million loan from World Bank, the Indonesian government’s efforts to provide more affordable housing for low-income families has received a big boost. Spire Research and Consulting supported the feasibility study for this World Bank program, working with Indonesia’s Ministry of Public Works and Housing (MENPUPERA). Spire helped execute a product concept test for the program to build affordable housing, working with Deloitte Indonesia. This was done via Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) across 4 cities. The findings revealed that Indonesia faces substantial demand for one million new housing units annually. Moreover, 29 million people (out of 250 million) of Indonesia’s urban population still live in slums. A portion of the World Bank’s loan will go to support the government’s housing assistance program (BSPS) and community-based housing development program (P2BPK) to target low-income homeowners. At the same time, Indonesia also offers the FLPP scheme – a

How can Singapore become more eco-friendly? Leon Perera, CEO of Spire Research and Consulting, shared his insights in The Business Times – Views from the Top section on 24 April 2017. Perera commented that to increase the public collection of recyclables, there should be better education and more frequent collection from recycling bins in housing estates. Perera also opined that measures should be taken to tackle food waste in Singapore’s hawker centers. The government also needs to work together with business chambers and retailers to encourage the purchase of products which are produced in a sustainable manner. Moreover, businesses need to think whether the supplies they purchase are made in a sustainable manner and not focus solely on reducing expenditure for paper, electricity and other supplies. https://www.spireresearch.com/newsroom/events/increase-collection-of-recyclables-for-a-greener-singapore/

The establishment of ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) in 2015 was a major milestone in the region’s economic integration. With a GDP of USD2.6 trillion and 600 million people, the AEC is Asia’s third largest economy and the seventh largest in the world. What is the AEC score card thus far? Leon Perera, Chief Executive Officer of Spire Research and Consulting, shared his insights in China Daily – Asia Weekly. AEC’s Blueprint 2025 envisions in achieving a highly integrated and competitive regional economy with enhanced connectivity to improve market access for ASEAN companies to sell goods and services. However, the past year has seen missed opportunities to accelerate progress for cross-border investment between ASEAN countries, speeding up the harmonization progress of non-tariff barriers as well as integrating a competition policy across ASEAN. Nevertheless, the AEC is making some progress. In time, it is well-placed to improve market access and provide the ASEAN groupin

Britain still attracts substantial investment from Asia. Many Asian firms have established European Head Quarters in the country. How hard will Brexit hit Asian markets? Leon Perera, Chief Executive Officer of Spire Research and Consulting, shared his insights in China Daily – Asia Weekly. Brexit will impact companies from Asia with operations in the UK, since they will no longer benefit from any of the EU’s Free Trade Agreement’s (FTA) with non-EU countries. Britain will need to replace these with bilateral FTAs – and fast. Perera noted that beyond the short-term effects on foreign exchange markets and global capital, the effect will be to depress the long-term outlook for the UK. Having said that, Brexit may induce portfolio managers to divert funds to Asia. This could strengthen Asian asset prices and currencies. What remains to be seen is if any city can replace London as the financial center of the EU. https://www.spireresearch.com/newsroom/media/how-will-br

Halal food is estimated to be a USD415 billion global market. Leon Perera, CEO of Spire Research and Consulting shared his views with news portal Salaam Gateway on the factors that will continue to drive this growth in 2017. The global market for halal-certified food in 2015 was estimated at USD415 billion in the State of the Global Islamic Economy Report 2016/17 by Thomson Reuters and Dinar Standard. There is a growing demand for Shariah-compliant food products across the entire value chain, including storage and transportation. Perera remarked that this being driven by a growing Muslim middle class, rising Muslim tourism and aggressive Halal food export promotion programs by some countries. Perera added that Spire was seeing a trend of government agencies seeking to promote tourism and the Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Exhibitions (MICE) sector from Muslim majority countries by stimulating their domestic Halal food-service sector. https://www.spireres

