On April 12 South Korean securities firm Mirae Asset Securities Co announced it would join hands with global investment company AON BGN, a former AON Holdings, to take over Keangnam Ha Noi Landmark Tower in Ha Noi.

They will pay 400 billion won (US$349.80 million) including 300 billion won from Mirae Asset, the largest overseas alternative investment made by the company.

Earlier this year Singaporean real estate developer CapitaLand, decided to buy Somerset Vista and Vista Walk in HCM City from Nguyen Binh Commercial Joint Stock Company for $46.5 million.

Another Singaporean developer, Keppel Land, paid $93.9 million to acquire the Empire City real estate project from the Thanh Pho De Vuong joint Venture Company.

Many foreign investors, including from South Korea, Japan, and Singapore, are coming to study the real estate market.

Some are eyeing office buildings, whether already completed, under construction, or scheduled to be built, in Ha Noi and HCM City.

According to CBRE Vietnam, the real estate market has seen a boom in high-value mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in the first quarter, with the total value estimated at a billion dollars or more.

The increase in M&A activities has been attributed to a rise of liquidity in the market, low credit interest rates and a low supply of property products relative to demand.

Besides, large investors seem to prefer buying existing projects instead of applying for fresh licences.

Some analysts also attributed it to the changes in the law.

Decree No76/2015/ND-CP that guides the Law on Real Estate Business allows real estate investors to sell their projects in whole or part.

It has made a significant contribution to the increase in M&A activities by making transactions more transparent.

M&A deals are expected to get added momentum from the several free trade deals Vietnam has signed.

Analysts said while Vietnam remains a magnet for foreign developers and investors, the Government needs to facilitate foreign investment in real estate by resolving land title and clearance issues.

Steel losses

After briefly shooting up, steel prices have dropped to VND11,000-11,500 per kilogramme, a 15 per cent fall since late March.

Many steel distributors have been hit by big losses estimated at billions of dong as a result.

The most affected are those who stockpiled large quantities of steel products after the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) announced safeguard duties to be levied on imported steel from March 22.

The tariff on billets has increased from 10 per cent to 23.3 per cent, and on long steel products, from below 5 per cent to 14.2 per cent.

Expecting prices to increase as a result, many steel distributors stocked up, hoping to make a killing.

But prices settled down after some major steel producers promised not to increase them.

Level-one agents, who are direct distributors for manufacturers, have suffered billion-dong losses, second- and third-level agencies have lost hundreds of millions of dong.

On average, they suffer a loss of around VND2 million per tonne.

While the traders are counting their losses, many steel manufacturers have reported excellent results in the first quarter.

According to the Vietnam Steel Association (VSA), member companies sold a record two million tonnes, up 56 per cent from the same period last year.

Only 97,000 tonnes were exported, while the remaining 1.92 million tonnes were sold domestically.

For the structural steel alone, they sold 1.01 million tonnes, up by 730 tonnes as compared with the figure forecasted by the VSA.

The surge in demand has enabled many steel companies to run their production lines at full capacity and also liquidate inventories of all kinds of products, including billets and long-rolled steel.

The Vietnam Steel Corporation led the market with sales of 877,000 tonnes, a year-on-year increase of 52.9 per cent.

But insiders remain concerned about the possible risks caused by excessive supply.

As of late March inventories remained at 325,000 tonnes, and an additional one million tonnes will enter the market when a series of new steel plants go on stream this year.

CAR dropping

At its general shareholders’ meeting in mid-April, the Vietcombank management announced plans to raise the charter capital from VND26.65 trillion ($118.444 million) to VND39.575 billion ($118.444 million), explaining the bank needs to maintain its capital adequacy ratio (CAR).

The CAR is the ratio of a bank’s capital to its assets, and indicates how much loss it can absorb if assets go bad.

In late 2015 Vietcombank’s CAR was at 11 per cent, but it dropped to 9 per cent in the first quarter of 2016, the minimum rate stipulated by the central bank.

If Basel II norms for CAR take effect as scheduled in February 2017 Vietcombank’s CAR will be reduced to 7 per cent.

The norms are recommendations on banking laws and regulations issued by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision to ensure banks can manage financial and operational risks.

The drop in Vietcombank’s CAR was caused by the 6.7 per cent growth in credit in the first quarter.

