The Knowledge to Decide

With an increased rating of overall quality of taxi services in Singapore up to 60.3% in 2015 from 52.4% in 2014, these findings appeared in the Land Transport Authority’s (LTA) third annual Taxi Customer Satisfaction Survey (TCSS) conducted by Spire Research and Consulting. The survey measures regular taxi commuters’ satisfaction with taxi services. It also aims to understand commuters’ expectations and identify areas for improvement. What are the areas for improvement? The findings of the survey were also published on LTA’s website. Spire’s survey spans across 1,200 regular taxi commuters (aged 15 years and above) interviewed between August to September 2015. Taxi commuters were questioned on eight key service attributes to include driver’s knowledge of routes, safety of taxi services, taxi stand accessibility, customer service, ease of taxi booking, ride comfort, waiting time and information on taxi services. According to the survey, safety continues to be a concern am

Spire Singapore’s association with the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) Corporate Community Day for eight consecutive years is a true commitment to corporate volunteerism, further showcased by the special mention of Spire on AmCham Singapore’s website. Spire Singapore continues to help beneficiaries aided by the Singapore Children’s Society, giving opportunities to at-risk children and their families to participate in confidence-building activities ranging from making paper plate crafts to ice-cream making sessions. https://www.spireresearch.com/newsroom/media/amcham-singapore-highlights-spires-contribution-to-corporate-community-day/

China emits about a third of global greenhouse gases. It is also home to 16 of the most polluted cities in the world. China’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth dropped from 7.7% in 2013 to 7.4% in 2014. Will China fulfill its quest for clean air and sustain its economy? Leon Perera, Chief Executive Officer of Spire Research and Consulting, shared his insights in China Daily – Asia Weekly. It is not hard to see why China is so keen to implement counter measures to deal with air pollution. Only 8 out of 74 major cities in 2014 met the prescribed health air quality criteria. Moreover, 20 million cars were sold in 2013 – making China the world’s largest car market and adding to its toxic emission woes. Perera noted that the causes of pollution include rapid urbanization and industrialization. Furthermore, the nation burns coal on a large scale – an average of 2 million tons is consumed yearly to meet growing energy demand. The government’s five-year action plan will monitor

With historic Myanmar elections ushering a new era of democratic rule, will foreign investors become bullish on the country? Leon Perera, Chief Executive Officer of Spire Research and Consulting shared his insights in The Business Times – Views from the Top section on what Myanmar’s election results signify for investors. The end of military rule after five decades marks a progressive step for Myanmar as a nation. Many foreign investors who had held back their investments due to the uncertainty prior to the election will now review their stance in light of the NLD’s victory at the polls. Perera opined that firms should now move decisively. The new government is bound to go into overdrive to attract investors but the degree of incentives they offer may decline as Myanmar’s Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) stock increases. Nonetheless, firms should space out investments to hedge against political risk. Moreover, such investment should be used to interact with the new governm

The Korean robotics industry grew by 60% a year between 2005 and 2011. Korea has a strong position in industrial robots. Now, the government’s focus should now be on developing service robots to sustain growth. Spire Research and Consulting shared its insights, published on the Business Korea news portal. Korea’s industrial robot sector is larger than any country’s, except for Japan, China and the U.S. However, the service robot sector is emerging as a new growth hotbed, thanks to the accelerated use of artificial intelligence. However, Korea does not have any companies that specialize in the development of service robots. It will take time to further develop Korea’s service robotics technology which is where the government and Korean enterprises need to step in and focus so as to claim early global leadership. https://www.spireresearch.com/newsroom/media/korea-needs-to-focus-on-developing-service-robots/

Malaysian telco edotco’s launch in Bangladesh underlines its seriousness in becoming a regional leader in telecom infrastructure. Spire collaborated on a major Customer Satisfaction Survey which found that edotco Bangladesh was indeed among the top preferred local infrastructure providers. The findings of the survey were also highlighted on TowerXchange’s website. The launch of edotco Bangladesh underline’s edotco’s interest in Bangladesh’s rapidly growing telecommunication market. The launch has involved partnerships with local telecom operators, in line with the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission’s (BTRC) infrastructure sharing agreement. Spire’s survey covered edotco’s customer base which consists of Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) and Non-MNOs. Consumers’ were questioned on perceptions of the quality of services and network availability, as well as maintenance of non-telecom equipment such as batteries, towers, cooling systems and electricity transmiss

