SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Just outside Singapore’s Changi airport is an innocuous low-rise building ringed by high walls that holds more gold, art, antique cars and fine wines than almost any other location in the world.

Singapore FreePort is a high-security facility for storing precious metals and other collectibles of the wealthy. It opened a year ago and already plans to double its size within the next two years as Asia’s numbers of the seriously rich increase.

“In Singapore you touch not only Chinese clients but also Indian, Malaysian, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, everybody,” Chairman Yves Bouvier told Reuters in an interview.

“Changi Airport is a good airplane destination. It’s not the same in Hong Kong where you touch only China.”

For Singapore, the facility complements the city-state’s huge private banking industry by providing wealthy clients with a place to store their valuable collections. Boston Consulting Group estimates private banks in Singapore manage about $500 billion in assets.

Singapore FreePort describes itself as a Fort Knox, and it boasts of security features that are comparable to the world’s most impregnable building that is the depository of the United States’ bullion reserves.

The facility has armed guards and is ringed by security cameras. Visitors must pass through two checkpoints and undergo a full body scan before they can go inside the building, and staff need to key in passwords and pass a biometric check to access different parts of the complex.

BEIJING/SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Inflation remains a major challenge and tighter monetary policies are needed across East Asia, the World Bank said on Monday, as it downplayed risks to regional growth from the devastating earthquake in Japan.

In a semi-annual East Asia and Pacific Economic Update, the World Bank nudged up its 2011 growth forecasts, but said the big picture was that the fight against inflation would weigh on economies from China to Malaysia.

While Japan would suffer short-term economic damage from the disaster earlier this month, its impact on the broader region was likely to be limited, it said in a supplementary note to its report.

Asian central banks have been raising interest rates and in some cases letting their currencies rise to combat inflation. But regional currencies have retreated since the March 11 quake in Japan as investors sought the safety of the U.S. dollar and analysed if it would slow regional and global economic growth.

The World Bank did not offer its own forecast on the cost of Japan’s disaster, but cited private estimates that the toll could range from $122 billion to $235 billion, or 2.5 to 4 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).

Still it said Japan’s experience of recovering from the 1995 Kobe earthquake bodes well for its ability to cope with the triple disaster of the earthquake, a massive tsunami and ensuing radiation leaks at several nuclear reactors.

“If history is any guide, real GDP growth will be negatively affected through mid-2011. Growth should pick up in subsequent quarters as reconstruction efforts, which could last five years, accelerate,” the World Bank said.

BEIJING/SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Inflation remains a major challenge and tighter monetary policies are needed across East Asia, the World Bank said on Monday, as it downplayed risks to regional growth from the devastating earthquake in Japan.

In a semi-annual East Asia and Pacific Economic Update, the World Bank nudged up its 2011 growth forecasts, but said the big picture was that the fight against inflation would weigh on economies from China to Malaysia.

While Japan would suffer short-term economic damage from the disaster earlier this month, its impact on the broader region was likely to be limited, it said in a supplementary note to its report.

Asian central banks have been raising interest rates and in some cases letting their currencies rise to combat inflation. But regional currencies have retreated since the March 11 quake in Japan as investors sought the safety of the U.S. dollar and analyzed if it would slow regional and global economic growth.

The World Bank did not offer its own forecast on the cost of Japan’s disaster, but cited private estimates that the toll could range from $122 billion to $235 billion, or 2.5 to 4 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).

Still it said Japan’s experience of recovering from the 1995 Kobe earthquake bodes well for its ability to cope with the triple disaster of the earthquake, a massive tsunami and ensuing radiation leaks at several nuclear reactors.

“If history is any guide, real GDP growth will be negatively affected through mid-2011. Growth should pick up in subsequent quarters as reconstruction efforts, which could last five years, accelerate,” the World Bank said.

SINGAPORE, March 16 (Reuters) – Asian economies will continue to grow strongly this year even as Japan struggles with the aftermath of a devastating earthquake and tsunami, ratings agency Standard & Poor’s said on Wednesday.

“We expect the region to record another year of solid growth in 2011 after 2010 proved that Asia is emerging from the crisis in a strong position, even as the economic picture for Japan following the recent earthquake remains less clear,” S&P Asia Pacific head Tom Schiller said.