The lender has set itself a full-year target of 17 per cent credit growth, meaning it has no choice but to increase its capital.

Faced with the situation, the management has planned to issue more shares to both foreign and domestic investors.

Many other banks are in a similar situation.

BIDV now has 9 per cent CAR, but the rate is expected to drop to 7 per cent with Basel II even if its assets do not increase.

Vietcombank has VND9.3 trillion in its reserves that can be converted into bonus shares for existing shareholders.

But analysts warn it is not easy for all banks to increase their capital, especially small ones that will also be forced to increase their capital as the new norms come into effect and credit growth again becomes robust.

The boot camp will run for four months, starting on May 4.

The two teams, as well as qualifiers from Thailand and Malaysia, will gain experience from workshops with Silicon Valley experts and one-on-one mentoring with qualified, successful start-up entrepreneurs from the region, will receive opportunities to pitch to global and regional venture capitalists, and will potentially explore commercialisation opportunities with Telenor.

They will also receive a seed funding of up to US$50,000 (Bt1.75 million) to power up their businesses.

MyanZen is envisaged as a platform that will enable users to sell anything, anywhere and any time, while GoP is a one-stop platform for facilitating travellers and travel agencies.

Both teams won Telenor Myanmar’s first Telenor Accelerate programme, which received 39 applications. The 10 shortlisted teams presented their business ideas to a panel of five judges, which included reputable founders of IT-based businesses in Myanmar, and Telenor experts.

The panel will continue to mentor the two winning teams in the next phases of the programme.

“Telenor Accelerate was introduced in Myanmar to help local start-ups realise their potentials, and grow,” said Ronny-Bakke Naevdal, chief strategy officer at Telenor Myanmar.

“Myanmar has a pool of many talented start-ups, which we believe have a strong future given the right support, the exposure to advance their ideas, and potential commercialisation opportunities. We believe the two winning teams will be able to grab the opportunity.”

Start-up accelerators, also known as seed accelerators, are support programmes for early-stage start-ups – with a series of educational workshops and networking events that usually last three to four months.

During the programme, the participating start-ups usually move into a shared office space together and learn about business operations, execution, finance and so on under experienced mentors and other successful entrepreneurs.

At the end of the programme, the graduating start-ups typically participate in a “demo day” where they pitch about their businesses in front of investors and potentially receive seed funding to grow their business.

Group chief executive officer Datuk Heng Huck Lee said that orders for the core sensor products of the group had dropped substantially in the first quarter.

“The strengthened ringgit also eroded our margins,” he said, declining to name any specific product or customer name.

The smartphone segment contributed 45 per cent to 50 per cent of Globetronics’ revenue for 2015.

Notably, Apple is expected to announce a slide in total revenue, the first time in 13 years, along with a slump in iPhone sales for the second quarter ended March 31, 2016.

As of press time, consensus estimates were for Apple to sell about 51 million iPhones in the three months ended March. This would be down from 61.2 million units in the March quarter of 2015.

For its first quarter ended March 31, 2016, Globetronics posted a net profit of RM3.6mil on the back of RM58.7mil turnover, compared to RM17mil and RM88.6mil in the previous year’s corresponding period.

Earnings per share dropped to 1.31 sen from 6.1 sen previously. It declared an interim dividend of 14 sen.

“The lower revenue and net profit achieved in the quarter was mainly due to lower volume loadings from some of the group’s customers as a result of reduction in end customers’ demand and forex loss of RM4.6mil,” said Globetronics in a filing with Bursa.

On its prospects moving forward, Globetronics said it expected to see soft volume loadings from some of the group’s customers in the second quarter as a result of reduction in end customers’ demand and general slowdown in the industry.

Globetronics said it would continue to focus on escalating up the value chain and riding on the research and development initiatives in new products design and development with its key customers.

According to Heng, there were also requests from customers to reduce selling prices.

“The more than 30 per cent drop in revenue is in line with the group’s projection for the first quarter.

“However, we did not make a similar projection for the drop in net profit of about 80 per cent as we could not ascertain the ringgit’s volatility,” he added.

Globetronics’ performance is quite in line with the projection for the smartphone industry by research firms such as the Connecticut-based research house Gartner, according to Heng.

The Gartner report projects global smartphone sales would reach 1.5 billion units in 2016, a 7 per cent growth from 2015.

