Industry News

DKSH Singapore’s Business Unit Consumer Goods has achieved the FSSC 22000 certification from DNV, marking a significant enhancement in its food safety management. This certification, announced on 14 September, builds upon DKSH’s existing ISO 22000 framework and aligns with internationally recognised food safety standards.

The FSSC 22000 certification is a globally accepted scheme that ensures food safety, quality, and legal compliance across the supply chain. As food safety requirements evolve, DKSH aims to meet these demands by providing reliable and high-quality supply chain solutions. Reuben Ong, Vice President Business Unit Healthcare and Head Country Leadership at DKSH Singapore, stated, “Achieving FSSC 22000 certification marks an important milestone in DKSH’s continuous improvement journey. It demonstrates our commitment to strengthening food safety practices, enhancing operational excellence, and delivering consistent quality and reliability to our customers.”

The certification process has allowed DKSH to refine its processes, strengthen risk management, and embed food safety awareness throughout the organisation. Melissa Anne Miller, Area Manager Southeast Asia and Oceania at DNV, congratulated DKSH, noting that the certification demonstrates a commitment to improving food safety management and providing confidence to customers and stakeholders.

This achievement underscores DKSH’s dedication to supporting food and beverage companies with robust food safety management across the supply chain, reinforcing confidence in its operations and services.

Grab For Business has announced its integration with Concur Expense, SAP Concur’s expense management solution, to modernise corporate travel and expense management across Southeast Asia. This collaboration allows eligible transactions from Grab For Business, such as rides, meals, and deliveries, to be automatically recorded in Concur Expense, reducing the need for manual entry and enhancing the efficiency of expense reporting.

The integration is now accessible to all Grab For Business customers via the SAP Concur App Centre. Valerie Khoo, Regional Head of Grab For Business, highlighted the importance of this development, stating, “Together with SAP Concur, we’re connecting business mobility with expense management in one seamless experience, helping organisations automate expense reporting whilst gaining greater visibility and control over business travel spending.”

This announcement comes as business travel in Asia Pacific is projected to reach $700.9b by 2026, according to the Global Business Travel Association. Despite this growth, many companies still face challenges in managing travel expenses effectively. A study by Grab For Business and the Global Business Travel Association found that whilst 95% of business travellers use ride-hailing services, only 58% of companies have formal mechanisms to manage these expenses.

The integration aims to address these challenges by simplifying the capture and processing of business travel expenses, allowing employees to focus more on productive work and less on administrative tasks. This move is expected to improve financial visibility and control for organisations across the region.

Manulife Singapore recently held its first ManulifeMOVE Carnival at Resorts World Sentosa, drawing around 3,000 participants, including customers, partners, and distributors. The event, which took place on 12 September, aimed to make longevity a tangible concept by focusing on health, finances, and well-being through two main experiences: the Longevity Experience Forum and Longevity in Motion.

The Longevity Experience Forum featured discussions led by experts such as Professor Dean Ho from the National University of Singapore, who highlighted the importance of resilience through interconnected body systems. The forum also included a panel discussion with media personality Diana Ser, actress Irene Ang, and Dr Steven Tucker, focusing on early detection and future independence. Benoit Meslet, President and CEO of Manulife Singapore, emphasised the impact of current choices on future health and freedom.

Following the forum, attendees participated in Longevity in Motion, engaging in activities centred on movement, mental well-being, and joy. The ManulifeMOVE Carnival Longevity Passport Programme encouraged participants to explore various well-being dimensions, offering rewards for completed activities.

Michelle Fang, Chief Marketing Officer of Manulife Singapore, stated, “The carnival allowed us to bring our philosophy to life through experiences that families could connect and enjoy together.” The event builds on Manulife’s ongoing commitment to longevity, following last year’s Longevity Symposium and the launch of the enhanced ManulifeMOVE in 2025. Through initiatives like the Manulife Longevity Institute, Manulife aims to support healthier, more financially secure lives.

CBRE has announced the sale of two adjoining freehold strata shops located on the ground floor of Lucky Plaza, Singapore. The sale, managed through an Expression of Interest exercise, will conclude on 15 October 2026 at 12pm. Each shop spans approximately 441 square feet and has Food and Beverage (F&B) approval, offering a combined 7-metre street frontage along Orchard Road.

