Emirates NBD sees upturn in Dubai economy

Source: Emirates NBD. Emirates NBD Dubai Economy Tracker Index: Sector 

summary. Seasonally adjusted, 50 = no-change.

• April data highlights a sustained rebound in private sector output
• All three key sub-sectors record stronger new business growth than in March
• Employment numbers rise again, but at subdued pace in comparison to survey average

Dubai private sector companies indicated a sustained recovery in growth momentum from the survey-record low experienced in February. At 52.7 in April, up slightly from 52.5 in March, the seasonally adjusted Emirates NBD Dubai Economy Tracker Index has highlighted the fastest improvement in overall business conditions for Dubai since November 2015.

The headline index has now posted above the crucial 50.0 'no-change value' for two months in a row, but the latest reading was still weaker than the long-run survey average (55.1). All three key sub-sectors monitored by the survey recorded an improvement in business conditions during April, led by the wholesale and retail segment.

The Emirates NBD Dubai Economy Tracker Index is derived from individual diffusion indices which measure changes in output, new orders, employment, suppliers’ delivery times and stocks of purchased goods. A reading of below 50.0 indicates that the non-oil private sector economy is generally declining; above 50.0, that it is generally expanding. A reading of 50.0 signals no change.

The survey covers the Dubai non-oil private sector economy, with additional sector data published for construction; travel and tourism; and wholesale and retail. 

Khatija Haque, Head of MENA Research at Emirates NBD, said: “The improvement in the Dubai Economy Tracker in April is encouraging, particularly as it reflects faster new orders and output growth. The latest survey confirms our view that Dubai’s economy is growing in 2016, albeit at a slower rate than last year.”

Key findings:

Business activity and employment
A robust and accelerated expansion of business activity underpinned the latest upturn in operating conditions across the Dubai private sector. Moreover, the overall pace of output growth in April was the steepest since September 2015. A number of firms commented on stronger underlying client demand, alongside successful marketing and promotional strategies.

Despite a rebound in business activity, latest data signalled that job creation was relatively subdued across the private sector. The main exception was a solid rebound in employment growth among construction companies to its fastest for five months.

Incoming new work and business activity expectations
Incoming new work increased again among private sector companies in April and, moreover, the upturn in new business was the fastest since November 2015. Survey respondents noted that improved domestic market conditions, reduced uncertainty about the economic outlook and sustained price discounting strategies had all contributed to higher levels of client demand. Wholesale and retail firms noted the fastest upturn in new business, while solid growth was also recorded in the construction and travel and tourism sectors.

Dubai private sector companies are upbeat about their growth prospects for the year ahead. Travel and tourism was the most positive subsector monitored by the survey, followed by wholesale & retail. However, latest data indicated that overall business confidence eased since March and remained weaker than the average seen in 2015.

Input costs and average prices charged
April data signalled only a marginal rise in input prices across the private sector. However, this contrasted with broadly stable cost burdens in March and falling input prices earlier in 2016. At the same time, average prices charged by Dubai companies dropped for the fourth month running, led by travel and tourism. This was generally linked to competitive pricing strategies and associated efforts to stimulate spending among clients. 

Grand Mercure Singapore Roxy shares March, April dining promotions

Source: Grand Mercure Singapore Roxy. Braised beancurd, with salted egg in the background.

Grand Mercure Singapore Roxy is running a number of dining promotions for March and April 2016.

A Teochew porridge promotion, with side dishes conceived by Head Chef Victor Lee Appu, at Jia Wei Chinese Restaurant during the months of

Teochew porridge is a traditional staple for the Teochew people, originating from Eastern Guangdong in China. Unlike Cantonese congee, Singapore’s Teochew porridge is cooked without any broth and is served with a wide array of side dishes and condiments. These are usually cooked with minimal seasoning to retain the natural taste of the side dishes and complement the bland rice porridge.

Over 15 side dishes are prepared on order, including salted egg and braised beancurd. Free flow Teochew porridge and condiments are included. For a complete dining experience, the hotel recommends the Peking Duck set menu for either six or 10 persons, from S$298 and S$428 respectively.

Source: Grand Mercure Singapore Roxy. Peking duck set.

Grand Mercure Singapore Roxy is also featuring heritage Singaporean delights such as the Signature Laksa and Durian Paste at Feast@East Buffet Restaurant. Besides special dine-in rates for senior citizens and Pioneers, ladies enjoy discounted prices on Thursdays.

At breez bistro.bar, the promotional meal sets during March and April include grilled beef fillet mignon and pan-seared seabass.

“Wave” special seafood stew and nasi goreng with marinated chicken are also available at Wave Café during March and April. The stew is served along with herbed garlic toast and a touch of saffron aioli. An afternoon tea set is available at Wave Café daily from 2 to 6pm.

Interested?

Make reservations

Finetune marketing strategies with native mobile strategies for Asia-Pacific

The right marketing strategy can help technology companies engage buyers earlier and more effectively, says Sinead Woodley, Managing Director UK, April Six, a digital marketing agency.

"Technology has changed the possible. Use it to your advantage," she said, speaking in Singapore at the official launch of April Six in Asia Pacific.

She described EMEA-wide campaigns for VMware, "marketing to people who don't want to be marketed to", or IT practitioners. April Six consistently surpassed the pipeline targets given, delivering better than 1:20 ROI (1 US dollar invested resulting in 20 dollars of revenue) each year, she shared, despite the stakes being raised higher in years two and three.

Some of the success factors for the VMware campaigns, Woodley said, included using a blended inbound and outbound strategy*, a single go-to-market strategy based on a year even though budgets arrived quarterly, aligning the approach to the buyer journey, and marketing automation.