The report says global smartphone sales will, for the first time, exhibit single-digit growth in 2016.

“The double-digit growth era for the global smartphone market has come to an end.

“Historically, worsening economic conditions had negligible impact on smartphone sales and spend, but this is no longer the case.

“China and North America smartphone sales are on pace to be flat in 2016, exhibiting 0.7 per cent and 0.4 per cent growth,” said Gartner research director Ranjit Atwal in that report.

On Globetronic’s recent share price drop Heng said: “We are not sure whether this is a reaction to the quarterly results or to the slowdown in the smartphone market,” he said.

Moving forward, Heng said Globetronics would introduce three new sensor products for its existing customers.

“These sensors would be used in smart phones and smart devices of the mid-range and premium categories, which will be released in the late second quarter or early third quarter of 2016.

“Hopefully, these new products would help the group to deliver improved results for the second half compared with the first half,” he added.

Chairman Shamsul Azhar Abbas said that the bulk of the funds would be channelled towards the company’s two growth projects in Pengerang, Johor – the LNG Regasification Terminal and the Air Separation Unit project.

It will also be maintaining its annual capex at 300 million ringgit this year.

“These are the two major projects as far as growth is concerned for PetGas,” he told a press conference after the company’s AGM here yesterday (April 26).

Shamsul added that funds from the US$500 million loan it had taken from Mizuho Bank earlier this year would also mainly be channeled into the two projects.

“The bulk of that loan is going to these growth projects and the rest will be reserved for maintenance capex.

“We will also continue looking for other growth projects,” he said.

Shamsul said the Pengerang regasification terminal would be fully-commissioned by the first quarter of 2018.

“As for the Air Separation Unit, also in Pengerang, which is to cater to requirement of the Rapid project, we expect to achieve the Final Investment Decision by the second quarter of this year,” he said.

He said FY15 had been an “excellent” year for the company, in terms of its financial results.

The company’s earnings rose to nearly 2 billion ringgit in the financial year ended Dec 31, 2015. It announced a dividend of 17 sen per share, compared with 15 sen a year ago.

(US$1 = 3.91 ringgit)

In a statement on Wednesday, Seacera which is involved in tile manufacturing, property development and construction, said it signed two agreements with SME Bank and Northern Corridor Implementation Authority (NCIA) and one MoU with SPNB Edar Sdn Bhd.

One of the agreements involve Islamic banking facilities of RM77.5 million from SME Bank. There is also a RM7.4 million grant by Unit Peneraju Agenda Bumiputera (Teraju), which has appointed NCIA to manage the distribution of the grant.

The MoU with SPNB is for a possible business collaboration to supply tiles for SPNB’s projects.

The new manufacturing plant on a 33-acre land in Kamunting Industrial Estate, Perak, will be developed in three phases. The first phase of expansion will double production capacity to 12,000 sqm per day compared to the current 6,000 sq m production per day. Seacera has the potential to increase to 24,000 sqm per day once the third phase is completed.

The total cost for the expansion plan stands at RM170 million with targeted completion in September 2016 (phase 1), June 2018 (phase 2) and June 2020 (phase 3).

“The rationale behind constructing our plant in Kamunting is mainly due to its strategic location for logistics activities. In Perak, raw materials are easily obtained and it is cheaper as compared to Klang Valley. To date, there are no other tile manufacturers in that region, and we envisage to be one of the main tile manufacturers that supply tiles to northern cities,” said group MD Zulkarnin Ariffin.

The company intends to secure more in-house projects via their construction outfit. It also targets to increase its revenue from projects and the export segment, from 20 per cent to 30 per cent, and 30 per cent to 40 per cent respectively.

For the 20 diners in the queue, the wait can go up to two hours, especially on weekends, for a table.

In a country mad for Japanese food, Ramen Keisuke Lobster King is the hottest ramen joint in town.

Never mind that the popular ramen, going for S$13.90 to S$15.90 a bowl, has no lobster meat in it.

The lobster flavour is in the soup, says restaurant owner Keisuke Takeda, 46.

He estimates that 20kg of lobster heads imported from France go into making 100 bowls of the bisque-like soup, which is simmered for at least six hours.

The restaurant serves up to 400 bowls of ramen a day, which come with tender pork belly, chicken char siew and bamboo shoots sitting atop perfectly cooked noodles.