In 2014, the total number of outbound trips organized for Chinese tourists rose to 114 million, overtaking the U.S. as the world’s largest outbound market. Do-It-Yourself (DIY) trips have become popular among Chinese tourists. Most are keen on traveling to East Asian destinations. Although expenditure on skin care products is the highest, preference for Japanese electronics is not far behind. Tourists also prefer online platforms for their airline and hotel bookings. However, frequent fliers complain of language barrier, harsh weather conditions and lengthy Visa procedures. These are the findings from a survey conducted by strategic market research consultancy Spire Research and Consulting in May 2015. Spire’s survey of 100 tourists from Eastern China (across Shanghai, Zhejiang, and Jiangsu) – the most developed area in China with booming DIY travel – concentrated on preferred tourist destinations, shopping and expenditure patterns, DIY travel trends as well as challenges encount

With e-commerce set for steady growth in Singapore, e-shoppers may have to shell out more to pay for taxes on goods ordered from overseas sites. Will online shopping become expensive if Singapore adopts recommendations by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)? Spire Research and Consulting shared its insights, published on Channel News Asia’s news portal. The retail sector continues to contribute a major chunk to Singapore’s economy. However e-commerce – dominated by overseas merchants – is on the rise. This eventually leads to more money outflow along with tax revenue loss and puts local businesses at a competitive disadvantage. Spire highlighted the fact that revenue from e-commerce amounted to SGD4.5 billion in 2013, where 55% consisted of cross-border transactions. This is a tax impact of close to SGD 200 million in a year. Experts agreed that overseas online retailers are not taxed on income generated from Singapore consumers, whereas

As Southeast-Asia’s leading car-manufacturing exporter, Thailand is all set to increase its production of cars and light commercial vehicles from 1.9 million in 2014 to 3 million by 2024. Despite that, domestic sales remain low due to tighter credit and weak purchasing power. Will Thailand’s auto sector still maintain its competitive edge? Japnit Singh, Senior Director at Spire Research and Consulting, shared his insights in China Daily – Asia Weekly. Despite frequent political unrest, Thailand is home to 18 of the biggest names in global car manufacturing. This has enabled Thailand to establish a solid car ecosystem and sustained momentum for the sector’s growth. Singh pointed out that this network of global brands is strengthened by a network of local Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SME’s) coupled with abundant supply of skilled labor force and favorable excise policies. Singh noted that exports will help counter low domestic sales which occurred primarily due to

In mid-2015, Spire Research and Consulting collaborated with global education service provider Pearson for the third time, to conduct a survey of 5,387 teachers in schools and higher education institutes across 527 cities and towns in India. Through this survey, teachers voiced their opinions on the employability of Indian students and shared their suggestions to improve the situation. The Pearson-Spire survey revealed that, in the view of teachers, nearly 57% of students are educated but unfit for employment. Such unemployable students are found to be the highest in Haryana at 67% and the lowest in Uttar Pradesh at 49%. Teachers felt that the solution lay in increasing collaboration between educational institutions, in particular for course restructuring (75%) as well as merit-based internships (48%) for students. Teachers also highlighted the need for industry-based training (44%). Approximately 66% of the respondents felt that technology adoption with inclusion of s

Singapore celebrated its golden jubilee as one of the world’s developed economies. Following the death of founding father Lee Kuan Yew and the current global economic headwinds, can economic momentum be maintained? Japnit Singh, Senior Director, Singapore and India, of Spire Research and Consulting shared his insights in China Daily – Asia Weekly. Singapore has successfully built a strong foundation for its economy with human development indicators such as education, life expectancy and per capita income on a positive high. Singh cautioned that the nation needs to focus in order to take bold and productive political decisions without becoming complacent. Moreover, it would be interesting to see if the next generation of political leaders would take difficult decisions with the same firmness and transparency as the founding fathers have done in the past. Singapore’s GINI coefficient – calculated as the ratio of income of the top 20% of population with the bottom 20% –