5 December 2016 The Business Times – Views from the Top Donald Trump’s victory in the U.S. will impact Asia massively As the year 2016 draws to an end, there have been many upsets and surprises. Leon Perera, CEO of Spire Research and Consulting shared his insights in The Business Times – Views from the Top section on 5 December 2016 on the impact which Donald Trump’s victory will have on Asia. Donald Trump’s victory in the U.S. elections presages a change in direction for US foreign and economic policy but in ways that are not yet completely predictable. Perera opined that President Trump is expected to curb America’s economic and military engagement with Asia. However, his commitment to improve expenditure for domestic infrastructure may contribute a growth boost to the US and global economy. His ability to push through his spending plans is plausible as Republicans control both houses of Congress. Nonetheless, a volatile and cautious outlook is expected fo

Official Coverage on The Times of India website Business World (2 September 2016   The Hindu, Business Line (2 September 2016) Business Standard (3 September 2016)   The Times of India (4 September 2016) Business Wire India (7 September 2016) Student engagement only 55% in active learning, say Indian teachers In mid-2016,   Spire Research and Consulting   collaborated with global education service provider Pearson for the fourth consecutive time, to conduct a survey of 6,494 teachers from higher education institutes and schools across 546 cities and towns in India (serving around 18.9 lakh students). The survey revealed the opinions of teachers on Indian students’ level of engagement in active learning and gave recommendations on improvements. The Pearson-Spire survey revealed that, in the view of teachers, close to 55% of students are involved in active learning. These (percentage of) students are found to be the highest in Telangana at 63% and the lowest in Haryan

400 million Chinese consumers make online purchases and China’s e-commerce market is set to reach USD1.57 trillion by 2018, making it the world’s largest. As smartphone penetration continues to surge in Asia, online retail is evolving. Will mobile commerce become the dominant mode for online purchases in Asia? Japnit Singh, Senior Director at Spire Research and Consulting, shared his insights in China Daily – Asia Weekly. China’s e-commerce retail sales in 2015 increased by 42.1% to reach USD672 billion. This is equivalent to over 40% of global e-commerce retail sales. As the online retail experience continues to evolve, more purchases are made using smartphones. Growth factors responsible for this e-commerce boom include the rise in demand for imported products due to rising incomes, new online platforms and initiatives by the government. Cross-border consumer e-commerce added up to about USD40 billion (in 2015) – more than 6% of China’s consumer e-commerce in total.

The Spire Research and Consulting Group is proud to announce its merger with   Yamada Business Consulting Co., Ltd.   or YBC – one of the five largest management consulting firms in Japan and a publicly listed firm on JASDAQ, the second board of the Tokyo Stock Exchange. YBC is part of the Yamada Consulting group, which has over 1,200 staff across 12 offices in Japan. With this merger, YBC will use Spire as its global brand outside of Japan. On 15 April 2016, YBC acquired an 80 per cent stake in Spire Research and Consulting Pte Ltd, the Singapore parent company for the Spire Research and Consulting group of companies. Leon Perera, the co-founder of Spire, will continue to serve as the CEO of the group, retaining a 20 per cent stake. Equiteq has been the exclusive financial adviser to Spire in the completion of this transaction. The merger makes Spire part of a much larger and publicly listed corporate group, which is expected to create better access to new consulting solutio

With ASEAN rail infrastructure expenditure projected at USD8 to10 trillion from 2010 to 2020, lack of funding could put the brakes on growth. Despite an ASEAN railway development policy – albeit a non-formal agreement – member states are under no obligation to comply and not all countries have financial capacity to pay. Is there an alternative for funding of stalled multi-billion projects? Leon Perera, Chief Executive Officer of Spire Research and Consulting, shared his insights in China Daily – Asia Weekly. Inadequate funding of rail projects at the regional level mean regional connectivity is yet to be established. Projects such as the construction of the planned high-speed Singapore to Kuala Lumpur rail line is yet to begin mainly due to negotiations on cost sharing. At the same time, China’s USD9.7 billion rail agreement with Thai Government (in December 2015) and an USD5.5 billion deal with Indonesian state-owned companies (in October 2015) are among many that have b