He estimates that two to three lobster heads are used for a bowl of ramen. He says in Japanese via a translator: “It is too easy and boring to have just lobster meat. Everyone can do that. It’s about not having lobster meat, but still being able to enjoy lobster. I believe that you will taste more lobster.”

Lobster meat or not, hungry diners have been slurping up his ramen since he opened his first outlet in Millenia Walk in 2010.

He now has eight ramen outlets. They are Ramen Keisuke Tonkotsu King at Tanjong Pagar and Paya Lebar Square; Ramen Keisuke Tonkotsu King Four Seasons at Bugis; Ramen Keisuke Tori King in 100AM mall; Keisuke Tokyo in Suntec City; Ramen Keisuke Tonkotsu King Matsuri at Parkway Parade; Ramen Keisuke Lobster King at Clarke Quay; and Ramen Keisuke Kani King in Cineleisure.

He also owns Gyoza King, which specialises in gyoza; Tendon Itsuki, popular for its tempura-topped rice bowl; and sake bar Takeda Shoten – all in Tanjong Pagar.

Like his 23 outlets in Japan, each of the outlets has its own theme, signature ramen and style.

While the food and beverage scene has proven volatile this year, Keisuke’s two latest outlets – Lobster King and Kani King, which specialises in crab stock ramen – opened within just weeks of each other. Lobster King opened in February and Kani King last month.

In his stoic demeanour, he says poetically: “Sometimes, when you feel the urge to go (open a restaurant), you need to. Even if it’s not good timing, you need to be firm, like a mountain.”

Calling the ramen market here “stagnant”, he adds: “My philosophy is that ramen should be versatile and I can offer much more.”

Indeed, few chefs are as adventurous when it comes to the popular noodle dish, and Keisuke’s innovative creations include snapping turtle and tomato-based broth.

Yet, the self-taught chef had no intention of becoming one and has had no culinary school training or high-school education.

Born in Hiroshima, Keisuke describes himself as a naughty child whose sole desire was to leave home. His housewife mum, 70, and father, 80, a retired salaryman, live in Osaka. His younger sister, 38, is a housewife living in Paris.

From age 13 to 15, Keisuke worked at a restaurant selling bentos, where he could earn about 130,000 yen a month.

At age 16, he took his savings and moved to Saitama prefecture.

He says he decided to work in a restaurant for practical reasons. “I needed a house to stay in and money to eat. So working in a restaurant was the best. I could get three meals and was paid about 40,000 yen. My parents did not care about what I did.”

He did not start out cooking Japanese food. Instead, he was intrigued by French cuisine after watching Japanese chef Kiyomi Mikuni, whose restaurant Hotel de Mikuni is one of the top French restaurants in Tokyo, on television. Calling him the “godfather of Japanese-French chefs”, Keisuke decided to learn French cuisine and went to work at a French restaurant, Le Vincennes, in Shibuya. He was 24.

However, about three years later, he decided to go back to Japanese cuisine.

He says grimly: “The economy was not good. Nobody was willing to pay for French food, which is considered expensive.”

He spent seven years with a Japanese restaurant group developing recipes and opening new outlets before striking out on his own with an izakaya – a casual Japanese gastropub.

It was a rough start. He says: “We were losing money and thought it was going to close down. Restaurants in the area charged only about 500 yen a meal. I was charging 800 yen. We managed to make a profit only after a year.”

It closed after seven years because of high rental rates.

In 2005 – two years after the izakaya opened – the savvy businessman turned his attention to ramen, which was then picking up in Japan.

His experience with the Japanese restaurant group put him in good stead for opening his first ramen restaurant, Kuro Miso Ramen – Shodai Keisuke Ramen.

Honing his creative streak, he came up with an eye-catching “black ramen”. The ingredients were a mixed miso base with seven types of miso and bamboo charcoal, blended with cream – a nod to his French training.

Five months after he opened shop, a food critic posted about the black ramen on his blog and sparked a media frenzy.

Keisuke continued to extend his ramen reign. At the famous Tokyo Ramen Street in Tokyo Station, he opened Nidaime Keisuke Ebi Soba Gaiden selling prawn-based ramen in 2009, as well as New Old Style Pork Ramen Keisuke in 2010. The ramen street is home to many popular brands such as Rokurinsha, which specialises in tsukemen (ramen served with dipping soup).

