The Afternoon Update with Lynlee Foo

Holiday season has kicked into full swing as we wind down the year. While Singaporeans are known for our love of international vacations and significant travel spending, many travellers still fall into common money traps; from paying excessive exchange rates at airports to selecting the wrong currency conversion options abroad.  Mike Truong, Product Director of APAC Regional Expansion at Wise, shares how you can make your money work harder this holiday season, including essential tips to avoid costly mistakes, make smarter payment choices, and manage your money effectively on your travels.

Industrialisation and rapid urbanisation across Asia-Pacific, particularly in countries like China and India, are fuelling a surge in demand for elevators and escalators in malls, shopping complexes, and residential buildings. As the market evolves, key innovations such as enhanced safety mechanisms, predictive maintenance, and energy-efficient designs are becoming industry standards. Edward Loy, Managing Director for Southeast Asia at KONE, shares some of the trends that will reshape the elevator and escalator market into the future. He discusses the concept of people flow and the way it improves productivity and profitability, and how KONE is leveraging technology to meet the growing urban infrastructure demands across the region.

Digital forgeries surged by 244% in 2024, with deepfake attacks occurring every five minutes, according to a new report by Entrust, a global leader in identity-centric security solutions. The report which shows an increasing level of sophistication when it comes to cybercriminal methods found that the financial sector was the hardest hit. What can organisations do to combat challenges in AI-driven fraud? Simon Horswell, Senior Fraud Specialist at Entrust sheds light on the latest advancements in the digital identity solutions space, and why a layered approach to security with multiple defences might be the best way to guard against digital forgeries.

Market intelligence shows that the Asia-Pacific media and entertainment market, valued at $1.28 trillion in 2024 and projected to reach $1.62 trillion by 2029, is a key region for global content consumption and production. Responding to industry demand, UK-based content financing firm Goldfinch is set to open its Singapore office, marking its significant expansion into Asia. Justin Deimen, Managing Partner at Goldfinch Asia and Executive Director of the Intercultural Theatre Institute, shares more about successful financing models in the West and how Goldfinch Asia’s innovative credit-driven funding model will spur more opportunities for film and TV projects in this region. 

After years of subdued performance, Malaysia’s stock market is experiencing a resurgence, with the KLCI index climbing nearly 10% over the past year, fuelled by strong economic growth and foreign investment from U.S. tech giants. In response to this momentum, CGS International Securities recently launched UP, the first trading platform in the region that allows users to invest in fractional shares of stocks listed on Bursa Malaysia. Regulated under Singapore rules, the platform is targeted at new and young investors, and is available via an app that can be downloaded on Google Play and Apple’s app store. Elgin Ting, Group Head of Strategic Partnerships at CGS International, shares his views on Malaysia’s economic upswing, the growing appeal of Bursa Malaysia, and more about the new platform that is designed to democratise access to capital markets.

Coinbase, one of the largest centralised crypto exchanges globally, is shaping the future of blockchain innovation. It is making efforts to create best-in-class user experiences that it hopes will do away with the complexities associated with crypto. Base, its Layer 2 blockchain solution for the Ethereum network is designed to offer faster, cheaper and more secure transactions. In an exclusive interview with Money FM 89.3, Jesse Pollak, creator of Base and Head of Protocols at Coinbase, shares his insights on the benefits of on-chain payments, Coinbase’s efforts to drive this transformation, and the next big thing in crypto. He also tells us why he thinks Singapore is leading the way in the digital asset space.

Investment volumes in Asia Pacific’s commercial real estate have surged to their highest levels since the 2022 rate-hike cycle, driven by cross-border investments and strong demand for office and logistics assets. Singapore stands out with a 118% year-on-year increase in Q3 2024, fueled by institutional interest in industrial, retail, and life sciences. Pamela Ambler, Head of Investor Intelligence, Asia Pacific, at global real estate services firm JLL, shares her insights on the key trends shaping this growth, and the outlook on CRE including where CRE firms will deploy capital in 2025.

Sustainability is a crucial area of focus in the fashion industry. The increasing awareness of the negative impacts of fast fashion on the environment and society has led to the need for sustainable practices.  The Singapore Fashion Council (SFC) strongly promotes circularity in fashion and has recently launched an initiative to drive home the importance of embracing circularity and the perpetual cycles of regeneration, reuse, and resource optimisation in production. The SFC is the official association for the textile and fashion industry in Singapore.  Zhang Ting-Ting, CEO of the Singapore Fashion Council shares more about the latest trends and sustainable practices in the fashion industry.

In Southeast Asia, streaming entertainment is mostly consumed via smartphones by users heavily reliant on their mobile devices. This means most businesses would stand to gain from using software designed with the smartphone in mind. To that end, industry players like Agora, a pioneer and leader in real-time engagement technology, are looking into mobile-first and AI-enhanced communication solutions. What sort of innovations can we expect? For more about their work, Lawrence Wu, Head of (Internet of Things)IoT Industry,and Effie Pang, Director of Sales, share more about their rapidly expanding video streaming and AI-driven communications software services that are mobile oriented for a more positive user experience. 

Nvidia reported Q3 earnings today (20 Nov) and results suggest that Nvidia is continuing to grow quickly while demand for its powerful artificial intelligence chips remains high. However, the reported number of a 94% year-on-year surge in revenue for the third quarter to $35.08 billion is still a consecutive slowdown from the previous three quarters.  In terms of price action, shares fell 2% in extended trading, from $145 a share to $142. The Options market expected moves of about 10%.   Isaac Lim, Chief Market Strategist, at online investment platform, Moomoo Singapore, discussed this price action and the possible implications of the consecutive revenue slowdowns, and where Nvidia is headed in 2025.