IE S'pore keeps 2014 export growth forecast

[SINGAPORE] Growth forecasts for both total trade and non-oil domestic exports this year are maintained at 1-3 per cent, even though the two put up a disappointing performance in 2013 NODX, which barely grew in 2012, fell 6 per cent last year against the official forecast of a 4-5 per cent decline, figures released yesterday by the trade promotion agency International Enterprise Singapore show.

The drop came after NODX's growth slowed from 2.2 per cent in 2011 to 0.5 per cent in 2012. This was reflected in a drop in shipments to all of Singapore's top 10 markets (which accounted for 78 per cent of total NODX), except for China and Taiwan.

Total trade dipped 0.5 per cent to $980.2 billion in 2013, against a 1.1 per cent rise the year before. The decline fell short of the 1-2 per cent growth that IE Singapore had expected.