For his prawn ramen, he became a popular TV personality through TV interviews and received many invitations to attend TV challenge programmes to present his interpretation of ramen.

In 2011, he won the title of Ramen Champion at the Tokyo Ramen Championships. The event is an annual gathering of more than 30,000 ramen chefs in Japan, who compete for the highly coveted title. After various rounds of cook-offs, the winner is picked by public voting.

Keisuke considers this period to be his peak. He expanded his repertoire rapidly in Japan, serving fugu ramen in Ginza, beef and pork ramen in Nagoya and Sapporo miso ramen in Tokyo.

With the success in Japan, he was itching for a challenge overseas.

With an investment of S$650,000, he opened his first overseas outlet, Ramen Dining Keisuke Tokyo, in 2010 at the now-defunct Parco department store in Millenia Walk.

He says: “I wanted a challenge to expand ramen culture, especially in Asia. Japan has an ageing population, so the number of people eating ramen is shrinking. I don’t see a projection for the future in Japan.”

It certainly proved a challenge. Back then, it was early days, before the craze for ramen kicked off in recent years. Bigger brands then included Tampopo, Ippudo, RamenPlay and Nantsuttei – all of which are still around today.

Keisuke recalls: “There was no business in the first year. I started to wonder if it was my biggest mistake. I didn’t know anything about the Singapore diner and palate. I learnt the most that time. We need to serve what Singaporeans like.”

Now, he sells more than 2,000 bowls a day across his eight outlets. Sales have been increasing steadily over the years, with a 143 per cent increase last year over 2014.

Indeed, with Lobster King, it seems that Keisuke has his ramen rhythm going.

He is delighted when The Straits Times highlights the localised ingredients in the bowl of lobster ramen – prawn wontons and prawn balls.

Clearly in tune with the Singaporean palate, he says: “I know Singaporeans love fishballs and wontons.”

Other tweaks to suit the dining style here include having shorter strands of ramen noodles and giving spoons for people to slurp up the ramen with soup.

He says, grinning: “Unlike the Japanese, people here don’t slurp noodles from the bowl. They put the noodles in the spoon and eat them with soup.”

Chef-owner Eiji Futagami, 48, of Dashi Master Marusaya restaurant at Robertson Quay, can attest to Keisuke’s creativity and adaptability. He says: “He is flexible and accepts all cultures and tastes. I’m always excited to see how he creates new ramen concepts to satisfy both the Japanese and Singaporeans. The brand is one of very few which are successful overseas.”

Futagami’s current favourite ramen is the kani tama ramen – crab broth ramen with mixed fried omelette – at Kani King.

Keisuke is a fan of local fare. His top five local eats are chicken rice, chilli crab, bak kut teh, fish head curry and laksa.

But ramen remains his ultimate “soul food” and his favourite is rich Sapporo miso ramen, which he eats almost every day and says is perfect for wintry days in Hokkaido.

So far, expansion plans are under wraps for the year ahead, although he would like to open in the heartland “when the time is right”.

He had opened a restaurant in Thailand four years ago, but it closed in 2014 because of “partner issues”.

But come August, he will open a tonkotsu ramen restaurant in Perth.

His ramen empire now has 200 employees in Japan and about 100 in Singapore. His Japanese wife, a 45-year-old baking teacher, works with him in his headquarters back home. They have a 24-year-old son who is waiting to enter university in New York.

Tan Foo Choy, 38, the general manager here running all the Keisuke outlets, calls Keisuke the “new-generation” Japanese chef.

He says: “I met him for a job interview in 2010. The impression I got was that he is very friendly, as he was wearing casual clothes. This was unlike other Japanese bosses wearing a shirt and tie, which I find too serious.

“I recall when our first outlet was not doing well. He would tell us to be calm and not get nervous. He never panicked, instead he was determined. This motivated me to work harder.”

And if you are still not convinced about his love affair with ramen, ask Keisuke about his signature, sleek and long ponytail that goes down to his waist.

He says, with a chuckle: “I started keeping my hair long when I opened my first ramen restaurant. I wanted to have a unique style, like my food.”

Hoping to remain a ramen icon in 10 years, he says: “I want to be known as the pioneer of ramen. I want to have a legacy in Singapore.”

