Infrastructure offers 'silver lining' amid global slowdown

Singapore

AMID slowing global growth, mounting political uncertainty and divergent monetary policies, trade pacts that promote infrastructure development are a "silver lining", Liew Mun Leong, chairman of Surbana Jurong and Changi Airport Group believes.

He said this at a forum hosted by the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) and Surbana Jurong on Monday. His views were echoed by others. "We are all acutely aware that the global economy is again slowing down after the relatively few good years of recovery from the global financial crisis (GFC). The International Monetary Fund had in July downgraded the world economic outlook for 2016 from 3.2 per cent to 3.1 per cent. Globally, investment is weak, with world trade slackening behind global income. Uncertainty abounds in the sudden awakening that Britain will leave Europe. We now live in a world of heightened fears of global terrorism and increased security problems.