Lucky Plaza, a prominent retail landmark on Orchard Road, benefits from high foot traffic due to its strategic location near iconic shopping destinations such as Tang Plaza, ION Orchard, and Ngee Ann City. The guide price for the shops is S$11.4m, equating to about S$13,000 per square foot. Buyers have the option to purchase the units individually or collectively, with each unit priced from S$5.7m. Notably, there are no Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty (ABSD) or Seller’s Stamp Duty (SSD) applicable.

Joshua Giam, Director of Capital Markets at CBRE, highlighted the property’s unique street frontage as a rare market offering. “Recent transactions within Lucky Plaza have shown strong demand for strata retail space,” he noted, adding that the units are expected to attract significant interest from investors and owner-occupiers due to their prime location and existing F&B approvals.

The property is conveniently located near Orchard MRT interchange station and is a short drive from the Central Business District, enhancing its appeal to potential buyers.

MoneyHero Group, the owner of SingSaver and Seedly, has reported a significant shift in consumer preference towards cash rewards in Singapore, resulting in a US$0.2m profit for its Singapore operations in the first half of 2026. The company distributed US$7.3m in cash rewards to Singapore users, contributing to a 9% increase in transaction value to US$41.5m.

The company’s strategic pivot towards cash rewards has also improved its approval rate by 9 percentage points to 48% across its Asian markets. This shift has attracted applicants with stronger intent, leading to exclusive partnerships with two of Singapore’s largest retail banks. Additionally, AI-driven efficiencies have halved technology costs and reduced overall operating expenses by 12% in Q2.

Danny Leung, Interim CEO and CFO, highlighted the company’s progress, stating, “Our second quarter delivered continued improvement in unit economics, approval quality, and cost discipline.” Despite a net loss of US$1.2m due to foreign exchange volatility, the company’s Adjusted EBITDA loss narrowed by 17% year-over-year to US$1.6m.

Looking ahead, MoneyHero plans to launch a Home Loans comparison category in Singapore and expand its online Life Insurance offerings in Hong Kong. The company maintains a debt-free balance sheet with US$28.2m in cash, positioning it well for future growth.

The American Chamber of Commerce in Singapore (AmChamSG) has launched the ‘Singapore Business Launchpad – Perspectives on Growth, Innovation and ASEAN Expansion’ at the 2026 AmChamSG Regional Economic Conference. This initiative marks 60 years of US-Singapore relations and aims to provide businesses with guidance on navigating the Asia-Pacific region.

The launchpad includes the ASEAN Business Outlook Survey (ABOS), conducted in partnership with Accenture and Google. The survey highlights that 87% of large enterprises in ASEAN have AI agents in pilot or production, yet only 7% are prepared to scale. The average readiness score across the region is 42 out of 100, indicating significant organisational challenges rather than technological ones.

Mark Tham, Country Managing Director of Accenture Singapore, noted, “Culture and change management remain the single biggest barrier to unlocking the full value of agentic AI.” The survey also found that 68% of companies rate ASEAN markets outside Singapore as very important, a 22 percentage point increase from 2022.

The findings underscore the strategic importance of ASEAN, with supply chain resilience and diversification from China-concentrated operations now key drivers of investment. Adam Click, Regional Lead at Google, emphasised the potential of AI to drive growth across ASEAN, highlighting initiatives like Google’s Majulah AI to build necessary skills and capabilities.

As ASEAN’s strategic importance rises, the report suggests that businesses must address organisational readiness to fully capitalise on AI’s potential.

Singapore has secured a prominent position on the Asia’s Best Workplaces 2026 list, with 25 companies making the cut, more than any other Southeast Asian nation. The list, curated by Great Place To Work, evaluates 200 companies across the region based on employee surveys conducted in 36 countries and territories.

Among Singapore’s entries, 20 companies are classified as large employers, whilst five fall into the small and medium category. This achievement places Singapore fifth in Asia by company count, trailing the United Arab Emirates, India, Greater China, and Japan. The UAE tops the list due to its inclusion in the Asia region by Great Place To Work.

The recognition comes amid a challenging year for employee retention. Aon’s 2025 Salary Increase and Turnover Study predicts that 19.3% of skilled workers in Singapore will change jobs in 2026, second only to the Philippines. Singaporean employers are also budgeting the smallest pay rises in the region at 4.3%, compared to a regional average of 5.3%.

