Jump in foreign-held companies set up in Q1

Singapore

HALF of the newly formed businesses in the first quarter of this year were foreign-held companies, pushing up the proportion of 100 per cent foreign-held companies from 24 per cent in Q4 last year to 37 per cent in Q1 this year.

This is the first time wholly locally-held companies have not dominated the pie, according to Hawksford's Business Formation Statistics Report. The remaining 13 per cent of newly formed companies constitute companies with both local and foreign shareholding.