Dubai leads globally for greenfield FDI projects for 5th consecutive year

- Dubai secured a record 7% share of global greenfield foreign direct investment (FDI) projects in 2025

Dubai has reinforced its position as the world’s leading destination for greenfield FDI projects for the 5th consecutive year, according to data published by the Financial Times’ fDi Markets database.

In 2025, Dubai delivered one of its strongest inward FDI performances since 2015 with a total of 1,253 greenfield FDI projects announced, a 10.5% increase on 2024. According to the data, Dubai also secured a record 7% share of global greenfield FDI projects, the highest in Dubai's history.  

The results further reinforce the ambitions of the Dubai Economic Agenda (D33), to double the size of Dubai's economy by 2033 and consolidate its position as a leading global destination for business, investment, and innovation. Launched in 2023, the D33 agenda includes the launch of projects that will drive sustainable economic growth through innovative approaches and double GDP by 2033, making Dubai the fastest, safest and most connected city in the world.

HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, Deputy PM, Minister of Defence, and Chairman of The Executive Council of Dubai said: “Dubai’s sustained global leadership in attracting foreign direct investment reflects the confidence the world places in our economyal shifts into growth pathways, our institutions and our vision for the future. It is the outcome of a long-term strategy built on openness, connectivity, strategic partnerships and a commitment to creating the conditions for businesses to succeed. 

“We are proud of the trust that investors, entrepreneurs and innovators from around the world continue to place in Dubai. This confidence reflects the resilience of our economy, the strength of our fundamentals and our ability to constantly create new opportunities for growth.

“Dubai’s competitiveness is also built on our ability to anticipate change, adapt quickly and transform global shifts into growth pathways. As we strengthen our position as the preferred global destination for investment, we remain focused on creating long-term economic value and reinforcing Dubai’s role as a major player in the global economy. 

"Our ambition is not only to attract investment, but to create an environment where the world’s brightest talent and most ambitious businesses come together to build the industries and opportunities of tomorrow.” 

Strengthening its position as a preferred global base for multinational corporations, Dubai retained the No. 1 global ranking for headquarters greenfield FDI projects for the 4th consecutive year, reflecting sustained confidence in the emirate’s ability to support regional and international expansion. Dubai also maintained its global leadership in AI-related greenfield FDI projects for the fourth year running, reinforcing its position as a centre for innovation-led growth and advanced technologies.

Dubai further ranked No. 1 globally across several strategic clusters, including information and communications technology (ICT) and electronics, creative industries, professional services, life sciences, consumer goods, financial services, industrial equipment, and environmental technology. 

For the first time, Dubai ranked No. 1 globally in manufacturing FDI projects, marking a significant milestone in the city’s economic diversification journey and highlighting its growing role as an emerging cutting-edge manufacturing centre, directly aligned with the goals of the D33 Agenda. 

Dubai also secured the No. 1 global position in transportation and warehousing across projects, reflecting its continued strength as a global logistics and trade gateway. In addition, Dubai ranked first globally in several high-impact industries, including food and beverages, electronic components, healthcare, business machines and equipment, cleantech, metals and e-commerce. 

Notably, Dubai was the only destination city worldwide to attract more than 10 greenfield FDI projects across several of these sectors, meeting the global ranking threshold and demonstrating the breadth of its diversified economic base and its ability to sustain investment momentum across both established and future-focused industries.

Helal Saeed Almarri, Director General of the Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism (DET) said: “Dubai’s ability to maintain its global leadership in greenfield FDI attraction for the 5th consecutive year is a testament to the visionary leadership of HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, VP and PM of UAE and Ruler of Dubai and the continued confidence international investors place in the emirate. 

"While global markets may have navigated significant challenges over recent months, Dubai entered this period with quantifiable momentum, attracting record levels of capital. This is a clear reflection of the trust that investors and multinational corporations place in our future-ready ecosystem. 

“This performance underscores the strength of Dubai’s diversified economy, the depth of its public- private partnerships, and the efficacy of a well-defined forward-looking regulatory framework that continues to attract high-quality investment across priority sectors. These results further reinforce the ambitions of the Dubai Economic Agenda, D33, highlighting Dubai’s position as one of the world’s most resilient investment destinations.”

Beyond the headline rankings, 2025 saw broad-based growth across capital deployment and project activity. The city attracted US$8.83 B in greenfield FDI capital in 2025, according to the fDi Markets database. Greenfield FDI also supported the creation of 38,918 jobs in 2025, an 18.8% increase from 32,754 jobs in 2024. 