Notably, Singapore’s real estate sector stands out, with JustCo and Pontiac Land Group being the only Southeast Asian real estate firms on the list. Information technology is the largest sector represented, with companies like Cisco, Visa, and Mastercard making significant strides. Visa notably climbed 19 places to 39th, whilst Micron Technology and Amgen each rose 12 places.

The rankings are determined solely by employee survey responses, focusing on consistency across organisations. This year’s survey included responses from over 3.8 million employees, highlighting the importance of fair leadership, compensation, and meaningful work.

Salesforce has introduced the Enterprise AI Harness, a comprehensive AI framework designed to streamline complex business processes by integrating AI capabilities across enterprises. This new architecture aims to provide a cohesive foundation for AI, enabling agents to understand, plan, and execute tasks within enterprise controls without the need for separate management of each AI experience.

The Enterprise AI Harness is built around six core capabilities: context, agency, action, governance, security, and models. These components work together to ensure AI can operate effectively and securely across various business functions. A notable feature is the AI Control Plane, which offers businesses a centralised platform to manage and control AI agents and capabilities as they proliferate throughout the enterprise.

Rohan Kumar, President and Chief Platform and Engineering Officer at Salesforce, highlighted the importance of proprietary context in differentiating enterprises. “What will differentiate an enterprise is the trusted, proprietary context it brings to that intelligence — starting with the customer — and its ability to securely turn that context into action,” he stated.

The Enterprise AI Harness is designed to be flexible, allowing companies to integrate Salesforce technology with existing systems or third-party models. This adaptability is crucial as AI technologies continue to evolve. Salesforce’s new AI Control Plane further enhances this flexibility by providing a consistent layer of visibility and control over AI operations, ensuring businesses can manage AI performance, costs, and compliance effectively.

Salesforce plans to roll out new capabilities and a unified experience for the Enterprise AI Harness starting in early fiscal FY28, building on the technologies already available today.

Sim Lian Group has announced the launch of its latest condominium project, Amberwood at Holland, with previews starting on 11 September. Located in the prestigious District 10, the development offers 212 units with prices beginning at S$2.6m, or approximately S$2,945 per square foot (psf).

Amberwood at Holland will feature a mix of three, four, and five-bedroom units. The three-bedroom units, starting at 872 square feet, are priced from S$2.6m. Four-bedroom units range from 1,076 to 1,313 square feet, starting at S$3.2m, whilst five-bedroom units, measuring 1,335 square feet, are priced from S$4m. The development is set on a 17,069 square metre site along Holland Link and will consist of 11 residential blocks, each four to six storeys high. Vacant possession is expected by 30 June 2030.

The launch of Amberwood at Holland is part of Sim Lian’s strategy to tap into the demand for high-end residential properties in Singapore’s prime districts. The project promises to offer luxurious living spaces with modern amenities, catering to affluent buyers seeking a prestigious address.

This development comes amidst a broader trend of new residential projects in Singapore, as developers aim to meet the growing demand for housing in key locations. With its strategic location and premium offerings, Amberwood at Holland is poised to attract significant interest from potential homeowners and investors alike.

Singapore is at the forefront of Southeast Asia’s burgeoning robotics sector, accounting for a staggering 91.7% of the region’s total funding, according to a recent report by Tracxn Technologies Limited. The report highlights that Singapore has raised $986m across 58 funding rounds, significantly outpacing other countries in the region.

The report, titled “Robotics – SEA Report,” reveals that Southeast Asia’s robotics sector has amassed $1.1b in all-time equity funding across 51 funded companies. In 2026 alone, the sector reached a record $696m in funding, largely driven by Sharpa’s $670m Series D round. Despite this impressive growth, the sector remains in its early stages, with no unicorns and limited exit activity.

Singapore’s dominance is underscored by its 108 tracked companies, 37 of which have received funding. The most notable companies include Sharpa, Fourier Intelligence, and Neptune Robotics, which have collectively raised substantial sums. In contrast, Malaysia and Vietnam lag behind, with significantly lower funding figures.

The report also notes that the majority of funding remains concentrated at early stages, with only three companies reaching Series D or beyond. Furthermore, the sector has seen just one acquisition and no initial public offerings (IPOs) to date, indicating that exit opportunities are still limited.

Tracxn’s analysis provides a comprehensive overview of the robotics ecosystem in Southeast Asia, offering insights into funding trends, investor activity, and the potential for future growth. As the sector continues to evolve, Singapore’s leadership position is likely to play a crucial role in shaping the region’s robotics landscape.