S&P’s bullish comments come as Asian financial markets rebounded on Wednesday after a two-day sell-off, helped by short-covering by hedge funds that had sold Japanese shares aggressively earlier in the week, as well as bargain hunting.

Bank of Singapore, the former ING Private Bank that is now owned by Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp , is recommending that clients buy Asia ex-Japan stocks as long-term fundamentals remain positive.

Companies that could benefit from disruptions in Japan include Samsung Electronics and steelmakers Maanshan and POSCO , Bank of Singapore said.

S&P said Asian firms outside of Japan will continue to benefit from strong domestic demand, supported by interest rates that will remain low after adjusting for inflation. Intra-regional trade is growing and exporters should remain competitive despite rising inflation and stronger currencies.

Among Asia’s larger economies, S&P predicts China will grow by 9.1 to 9.6 percent this year, down from last year’s 10.3 percent, while India may expand by 8-8.5 percent following last year’s 8.6 percent.

SINGAPORE, Feb 25 (Reuters) – Perennial China Retail Trust lodged the prospectus for its planned S$1.1 billion ($861 million) initial public offering in Singapore, in what is likely to be the first of several large asset-backed trust IPOs in the city-state.

Perennial China, managed by former CapitaLand shopping mall chief Pua Seck Guan, is offering 1.1 billion shares at S$1.00 apiece. Seven cornerstone investors, including Cosmo Top and Prudential , will take up 43 percent of the available shares.

The trust will have stakes in five properties, three of them in the northeastern Chinese city of Shenyang. Only one of the five properties, the Shenyang Red Star Macalline Furniture Mall, is completed, while another mall is scheduled to start operations in the second quarter of this year.

Perennial China offers “a pure-play exposure in the high retail sales growth in the People’s Republic of China,” the trust said in its IPO prospectus.

“The properties have the potential to generate attractive rental and capital growth over time as spending within the malls’ shopper catchments increases, driven by ongoing urbanisation of the population and growing disposable income per capita.”

Perennial China’s IPO is expected to be the first of several large trust IPOs in Singapore, a popular destination for trusts because of favourable rules such as lower taxes on distribution.

Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing’s Hutchison Whampoa is expected to launch a $6 billion IPO of its port assets packaged as a business trust , while Singapore state investor Temasek’s Mapletree is planning a $1 billion-plus property trust IPO whose assets include Vivocity, Singapore’s largest shopping mall.

HONG KONG/SINGAPORE (Reuters) – The Hong Kong stock exchange (0388.HK: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) should avoid rushing in to join the global merger frenzy among markets so that it doesn’t get sidetracked from its booming China-related business.

Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd (HKEx) stressed last week it was open to strategic alliances to arrest a slide in the share price of the world’s most valuable exchange operator after a wave of merger deals swept the financial sector.

But market sources cautioned against any haste to join the merger frenzy.

“Hong Kong Exchanges is busy with the pipeline of companies coming to them from China,” said Christopher Wong, senior investment manager at Aberdeen Asset Management, which has $287 billion in assets under management and advice globally.

“It’s not worth getting distracted right now by potential tie-ups.”

A wave of tie-ups and mergers has gripped the sector in the past two weeks, including a $10.2 billion takeover of NYSE Euronext (NYX.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) by Deutsche Boerse AG (DB1Gn.DE: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) unveiled on Tuesday. The merged entity could create a more attractive partner for Asian exchange operators, the companies said.

The Singapore Exchange (SGXL.SI: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) bid for Australia’s ASX (ASX.AX: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) late last year. And last week, London Stock Exchange (LSE.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) said it would buy Toronto Stock Exchange operator TMX Group (X.TO: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz).

SINGAPORE, Feb 15 (Reuters) – Former CapitaLand retail chief Pua Seck Guan and Singapore’s Kum family are preparing to raise around S$1.5 billion ($1.17 billion) via two property trusts, sources said on Tueday.

Pua’s Perennial Real Estate has begun pre-marketing its Perennial China Retail Trust to raise slightly over S$1 billion, while the Kums plan to list a hospitality real estate investment trust called M&L REIT to raise about S$450 million.