Performance during the year was also shaped by a mix of investment types, with continued momentum across greenfield projects, reinvestments, venture capital-backed activity, mergers and acquisitions, as well as strategic expansions. 

Dubai attracted investment across key business functions including business services; construction; retail; logistics, distribution and transportation; and manufacturing. This reflects investor confidence in Dubai’s ability to support diverse operational requirements, from regional headquarters and logistics hubs to advanced manufacturing and consumer-facing businesses. 

HE Hadi Badri, CEO of the Dubai Economic Development Corporation (DEDC), the economic development arm of DET said: “The scale and quality of FDI inflows in 2025 reflect sustained global confidence in Dubai’s long-term growth trajectory. The continued inflow of capital investment is further evidence that investors are deepening their operational presence rather than adopting short-term positioning strategies. 

"From headquarters and high-value manufacturing to AI, fintech, logistics, and creative industries, the diversity and quality of investment flows demonstrate Dubai’s ability to anticipate structural shifts in the global economy. Investors recognise that Dubai offers a unique combination of agile regulation, world-class digital infrastructure, and access to top-tier global talent. 

"As we continue to advance the goals of the Dubai Economic Agenda, D33, deal activity and expansion momentum remain strong, reinforcing our outlook for accelerating momentum in 2026 and beyond.”

Dubai FDI Monitor data confirmed continued confidence from a diverse mix of international source markets, reinforcing the emirate’s role as a globally connected investment hub. Source markets varied across capital flows and project activity, reflecting broad-based investor confidence from North America, Europe, Asia, and the GCC. India topped the list of top 10 investors, with China in 5th place and Singapore ranked 7th. 

Sectoral performance remained broad-based, with strong investment activity across business services, hotels and tourism, transportation and warehousing, consumer products, real estate, software and IT services, and financial services, demonstrating continued momentum across both traditional and future-economy sectors.

A recently-announced AED2.5 B economic incentive package reflects Dubai’s proactive approach to governance. Designed to ease financial pressures, enhance liquidity, and support business continuity across key sectors, the package includes fee deferrals across hospitality, trade, and licensing, extended customs grace periods, and streamlined residency permit processes to support global talent attraction and retention. 

NTUC LearningHub reveals perception gap on learning between leaders and employees

Source: NTUC LearningHub. Infographic on the leadership gap uncovered by recent research.

Leaders today are expected to thrive in a dynamic and digitally driven workplace, while cultivating human-centric capabilities and competencies, said NTUC LearningHub. In research conducted by the organisation, over four in five business leaders (11% "very well", 72% "quite well") believe they demonstrate emotional intelligence well, whereas only half of employees believe their leaders possess the skill (2% "very well", 48% "quite well").

According to employees, emotional intelligence (31%) is in fact the top skill they believe their leaders are lacking, followed by effective communication (30%), and people development (30%).

Similarly, the majority of business leaders are confident in their ability to lead effectively and achieve organisational goals (13% "very confident", 73% "quite confident"). However, only half of employees are equally confident in their leaders’ capabilities (3% "very confident", 52% "quite confident").

This disconnect between the two groups is evident in how most business leaders believe they understand their employees’ needs (17% "very well", 72% "quite well") and meet their evolving expectations (11% "very well", 73% "quite well"). Yet, less than half of the employees share the same sentiment, where 46% agree leaders understand their needs “very well” or “quite well”, and 45% agree leaders meet their evolving expectations “very well” or “quite well”.

These are some of the key findings from NTUC LearningHub’s Leadership and Coaching Report, which investigates the essential skills and competencies that future leaders must cultivate. The research also explored the role of coaching in driving individual and organisational growth across all levels and roles.

Based on a survey involving 150 business leaders and 300 full-time working professionals, the report also examines how organisations can develop and sustain strong leadership pipelines by leveraging people-centric approaches and emotional intelligence to build resilient, high-performing teams.

More than nine in ten business leaders (41% "very important", 51% "quite important"), as well as employees (32% "very important", 56% "quite important") view emotional intelligence as important in leadership.

Business leaders cited the ability to communicate more effectively (55%), make better decisions (55%), be more flexible and adaptable to changes (53%), build strong relationships with employees (51%), and motivate employees more effectively (50%) as the top reasons why they perceive emotional intelligence as important for leaders. While employees voiced similar sentiments, they also highlight the ability to better manage and resolve conflicts (65%) and react to challenges or highly pressurising situations calmly (58%) as other key reasons.