Brad Harris, Managing Director APAC, April Six, said that April Six plans to bring similar campaigns to the Asia Pacific region, localised for the audience. He explained that April Six will work with Splash Interactive and DWA to deliver on campaigns in the region. He also shared that the company plans to move into Shanghai in 2016, and to Jakarta and Bangalore in 2017.

Aryeh Sternberg, APAC Head of Intent Marketing, DWA, a marketing agency, shared a list of marketing tips during the event:

No. 10 was "know your audience", as the more you know, the more you can engage them, while No. 8 was the related "look" to really see what the target audience is doing. No. 5 was also related, being about content that fits the individual, rather than assuming "one size fits all". No. 2 boiled down to relevance, also related, while in No. 1 was meaning and value. "You need to deliver something that people want. Remember, it is not about you, it is about your audience," he stressed.

He also shared ways to improve marketing strategies:

Extend rich content
Sternberg noted that many companies stop creating a single piece of content without thinking of repurposing it. A webinar, for example, can be turned into a podcast, while the transcribed text can be shared on social media.



Consider more channels
Sternberg shared that for one campaign it was found that the target audience read four magazines in different verticals. The key is to contact them when and where they prefer.

Dynamic messaging
A given audience is not homogeneous, so messaging has to change depending on who it is directed at.

Support mobility, and video
Mobile web and app platforms are still underutilised, he said, while video is popular.

Use data in new ways
There is technology today that shows which part of an advertisement a person looks at most, for example.



Kuok Ming, CEO, Splash Interactive, a digital marketing agency, echoed Sternberg in saying that mobility and video are important in the "mobile-first" Asia Pacific (APAC) region. Nine of the top 25 most mobile countries are in this region, with 600 million in China alone. Quoting eMarketer figures, he said Indonesia will have 69.4 million smartphone users by 2017, while Japan will already have 61.2 million smartphone users by 2016.

"User behaviour, expectations and access to the Internet are governed by attributes of smartphones and mobile data services," he said.

Kuok also showed a screen capture of a ZTE phone with 4GB of RAM on sale on local e-commerce site Lazada for just S$60 to prove how low prices can go today."The cost of entry is going down," he explained.

Kuok said the logical conclusion is to go for mobile engagements, agreeing with Sternberg. "Mobile video is the next big thing," he said, urging the audience to consider "mobile-first" customers when 84 million of the 100 million Facebook users in India use mobile to access Facebook, and over 60% of the purchases made on China's Taobao and Tmall were from mobile. "E-commerce is going mobile."

Another tip, Kuok said, is to add WeChat to a marketing strategy. The app has 570 million active users daily. "Official accounts are an unobtrusive way to engage," he said.

Pitfalls, Kuok said, include thinking "desktop-first", assuming the desktop work can be tweaked for mobile later. Such strategies completely bypass unique features of mobile, including location-based services and face recognition from the phone camera. "A mobile version is not mobile-first," he emphasised. "Mobile friendly is not native."

Interested?

Read about VMware and April Six

*Outbound marketing refers to traditional marketing channels such as broadcast, print publications, direct mail, out of home advertising, and event sponsorships. Digital forms of these channels such as email blasts, banner ads, and pay-per-click ads are also considered outbound. Inbound marketing, on the other hand, provides content about a company through blogs, podcasts, a corporate video channel, e-books, e-newsletters, whitepapers, and search engine optimisation. SEO, physical products, social media marketing, and other forms of content marketing which serve to attract customers through the different stages of the purchase funnel.

Online hiring still slow in Singapore

Source: Monster infographic. Click on the image to view a larger version.

Despite a slight increase from March 2015, Singapore’s online recruitment is still in decline overall in April 2015, according to the latest Monster Employment Index (MEI) Singapore. The MEI, a gauge of online job posting activity, recorded an 8% decline this April, when compared with the same month in 2014.
However, this is an increase from March 2015, when a record 13% year-on-year decrease was recorded. “For the fourth month since January 2015, the Monster Employment Index Singapore saw annual declines again. However, the rate of decline slowed down between March and April 2015,” said Sanjay Modi, Managing Director, Monster.com (India, Middle East Southeast Asia and Hong Kong). 

Source: Monster.

“As well as an ongoing need for skilled education professionals, Singapore is seeing growing concern over issues related to cyber security, keeping the demand high for mid-level IT professionals in the technology sector. In addition to this, the healthcare sector is also seeing an increase in hiring activity, thanks to a demand for professionals engaged in research laboratory and medical related technical sales.” 

Both tables source: Monster.

Among all 14 industry sectors in the Index, the lowest growth was recorded in the consumer goods/fast moving consumer goods (FMCG), food & packaged food, home appliance, garments/textiles/leather, gems & jewellery industry and the government/public sector undertakings (PSU)/defence  industry, at -16% and -11% respectively.

Once again, the education and IT, telecom/ISP and business process outsourcing (BPO)/IT enabled services (ITES) industries performed the best, at 14% and 4% respectively.

Across the 12 occupational groups monitored by MEI, software, hardware, and telecom roles are experiencing the highest growth for April 2015, at 14% year-on-year. This is the only occupation group in positive figures, with the second highest growth role being real estate at -4% year-on-year.

Purchase/logistics/supply roles saw the lowest growth at -11%, followed by engineering/production and marketing & communications, both at -10%.

The Monster Employment Index Singapore is a monthly gauge of online job posting activity, based on a real-time review of millions of employer job opportunities culled from a large representative selection of career web sites and online job listings across Singapore. The Index does not reflect the trend of any one advertiser or source, but is an aggregate measure of the change in job listings across the industry.