Perennial’s assets comprise five properties in China, including the Red Star Furniture Mall in China’s northeastern city of Shenyang. The Perennial IPO is structured as a business trust as only about a quarter of the properties are completed, two sources briefed on the deal told Reuters.

M&L’s properties include the Sheraton Four Points hotel in Sydney and the Ibis Singapore hotel, sources told IFR, a Thomson Reuters service.

A source briefed on the Perennial IPO said it could be a tough sell, as the original owners of the China properties have not committed to taking stakes in the trust. Pua’s firm, which will manage the trust, will only hold two percent.

“It doesn’t have a sponsor. It’s uncompleted property so there is also development risk,” the source added. Pua or his firm were not available for comment.

Pua, who is widely credited with building CapitaLand’s malls business, resigned from Southeast Asia’s biggest developer in September 2008, sparking a 7 percent fall in the firm’s share price.

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – The world economy is beset by problems such as high unemployment and rising prices which could fuel trade protectionism and even lead to war within nations, the head of the International Monetary Fund warned on Tuesday.

Rising food and fuel prices in recent months have already hit poorer countries and are one of the factors behind massive anti-government protests in Egypt and in Tunisia, whose president was ousted last month.

“As tensions between countries increase, we could see rising protectionism — of trade and of finance. And as tensions within countries increase, we could see rising social and political instability within nations – even war,” Dominique Strauss-Kahn said in a speech in Singapore.

Strauss-Kahn noted two “dangerous” imbalances that he said could sow the seeds of the next crisis.

The first was the unbalanced recovery across countries, as emerging nations grow much faster than developed economies and possibly overheat. The second was the social strains within countries with high unemployment and widening income gaps.

Over the next decade, 400 million young people would join the global labor force, posing a daunting challenge for governments, Strauss-Kahn added.

“We face the prospect of a ‘lost generation’ of young people, destined to suffer their whole lives from worse unemployment and social conditions. Creating jobs must be a top priority not only in the advanced economies, but also in many poorer countries.”

SINGAPORE, Feb 1 (Reuters) – The world economy is beset by problems such as high unemployment and rising prices which could fuel trade protectionism and even lead to war within nations, the head of the International Monetary Fund warned on Tuesday.

Rising food and fuel prices in recent months have already hit poorer countries and are one of the factors behind massive anti-government protests in Egypt and in Tunisia, whose president was ousted last month.

“As tensions between countries increase, we could see rising protectionism — of trade and of finance. And as tensions within countries increase, we could see rising social and political instability within nations – even war,” Dominique Strauss-Kahn said in a speech in Singapore.

Strauss-Kahn noted two “dangerous” imbalances that he said could sow the seeds of the next crisis.

The first was the unbalanced recovery across countries, as emerging nations grow much faster than developed economies and possibly overheat. The second was the social strains within countries with high unemployment and widening income gaps.

Over the next decade, 400 million young people would join the global labour force, posing a daunting challenge for governments, Strauss-Kahn added.

“We face the prospect of a ‘lost generation’ of young people, destined to suffer their whole lives from worse unemployment and social conditions. Creating jobs must be a top priority not only in the advanced economies, but also in many poorer countries.”

SINGAPORE, Feb 1 (Reuters) – The world economy has begun improving but is beset by problems such as high unemployment and rising prices which could fuel crippling trade protectionism and violent social unrest, the head of the International Monetary Fund warned on Tuesday.

“The pre-crisis pattern of global imbalances is re-emerging,” Dominique Strauss-Kahn said in a speech in Singapore.

“Growth in economies with large external deficits, like the U.S., is still being driven by domestic demand. And growth in economies with large external surpluses, like China and Germany, is still being powered by exports,” he said.

“As tensions between countries increase, we could see rising protectionism — of trade and of finance. And as tensions within countries increase, we could see rising social and political instability within nations — even war.”

Rising food and fuel prices in recent months have already hit poorer countries especially hard and are one of the factors behind massive anti-government protests in Egypt and in Tunisia, whose president was ousted last month. [ID:nLDE71000N}

Concerns about rising debt in developed countries, meanwhile, have increased in recent months, with Standard & Poor’s last week cutting Japan’s credit rating and Moody’s warning it may place a negative outlook on the United States.

In Asia, the worries centre around inflation and analysts say central banks in countries such as Indonesia need to respond faster to contain rising prices.