The perception divide also shows up in leadership styles where business leaders are most likely to apply democratic leadership (40%), followed by situational leadership (39%), and laissez-faire (hands-off) leadership (31%). Meanwhile, employees ranked situational leadership (44%) as their most preferred leadership style above democratic leadership (43%) and transformational leadership style (41%).

Business leaders have to contend with keeping their teams engaged and motivated (38%) as a consequence, managing relationships with employees (35%), and balancing performance with employee wellbeing (29%) in today’s workplace. This is also accompanied by other challenges cited such as developing future leaders (29%) and adapting to change and uncertainty (28%).

On the other hand, three in five business leaders (60%) acknowledge gaps in their leadership abilities and have identified areas for improvement. However, fewer than half of business leaders (44%) have participated in relevant training to enhance their leadership skills in the past year, with two in five (39%) rarely attending training. Lack of time (48%), high workload (47%), and lack of motivation (31%) are among the top challenges business leaders face when participating in leadership training programmes.

Paradoxically, roughly four in 10 business leaders (38%) express a desire for more frequent training to develop their leadership skills. Three in four business leaders (9% very effective, 67% quite effective) also believe that the leadership training they received was effective in developing their abilities.

Jeremy Ong, CEO, NTUC LearningHub said: “The apparent disconnect between leaders and employees highlights an urgent need for leadership to evolve in tandem with workforce expectations. As leadership expectations broaden beyond formal roles, organisations are looking to cultivate a culture where more employees feel empowered to take initiative, make decisions, and contribute to team direction.

"Technical skills alone are no longer enough today, as a more balanced and human-centric approach towards leadership has become a key competency that will enable leaders to adopt the right leadership approach, connect meaningfully with their team, sustain employee engagement, and ultimately drive organisational success. Therefore, it is important for leaders to continuously improve themselves through learning and development as a strategic imperative to bridge existing skills gaps and nurture future emotionally intelligent and visionary leaders.” Details

Download the Leadership and Coaching Report at www.ntuclearninghub.com/media/research-reports/2025/leadership-coaching

More information about the courses, training, and grants can be found at www.ntuclearninghub.com.

Successful organisations display collective ambition: Aon Hewitt

• All surveyed organisations said collective ambition was key to their growth trajectory. 
• Organisations with leaders who are united under a singular vision, purpose, and aspiration develop more effective succession pipelines.

A study* of Chief Human Resource Officers (CHROs) from more than 15 industries representing 1.1 million employees demonstrated that organisations who drive stellar growth have "collective ambition", according to the People Fuel Growth study by Aon Hewitt, the global talent, retirement, and health solutions business of Aon.

Collective ambition is fuelled by competitive, yet collaborative leadership and ensures achievement of common goals. The leadership team has a strong desire to be successful, but is also highly aware that that this only occurs when leaders are able to work jointly.

In order to achieve collective ambition, the Aon Hewitt People Fuel Growth study reinforces the belief that ambition in absence of a group is meaningless and the leadership team must have an understanding of growth and how to achieve it. The study found it essential that:

1. Leaders review the organisation's mission and growth plan regularly.

2. Hold meetings to discuss their growth plans at least once a year.

3. Have a regular cadence for their senior leadership meetings; most organisations surveyed meet on a monthly basis to ensure leaders work in unison to accomplish organisational goals.

4. Goals are tied to concrete measures. In high-growth organisations, these are usually crafted so that all employees understand how they contribute to and share in organisational success.

Na Boon Chong, Senior Client Partner, Aon Hewitt Singapore, said: "Collective ambition means that leaders are united under a singular vision, purpose, and aspiration. By uniting leadership around a common goal, supported by intentional alignment from a "people" standpoint and customer centricity that ensures relevance, it helps organisations to best leverage their talent and drive growth from the top down, be it at a firm or at a national level."

Interested?


Learn more about the study

Read a white paper on study findings

*The People Fuel Growth study sought to understand the impact people have on growth through interviews with CHROs of high-growth Fortune 1000 companies, representing 1.1 million employees across more than 15 industries. Aon Hewitt also analysed its proprietary data to identify differences between high and average growth firms. 

CEOs have to take charge of reskilling their workforces: Accenture

Source: Accenture website. The top skills required to stay relevant at work in the next five years include technical skills, adaptability and problem-solving capabilities.

A new report* by Accenture Strategy cautions that in a rapidly changing digital landscape, CEOs must lead the charge in reskilling their people to be relevant in the future and ready to adapt to change.

According to the report, Harnessing Revolution: Creating the Future Workforce, CEOs must put their people first and at the centre of change to create the future workforce.

