Take part in this exclusive conference and discover:

* How to use the Singapore Exchange as a platform for Asian investments

* How to access multiple Asian markets with stocks listed on the Singapore Exchange

* Asia trading opportunities with technical analysis from Trading Central

This conference is a unique event in Belgium and is organised by the Singapore Stock Exchange (SGX) and Internaxx, the leading offshore online broker.

You can register to attend this event here.

More information regarding the conference: 

The Singapore Stock Exchange: the ideal platform country to take profit of the Asian Growth

Introduction: The reasons to invest on the Singapore Stock Exchange (SGX)

Looking to get some of the vroom that comes with an investment in the developing economies of Asia but fearful of the whoosh that can signal big losses from a change in government policy, out-of-control inflation or the pricking of an asset bubble?

To reap the rewards of investing in developing economies without all the risks they bring, try investing the stocks of a stable and developed “platform” country. It won’t eliminate all the risk of holding a stake in developing economies, but it can insulate your portfolio from the worst effects of country-specific upheavals.

Singapore is an investment platform of choice for a lot of investors.

Part 1: Definition of an investment platform country

Platform countries come in all sizes, as big as Australia (nearly 3 million square miles) and as small as Singapore (about 250 square miles). Whatever their geographic size, a platform country has a relatively small but extremely vigorous economy. (Australia’s gross
domestic product was $675 billion in 2006; Singapore’s was $141 billion.)

The best-managed, most-competitive and most-farsighted companies have outgrown the limits of their domestic economies. Using their own economies as bases, they’ve expanded to attack opportunities in surrounding developing economies.

In the best of circumstances, the champion companies of a platform economy are better-managed and more-experienced international competitors than most of the companies in the surrounding developing economies. And those surrounding economies are bigger than the domestic economies of the platform country – China’s GDP is $10.7 trillion after correcting official exchange rates for purchasing-power parity – and show high levels of growth that let the champions of the platform country put free cash flow to work at attractive margins.
That’s kind of abstract, I admit. Let me put some flesh on those bones using the example of a couple of Singaporean companies to show the advantages of investing in a platform country.

Part 2: Asian markets

Global recognition that Asia will be the next engine of global economic growth has increased interest in regional investment opportunities. To participate in Asia’s economic prosperity, investors can invest in companies listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange, which provides exposure to the entire region, while benefiting from Singapore’s stable and well regulated financial infrastructure.

+ Add macro economics figures about Asian Growth(show the main economics prospects about Asian region)

*Asia is a large and globally significant market
*Asia’s economies are on a sustainable high growth trajectory

Part 3: SGX global presentation: listed companies, main sectors etc.
Foreign companies from over 20 countries are listed on the SGX, covering a full spectrum of industries and countries. Over 250 companies from China and South East Asia are listed in Singapore.
International opportunities include China S-Shares, or China companies listed in Singapore, and Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs). Singapore-listed Real Estate Investment Trusts, with a total market capitalisation of about US$27 billion, provide access to the Singapore, South East Asia and China property markets. Investors may also benefit from the tax exempt status of REITs in Singapore.
As a key financial, industrial and services hub to Asia, Singapore is home to numerous companies in its thriving financial, transport, telecommunications, property or offshore oil services sectors. The Singapore Straits Times index, which tracks the country's equities, has been on a winning streak in recent years, rising 43% in 2003, 24% in 2004, 14% in 2005 and 48% in 2006.
Part 4: SGX concrete opportunities: telecommunication, airlines, finance; REITS, ETF

4.1. Telecommunication

If you look at just the domestic part of Singapore Telecommunications, it doesn't look like an especially interesting investment opportunity. In the fiscal fourth quarter of 2007, which ended in March, revenue from the company's Singaporean businesses grew by just 2.8% from the year-earlier quarter. Operating expenses climbed, and EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) fell by almost 6% year over year.
But extend your horizons, and you see very different results. In the wireless-phone arena alone, the company owns 21% of Thailand's Advanced Info Service (17 million subscribers and 52% market share), 31% of India's Bharti Group (42 million subscribers and 29% market share), 45% of the Philippines' Globe Telecom (14 million subscribers and 37% market share), 100% of Australia's Optus (7 million subscribers and 33% market share), 45% of Bangladesh's Pacific Bangladesh Telecom (1 million subscribers and 5% market share) and 35% of Indonesia's Telkomsel (29 million subscribers and 55% market share.) Collectively, what Singapore Telecom calls its associates saw pretax profit grow by 16% year to year.
4.2. Airlines
Even when the organizational structure is different, the end result is the same. Singapore Airlines is much more integrated because of the strength of its core brand name in the air-passenger market. But the company has still, like Singapore Telecom, used its home market as a platform for tapping into bigger and faster-growing markets in the region.
So, for example, wholly owned subsidiary SilkAir is a regional airline targeting secondary cities in the fast-growth markets of China, India, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines and Cambodia. Revenue climbed 20% in 2006.
And Asian low-cost pioneer Tiger Airways, 49% owned by Singapore Airlines, saw passenger numbers grow by 75% in 2006.
Then there's Singapore Airlines Cargo, set up as a subsidiary, which has become the world's third-largest carrier of international freight. Recently, Singapore Airlines bought a 25% stake in Great Wall Airlines, a new air-freight carrier based in Shanghai.
And, finally, there's Singapore Airlines' international passenger operations. In fiscal 2007, operating profit in that business climbed 58%.

4.3. Financial sector
But the financial sector of this platform economy may have the most regional potential of all. Singaporean banks such as DBS Group and United Overseas Bank have long run international networks that tied together Singapore and Hong Kong. In recent years, those networks have gone regional. United Overseas now has subsidiaries in Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines. And it looks like they're expanding aggressively into the commercial-real-estate markets of Singapore's fast-growing neighbors, especially India.
4.4. REITs
Big real-estate companies like CapitaLand, with a real-estate portfolio that includes residential projects in Singapore, China, Thailand and Australia, and commercial developments in Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing, Bahrain and London, are putting together real-estate investment-trusts (REITs) as a way to attract more capital to invest in China and India.
On July 30, CapitaLand announced the formation of two retail-property funds, CapitaRetail China Development Fund II and CapitaRetail India Development Fund, with a combined size of $1.2 billion. The China fund flows fast on the heels of CapitaRetail China I, which closed in June 2006 with $600 million invested. The two new funds are expected to close in September 2007 and October 2007, respectively. The new funds will bring CapitaLand close to its target of $18 billion in assets under management by the end of 2007.
CapitaLand is by no means alone in targeting the Chinese and Indian commercial-real-estate markets or in starting investment trusts to raise capital for investment in those assets. All the big names in Singapore's real-estate-investment sector, names such as Ascendas and Mapletree, are rolling out similar funds.
4.5. ETF
You don't have to go to the trouble of buying all the champions of the Singaporean platform economy one stock at a time. The iShares MSCI Singapore Index exchange-traded fund lets you buy a basket that includes all these names with a single trade. About 60% of the fund is invested in financial services, but Singapore Telecom and Singapore Airlines are, respectively, the ETF's second- and seventh-largest holdings.
Part 5: Internaxx: the unique Online Broker in Europe to give you a real time online access
Internaxx offers full online access to Singapore via the Singapore Stock Exchange, with: *Real-time quotes and trading
*News, calendar and comments on the Singapore market
*Intraday upgrades and downgrades
*Weekly technical analysis reports
*Stock Reports on the biggest caps from Standard & Poors

You can regsiter to attend this event here. 

Location:

 Espace 53

Parc du Cinquantenaire, 11 (Autoworld)

1000 Brussels