Surbana Jurong aims to 'export Singapore'

TOMOMI KIKUCHI, Nikkei Asian Review 6 Nov 15;

SINGAPORE -- State-owned infrastructure consultancy Surbana Jurong has a plan to become the world's top urban development company. Basically, it aims to build a bunch of "mini-Singapores" in emerging countries.

Jointly-owned by city-state's sovereign wealth fund Temasek Holdings and government agency JTC Corporation, Surbana Jurong envisions creating Singapore-like cities around the globe by exporting packages of infrastructure, including industrial parks and residential dwellings. In doing so, it would help lay foundations for replicating Singaporean economic development.

One seed of this strategy is the Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Park, or VSIP, in Hai Phong -- a flagship project between the two governments. It was planned and developed by Surbana Jurong on a huge lot across a river from the heart of the northern Vietnamese city. Opened in 2012, the park is currently home to printer and apparel factories among others, but the plan is to develop it into a "mini Singapore" complete with high-rise condominiums and shopping malls.

Machinery and greenery

Surbana Jurong was established earlier this year through a merger between Surbana International Consultants, a developer of public housing, and Jurong International, which had focused on designing industrial facilities and infrastructure. The former built more than 1 million housing units in Singapore, while the latter designed urban developments and industrial parks in more than 150 locations worldwide.

Now that they have pooled their expertise, the new entity is thinking big. Wong Heang Fine, the company's chief executive, said the Hai Phong project will eventually have industrial, residential, financial and other districts, all based on expertise accumulated over the 50 years since Singapore gained independence.

Hai Phong is an increasingly popular production base for foreign manufacturers thanks to its proximity to port infrastructure, but housing is in short supply as the population grows. To continue developing, the city needs to accommodate both the growing volume of companies and residents. Singapore faced a similar challenge in its early days.

For the VSIP project, Surbana Jurong plans to create a strip of forested area between the residences and factories. The idea is to allow industrialization to move ahead without compromising residents' quality of life.

Other plans are aimed at making the place as convenient as possible for foreign businesses. The shopping and financial districts are to be easily accessible from Hai Phong's existing urban core. To woo multinationals, the financial district is to feature luxury condos and a large convention center.

Surbana Jurong will develop housing according to the labor market trends from the industrial park. "We can plan the development of township and industrial areas together," said Wong. "For example, if the industry is a labor-intensive one like garments, we can build more one and two bedrooms, since many workers are likely to be single."

Singapore urban planning consultancy expands overseas investment
Reuters 10 Nov 15;

Surbana Jurong Private Ltd, a Singapore-based urban planning consultancy, said it had signed two deals valued at $69.2 million in total to increase its exposure outside the city-state and capitalise on growing urbanisation in emerging markets.

Surbana Jurong, one of Asia's largest consultancies for urbanisation and infrastructure developments, said it had agreed to take a 20 percent stake in CITICC (Africa) Holdings Ltd.

CITICC (Africa) is a $300 million platform set up by the World Bank's International Financial Company
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and China's CITIC Construction Co to develop affordable housing in Africa.

Emerging economies led by China and India have seen rapid urbanisation, giving opportunities for companies to provide planning and building services for projects such as business
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parks, residences and hospitals.

Surbana Jurong said it is aiming to grow its annual fee-based income to S$1 billion-to-S$1.5 billion over the next three to five years from about S$500 million ($352 million), currently.

Currently, 54 percent of the world's population lives in urban areas, and that is predicted to increase to 66 percent by 2050, with much of the growth in developing countries, U.N. figures show.

Global infrastructure spending will grow from an annual $4 trillion in 2012 to more than $9 trillion per year by 2025, according to consultancy PwC, while the Asia-Pacific market, will represent nearly 60 percent of that spending by 2025.

Separately, Surbana Jurong, jointly owned by state investor Temasek Holdings and state-owned industrial property developer and planner JTC Corp, decided to invest $9.25 million in FLUX Factory Inc, a San Francisco-based software firm dedicated to eco-friendly building design. ($1 = 1.4218 Singapore dollars) (Reporting by Rujun Shen and Aradhana Aravindan; Editing by Ryan Woo)