The stakes are high for businesses, workers and society as a whole. Development of human skills such as leadership, critical thinking and creative skills, as well as emotional intelligence, would reduce job losses due to total automation considerably. The survey of 10,527 working people in ten countries, including Australia, India, Japan and Turkey, coupled with Accenture Strategy modelling show that if the rate at which workers build relevant skills is doubled, the share of jobs at risk of total automation would be reduced.

“Paradoxically, the truly human skills, from leadership to creativity, will remain highly relevant and winning organisations will strike the right balance — leveraging the best of technology to elevate, not eliminate their people,” said Ellyn Shook, Chief Leadership and Human Resources Officer, Accenture. “Not only are workers optimistic, but they understand they must learn new skills. Digital can accelerate learning by embedding training seamlessly into daily work — so learning becomes a way of life — helping workers and organisations remain relevant.”

Fully 84% of workers surveyed are optimistic about the impact of digital on their job. More than two-thirds think that technologies such as robots, data analytics and artificial intelligence will help them be more efficient (74%), learn new skills (73%) and improve the quality of their work (66%).

Eighty-seven percent of these working people expect parts of their job to be automated in the next five years, ranging from 93% of Millennials to 79% of baby boomers. Of those who expect automation, 80% anticipate more opportunities than challenges in how automation will impact their work experiences in the next five years.

Additional Accenture research shows that artificial intelligence alone has the potential to double the annual economic growth rates and boost labour productivity by up to 40% by 2035 in the 12 developed countries examined.

Additionally, the values of today’s workforce will require leaders to respond with a different range of rewards, benefits and support. According to modelling undertaken by Accenture Strategy and Gallup, non-financial factors, such as well-being, engagement, quality of life and status are equal, if not more important to workers than income and benefits.

“Creating the future workforce now is the responsibility of every CEO. Those leaders who make their people a strategic business priority and understand the urgency of this challenge will be the ones that make the greatest gains in growth and innovation,” said Mark Knickrehm, Group Chief Executive, Accenture Strategy.

To help leaders navigate and shape the future workforce, Accenture Strategy has the following recommendations:

· Accelerate reskilling: From top to bottom, invest in technical and more human skills involving creativity and judgment, taking advantage of the fact that 85% of workers are ready to invest their free time in the next six months to learn new skills.

Scale reskilling by using digital technology. This can include wearable technologies, such as smart glasses that provide technical advice and information as workers carry out tasks. It can also include intelligent software to personalise training that offers recommendations to support an individual’s lifelong learning needs.

· Redesign work to unlock human potential: Co-create role-based, gig-like employment opportunities to satisfy workers’ demands for more varied work and flexible arrangements. Develop platforms through which a range of resources and services can be offered to employees and freelancers alike in order to create a compelling community that keeps top talent loyal.

· Strengthen the talent pipeline from its source: Address industry-wide skills shortages by supporting longer term, collective solutions. These include public private partnerships designed to create a broad adoption of skills training. Work with the education sector to design curricula that develop relevant skills at the beginning of the talent supply chain.

*Accenture combined quantitative and qualitative research techniques in order to analyse how responsive and responsible leadership could help create the future workforce. The research programme is built on three pillars of a survey, econometric modelling and an index, complemented by secondary research and interviews with experts from universities, startups, large corporations and government organisations.

The online survey was conducted in the US, Brazil, UK, France, Germany, Australia, Italy, India, Japan and Turkey of 10,527 workers across skill levels and generations between November 26 and December 9, 2016.

Majority of women in Singapore say they are under-represented in leadership roles

Source: Robert Walters white paper. 

Empowering Women In The Workplace, a white paper* from specialist professional recruitment firm Robert Walters, has found that 75% of women surveyed in Singapore feel that they are inadequately represented in leadership positions. In contrast, 56% of male respondents in Singapore state that they think women have sufficient standing in business-leading roles.

One in five (21%) of the respondents in Singapore agreed that women made up more than 20% of leadership positions in their organisations. However, less than half (45%) believed that there are strong female leaders within their organisations that they can look up to as role models.

Further advocating the need for gender diversity in the workplace, a majority (79%) of women in Singapore cited the presence of a mentor or sponsor at the senior management level as the most helpful driver in empowering them to develop their careers.

Joanne Chua, Account Director of Robert Walters Southeast Asia, comments, “From our interactions with professionals of both genders and observations as market leaders, we noticed that more often, women tend to second-guess their capabilities compared to their male counterparts. This has in turn often limited their progression at the workplace. It is our desire to inspire more females to break out of their comfort zones, challenge the mindsets of society and in some cases, their own mindsets of the role of women in the workplace to fulfill their fullest potential in the workplace.”

