INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT - THE CONTRIBUTION BY THE PRIVATE DEVELOPER

Abstract

The field of industrial development is largely dominated by the public sector, with JTC, HDB, PSA and URA supplying the bulk of industrial property for light, general and special uses. The public sector has the lead because it is able to offer a greater supply and variety of industrial space to industrialists and at lower prices. This is mainly due to the economies of scale and ease of land acquisition that it enjoys. However, the competition from the public sector has not completely deterred the private developer from engaging in industrial development because private industrial developments possess certain features that are attractive to industrialists. Chiefly, they offer the advantage of freehold tenure without the numerous restrictions and conditions imposed by the public developer. The prospects for private industrial developments are therefore dependent on the retention of these features. But, as the public sector aggressively steps up its plans for industrial development, the advantages which the private developer presently enjoys, are likely to be eroded. When this happens, the private industrial developer may be pushed out of the market. Thus, before such an outcome is reached, and as Singapore embarks on its next phase of industrialisation, one of the basic issues to be resolved is the contribution of the private developer in the provision of land and buildings for accommodating the high technology, capital intensive and high value-added industries of the eighties.