More S’pore manufacturers, services firms upbeat about the months ahead

They expect favourable outlook amid boom in Al-related products, return of travel: Polls

- Prisca Ang

More local manufacturers and services firms are optimistic about business conditions in the months ahead due to factors such as a boom in products related to artificial intelligence (AI) and the return of travel, separate surveys showed on April 30.

A net weighted balance of 22 per cent of manufacturing firms anticipate a favourable business situation for the April to September period, compared with the first quarter of 2024, according to a poll by the Economic Development Board (EDB).

This is much higher than the 10 per cent figure in its previous quarterly survey.

Meanwhile, a Singapore Department of Statistics (SingStat) survey showed that for the services sector, a net weighted balance of 7 per cent of companies expect a more favourable business outlook, up from 5 per cent in the previous poll.

The net weighted balance is the difference between the weighted shares of positive and negative responses, with a positive figure indicating more optimism than pessimism.

In the manufacturing sector, all clusters expect their business situation to improve, with electronics emerging as the most optimistic.

The cluster had a net weighted balance of 40 per cent of firms projecting positive business prospects in the six months to September, compared with the first quarter.

Firms in the semiconductor and other electronic modules and components segments are especially bullish, amid better demand in consumer electronic devices. Strong AI server demand is also expected to boost orders for memory, storage and networking chips.

The transport engineering cluster's marine and offshore engineering segment anticipates a rise in projects from the global oil and gas and offshore renewables markets.