Highlights from the survey:

 More than a third (37%) of females in Singapore think their current employer has clear and enforced policies on gender diversity, equality and inclusion 

 Just under half (49%) of women surveyed feel that their organisation is lacking in fair and equal representation of female business leaders 

 When asked to name the top three reasons why women are under-represented, 37% of all respondents in Singapore cited family pressures or commitments outside of work 

 Additionally, 32% believed it is due to a preference by management to promote men over women, and 30% attributed it to a workplace culture that does not actively foster diversity, inclusion and equality

Interested?

Browse the Empowering Women In The Workplace white paper (PDF)

*Empowering Women In The Workplace is based on a survey conducted in January 2016 to better understand existing perceptions of gender diversity across key markets in Asia Pacific. The survey gathered the views of over 4,400 clients and active job seekers across Australia, mainland China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. Additional interviews and research were collated to complement survey findings.

The top 10 brands in Singapore

The global polling and research firm YouGov has just published the 2016 Mid-Year Best Brand Ranking* for Singapore based on YouGov BrandIndex data. Singapore Airlines is ranked top with the highest buzz score in the first half of 2016, while WhatsApp and Apple iPhone are ranked second and third.

Singapore Airline scores much higher than the next-ranked WhatsApp, which practically ties with Apple iPhone in recognition and positive impressions. The other seven brands rank more closely with each other, all in the high twenties. Singapore Airlines was recently ranked by Jobstreet.com as one of the most coveted employers in Singapore.

Source: YouGov. The top 10 brands in Singapore.

Source: YouGov. The top buzz rankings and top buzz improvements in Singapore. 

When it comes to buzz*:

· E-commerce and m-commerce – Qoo10 is the highest ranked brand and Redmart is the top improver by buzz.

· Dining: quick service restaurants (QSR) & casual – McDonald’s is the highest ranked brand and EAT showed the biggest improvements.

· Financial institutions and services – DBS is highest-ranked brand and UBS improved the most.

· Insurance – NTUC Income is highest-ranked and Etiqa saw the most positive change. 

· Internet: other – Google is the highest ranked brand and Craigslist, the top improver by buzz in this category.

· Internet: social media – WhatsApp is the highest ranked brand and KakaoTalk is the top improver.

· Mobile devices – Apple iPhone is the highest-ranked and Blackberry made the most positive inroads.

· News – The Straits Times is highest-ranked and Stomp moved up the most. Both are owned by the same publisher.

· Retail: fashion – Uniqlo is the top brand by buzz, and Bershka gets the achievement award.

· Travel: airlines – Singapore Airlines is the leader, and Air Asia improved the most.

· Travel: hotels – Airbnb is the ranked highest brand and also the top improver by buzz in this category.

Interested?

See the detailed methodology, or to see the Best Brand Ranking in other countries and regions

Read the WorkSmart Asia blog posts about DBS' mobile-only bank in India and Blackberry's recent security offering

*YouGov's BrandIndex is a daily measure of brand perception among the public, tracking many brands across multiple sectors simultaneously. Twice a year, YouGov consolidates the data into the Best Brand Ranking across the globe. These 2016 Mid-Year Rankings compare BrandIndex Buzz scores for over 250 brands in Singapore, revealing the brands with the most positive noise in the first half of the year.

Buzz is one of the range of metrics that BrandIndex tracks, in which respondents are asked, “If you've heard anything about the brand in the last two weeks, through advertising, news or word of mouth, was it positive or negative?” Buzz scores can range from 100 to -100 and are compiled by subtracting negative feedback from positive. A zero score means equal positive and negative feedback.

Leaders can easily become laggards in new application economy

Lim May-Ann, MD, TRPC, presents the results of the CA Technologies Asia Pacific & Japan Application Economy Index 2016.

Singapore may be No. 1 in the Asia Pacific and Japan when it comes to the application economy today, but it could well fall to fourth in terms of future potential, according to the inaugural edition of its Asia Pacific & Japan (APJ) Application Economy Index (AEI) 2016, which identifies the readiness of 10 APJ markets to thrive in today's digital world. Singapore led the top half followed by Australia, South Korea, Japan and Hong Kong respectively, while Malaysia, mainland China, Thailand, India and Indonesia made up the rest of the ranks.

The results of the study - developed and commissioned by CA Technologies and carried out by research consulting firm TRPC, and unveiled at last month's CA Technologies APJ Media & Analysts Summit 2016 - give a snapshot of where Asia's economies are today in terms of how conducive their market environments are for application development and market entry.

“The Application Economy Index segments markets based on their ability to integrate, develop and benefit from application usage,” explained Lim May-Ann, MD, TRPC. “We found Singapore, Australia, South Korea, Japan and Hong Kong most ready to maximise opportunities provided by the application economy, placing them in the 'Disruptors' group. China and Malaysia form the 'Challengers' group in the middle, while Thailand, India and Indonesia make up the 'Mainstream' group that needs to focus on developing conditions for businesses to thrive in the application economy.”

However, a different picture emerges when the study examined future leaders of the application economy through the use of what the survey terms 'market potential accelerators' (MPA), an index that evaluates factors which have the ability to impact and accelerate market potential in the new application economy.

In our increasingly connected world, every business is really in the software business and needs to embrace digital transformation, CA Technologies said. The index evaluates three main pillars that are critical for a vibrant application economy:

Pillar 1, also known as government use and support of technology and innovation: To develop sound technology policies and promote innovation, governments themselves should understand and use software and applications.

Internet and mobile infrastructure, pillar 2: Without the necessary infrastructure and enabled access to technology, an application economy cannot fully develop. Basic connectivity and network backbones must be in place, along with an environment which supports business growth and transformation.

Business agility is the third pillar: The ability to move nimbly and quickly in driving – and capturing – market disruption. For this to be possible, countries need to have an environment conducive for entrepreneurship and new forms of commerce to happen.

Source: CA Technologies infographic. Singapore, Australia and Korea lead rankings, while China, India and Indonesia could well overtake if they capitalise on opportunities.

TRPC studied the number of smartphone users in a market, the number of people who use mobile Internet on a daily basis, the use of virtual social networks, the daily use of mobile applications, and the size of the youth demographic in the market, re-ranking the countries studied accordingly. Lim of TRPC noted that apps are now the window to the Internet for many Asian users, and not the URL, making apps more critical to success in the application economy. She recounted that consumers would tell her they do not use the Internet, but that they are actively using the Facebook app on their phones.

China, India and Indonesia were found to have the potential to leapfrog to the top three places if they capitalise on the opportunities before them. On the other hand, the earlier leaders – Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea, Australia and Japan, run the risk of falling behind if they do not act quickly to address the gaps in their markets.

According to CA Technologies Singapore’s drop in rankings in the MPA highlights how the pace of innovation must keep up with the rapid pace of disruption in today’s application economy. Enterprises must act fast to capture market share, and governments need to push ahead with policies to improve infrastructure ahead of demand.

“The arrival of the application economy has challenged the status quo,” said Kenneth Arredondo, President & GM, Asia Pacific & Japan, CA Technologies. “The pace of innovation must match the pace of disruption, and forward-looking, pro-active strategies for managing risks and capitalising on opportunities must be put in place if businesses are to succeed in the application economy.”

“In anticipation of the future marketplace, the best bet is still for enterprises to act fast to capture market share, and governments to improve the enabling infrastructure for businesses to develop and adapt quickly to changing market environments.”

TRPC's Lim agreed. "People are going to need to move very quickly, to capitalise on the opportunities that the application economy brings to them," she said. "The risks are there, the opportunities are there. The early mover advantage is very important. If you can overcome some of these indicators which we and CA Technologies have identified, if you can minimise the risks and capitalise on the opportunities then (the rankings) won't make sense next year."

Singapore’s ranking was boosted with its top placings for government use of technology, strength of intellectual property protection and innovation. The country’s ranking was also lifted by strong numbers for business agility, with lead scores in the time taken to set up a business, debit card penetration and mobile payments readiness. However, Singapore’s cybersecurity strength was an outlier where it ranked 6th, suggesting that this area requires more attention.

“Singapore’s leadership position is unsurprising, given its consistently high scores across all categories, especially in the government use and support of technology is especially strong,” said Nick Lim, VP, Asia South, CA Technologies. “While Singapore is in good stead to thrive in the application economy, dynamic socioeconomic conditions in the region will create unique opportunities in emerging markets, so businesses will find it more critical than ever to harness software to stay competitive and relevant in a fast changing world.”

When MPAs are taken into account, Singapore risks slipping to 4th place if it fails to address gaps in its market. Some of the challenges faced by Singapore include a mature mobile market with limited share for new applications, an ageing population and a small total size of smartphone users. However, opportunities exist for the country in the form of strong daily mobile Internet use, daily use of applications and use of virtual social networks.

Country studies

Singapore

Singapore is consistently strong across all categories, especially in pillar 1, top in IP protection, top in innovation parameters, and top in government use of technology.

Challenges include the mature state of mobile market, and relatively small population of smartphone users (4.8 million), but there are opportunities as reflected by:

• High statistics for daily mobile Internet use, app use, and use of virtual social networks
• Proactive government policies such as the Next Generation Nationwide Broadband Network
• Personal data privacy protection act 2012, and the Infocomm Media Masterplan 2025

Australia

Australia is consistently strong across all categories, especially in pillar 2. It is second in Internet penetration, third in average mobile connection speeds, and third in smartphone penetration.

Challenges include being 4th in IP protection, 5th in mobile payments readiness, and 8th in the ratio of youth population to overall population. Opportunities include leveraging on virtual social networks as the use of networks like Facebook is wide.

Mainland China

China had mostly mid-level scores for pillar 1: 7th in government use of technology, 5th in IP protection, 6th in innovation

Challenges include pillar 3, where China had the weakest scores. China scored 9th in terms of time taken to set up a business, 9th in strength of cybersecurity, and 4th in mobile payments readiness. Opportunities identified include the government 'Internet plus' strategy to drive economic growth through new technologies and services, and the more than 1 billion smartphone users in China; 93% of them access the mobile Internet daily, Lim of TRPC said.

Hong Kong

Hong Kong's forward-looking government policies drove strong scores. Hong Kong is second for government and the support of technology and innovation, 2nd in innovation and 3rd in IP protection.

The city's challenges include a relatively small population of smartphone users - scoring 9th, as well as a small youth demographic, where Hong Kong is also ranked 9th.

India

India had consistently low scores across all parameters with the exception of cybersecurity, where it scored third.

Its challenges include a unique mobile phone usage pattern due to infrastructural challenges and a complicated mobile tariff regime. For opportunities the country will have an estimated 236 million mobile Internet users by 2016. It will also have 427 million smartphone users in its marketplace. There is a sizeable proportion of youth in its market, as nearly two in 10 (18.1%) of its population is aged between 15 and 24.

Indonesia

Indonesia could leapfrog from No. 10 to No. 3 by leapfrogging straight into the mobile economy. For many Indonesians their first computer is going to be a mobile phone. The country had poor scores in most of the parameters, such as 10th in innovation, 10th in average mobile connection speeds, 10th in time taken to set up a business and 10th for mobile payments.

Challenges include more protection needed for innovation and ideas, higher debit/credit penetration and mobile payments readiness will be needed to encourage e-commerce. For opportunities Indonesia has an above-average score for the number of people who use mobile Internet and apps daily, as well as social network usage.

Japan

Japan enjoys strong IP protection (No. 2), but pillar 1 generally needs improvement. It has high pillar 2 scores, coming in 1st in Internet penetration, and second in average mobile connection speeds.

Challenges include low smartphone penetration at 8th, and not being well-versed in the use of apps (9th) nor social networking (8th). It also has the smallest youth demographic population in the region. Opportunities include excellent Internet connectivity, and the time taken to start a business is shorter than the regional average. Japan also has good business agility scores.

Malaysia

Malaysia scored in the midrange across parameters, but is first in strength of cybersecurity.

Challenges include the relatively small market of smartphone users (21 million) and the lowest number of people who use mobile Internet daily. Opportunities include an above average percentage of youth population between age of 15 and 24, standing it in good stead in the age of digital natives.

South Korea

South Korea had strong scores for pillar 2 - it is first in average mobile connection speed, first smartphone penetration, and third in Internet penetration.

Challenges include a below-average number of people who use mobile Internet on a daily basis (8th) and who use social networks (7th). Opportunities-wise, the government has been proactive in adjusting regulations which improve economic prospects of the application economy with initiatives such as the Cloud Computing Promotion act. It also has a fairly large user base of smartphone users at 42 million.

Thailand

Thailand had low scores for pillar 1, where it is 8th in terms of government use of technology, 8th in innovation, and 10th in IP protection. The country also had low scores for pillar 2, being 8th in Internet penetration, ninth for average mobile connection speeds, and 7th for smartphone penetration.

Challenges include work needed to improve IP protection and strength of cybersecurity. Opportunities, on the other hand, are plentiful. Thailand tabled 10 Digital Economy Bills, TRPC's Lim said, ranging from personal data protection and cybersecurity to electronic transactions and digital development. Thailand is also ranked 4th in daily use of apps and the degree of use of social networks.

"Winners and losers have yet to be determined," said Lim of TRPC. "Those who move quickly into the market, who can capture marketshare (will win). You want to move quickly into the market with the most number of users."

Interested?

Read more about CA’s APJ Application Economy Index 2016 (PDF)
View the infographic

Read the TechTrade Asia blog post about how to win in an application economy

Hashtag: #CAAPJSummit

*Methodology: The 10 parameters of the CA Technologies APJ Application Economy Index (AEI2016) and five MPAs are sourced from publicly-available indices. As indicators used had different units and scales, any indicator that did not use a 10-point scale was normalised to make the indicator values comparable, as well as to construct aggregate scores for each economy.

Unlock leadership potential with a new tool from Hogan Assessment Systems and Sirota

On July 30th, Dr Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, CEO of Hogan Assessment Systems, a pioneer of personality profiling and psychometric testing, will take the stage at the Oasia Hotel Singapore alongside Lewis Garrad, Managing Director Asia Pacific at Sirota, a performance consulting specialist to provide a sneak peek of a new, jointly-developed employee assessment model.

The Engaging Leader tool will be released in the Asia Pacific market in October 2015 to help companies and brands better unlock hidden leadership potential. 

“The issue of poor managers is something that has plagued Asian businesses for too long, and an end-to-end solution is necessary to fix this complex problem. While Hogan’s expertise lies in profiling individual managers and developing selection systems, Sirota surveys and assesses organisational climate to help encourage more effective leadership practices. Considering less than 60% of employees in Singapore feel their company is effectively managed and well-run, combining our expertise is a no-brainer to address the local leadership problem,” says Lewis Garrad, Managing Director, Sirota Asia Pacific.

PowerDot muscle stimulator arrives in Singapore

Leader Radio Technologies, a distributor of innovative communication and IT products in Asia Pacific, has launched what it says is the world’s first wearable connected muscle stimulator in Singapore.

The PowerDot wearable is tiny and can be worn under clothing.

Developed by Singapore company Smartmissimo Technologies, PowerDot uses electrical muscle stimulation (EMS), mimicking nerve impulses to engage muscles during a workout. The Bluetooth-ready wearable can be controlled from a smartphone, and promises to painlessly enhance stamina, endurance and muscle tone even during office hours.

Priced at S$239, the PowerDot can be used to repair and prepare the body for intensity workouts, say its designers. Alex Pisarev, founder of PowerDot says: “Muscle stimulators have been around for a while now but PowerDot is a huge game changer as it provides accessiblity and ease of use by tapping into the everyday resource of a smartphone.

"PowerDot isn’t a one-fit-all muscle stimulator but it offers training programmes that deliver custom power-packed workout routines to athletes and sports enthusiasts of any level. Whether it’s a speedy recovery for sprinters or resistance building for gymnists, athletes in various sports can take advantage of PowerDot to boost their sports performance and improve results.” 

PowerDot is Bluetooth-enabled and is controlled from an iOS or Android smartphone.

PowerDot is available at Challenger, Courts, Epicenter, Newstead Technologies and selected retailers in Singapore.

*Images from Leader Radio Technologies.

IDC Financial Insights picks top 50 mobile pioneers in APeJ

In early 2014, IDC Financial Insights published Mobilizing Financial Services in Asia/Pacific, a report detailing the most innovative and interesting mobility initiatives within financial services. The company has just released an infographic describing the findings. 

IDC Financial Insights notes that Australia, mainland China, Hong Kong, India, South Korea and Singapore are leading the mobile charge in the Asia Pacific excluding Japan region (APeJ). 

The company says the opportunity for mobile commerce is high, with growing adoption of mobile devices in Asia, and great interest in paying for goods and services via a mobile channel. Close to 10% of mobile Internet users in APeJ already make purchases through their mobile devices, for example.

Digital, the company says, has become the preferred customer channel for banking customers in Asia. 

A comparison of banking behaviour between 2010 and 2012 shows a clear rise in mobile transaction volumes over online equivalents in Malaysia and Korea, while a look at transactions in China and Thailand show that both mobile and Internet transaction volumes are expanding their share of the digital transaction mix over ATM transactions for the same period. Banks have been responding by ramping up their support for mobile channels, IDC has noted.

Finally, IDC Financial Insights has revealed the top 50 mobile pioneers in APeJ. These are companies which have adopted advanced mobile technologies like proximity payments, where bringing a mobile device near a payment terminal is enough to complete the transaction; remote payments, or payments which are not made in person; and mWallets, which are applications that allow users to store virtual cards, loyalty and promotional offers, and money in a single mobile app.

View the full list of 50 here.

*All images from the IDC Financial Insights "Asia's Top 50 Mobile Pioneers in Financial Services" infographic. View the full infographic here.