An upturn in sentiment globally has prompted investors to snap up Malaysian assets in search of bargains. This was reflected not only in the FBM KLCI’s rise recently, but also in the currency and fixed-income markets.

According to Maybank Investment Bank Research (Maybank IB) in a note yesterday, portfolio capital inflows were the key driver as the country’s external reserves grew to US$97.2 billion as of April 15 from US$97 billion on March 31.

According to the research house, foreigners were net buyers of Malaysian bonds in March with some 11.5 billion ringgit (US$2.93 billion) worth of purchases, the highest monthly inflow since May 2014.

“Also worth noting was the government’s US$1.5 billion sukuk (Islamic bond) issuance this month in two tranches, which was oversubscribed by 4.2 times.

“This alone will contribute to a net US$300 million addition to the external reserves,” it said.

On the other hand, signs are emerging that investors’ appetite for Malaysian equities is slowing down due to a downturn in global sentiment.

China’s Shanghai Composite Index fell by almost 4 per cent last week, as improved economic gauges for the country may lead to little to no easing in its monetary policy, which would have been supportive of corporate spending as well as stock prices.

Elsewhere, US markets are anticipating an influx of earnings reports by top blue chips that make up the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index this week.

The financial performance of top US manufacturers during the first quarter of this year would be a major indicator of whether global consumer demand is slowing down.

In its weekly fund flow report yesterday, MIDF Research noted that purchases by foreign investors had dipped slightly last week, although it was enough to stretch the net buying streak to 10 consecutive weeks.

Last week, the net purchases by foreign investors amounted to 107 million ringgit. However, the total tally of purchases over the 10 weeks is 7.32 billion ringgit, it said.

“The amount of purchases had receded for five consecutive weeks from the peak recorded in the week ended March 18, where 1.48 billion ringgit was mopped up.

“Last week’s foreign purchases boosted the cumulative year-to-date net inflow to 6.4 billion ringgit, still relatively low after 19.5 billion ringgit in net outflows for 2015,” MIDF said.

Despite its year-to-date gain of 3.7 per cent, the FBM KLCI has failed to breach 1,728 points over the past one month and is showing signs of consolidation.

It closed at 1,714.51 points yesterday, or a decline of 3.45 points from last Friday.

In a separate report, Maybank IB analyst Lee Cheng Hooi warned that the market’s uptrend may be stalling.

“The index fell 10.03 points last week, as blue chip profit-taking suppressed the local index, with weekly volume rising from 1.49 billion shares to 1.99 billion.

“A sideward and range-bound bias might persist this week, with key support areas at 1,698 and 1,715 points,” he said.

(US$1 = 3.93 ringgit)

Best Western Plus Ivy Wall becomes the eighth Best Western hotel in the Philippines, joining existing properties in Manila, Makati City, Cebu City, Subic Bay and the resort island of Boracay. It also becomes the country’s fourth mid-scale Best Western Plus hotel, following the Best Western Plus Antel Hotel in Makati City, Best Western Plus Lex Cebu and the recently-opened Best Western Plus Hotel Subic.

Scheduled to open in June 2016, Best Western Plus Ivy Wall is a brand new mid-scale hotel that provides both business and leisure travellers with convenient access to all the city’s main landmarks and attractions. It is located just a few minutes from Puerto Princesa International Airport, which has regular flight connections to Manila and other cities across the Philippines, and 1.5 hours’ drive from the stunning, Unesco World Heritage-listed Puerto Princesa Underground River.

“Best Western’s expansion in the Philippines continues to gather momentum, and I am delighted to be able to welcome guests to another exciting destination in this vibrant country,” said Olivier Berrivin, Best Western Hotels & Resorts’ managing director of International Operations – Asia.

“Puerto Princesa and the island of Palawan are becoming new tourist hotspots in Southeast Asia, with an increasing number of travellers eager to experience this tropical paradise. With idyllic beaches and bays and the breath-taking Puerto Princesa Underground River, which has been listed as one of the ‘New 7 Wonders of Nature’, Puerto Princesa is a wonderfully unique and attractive destination for tourists.

Earlier this month, Owndays opened its 18th outlet in Tiong Bahru Plaza, following its first store here at Plaza Singapura in July 2013. And it is planning to open even more outlets.

Owndays Singapore’s managing director Takeshi Umiyama told The Straits Times that in the next two years, the chain plans to bump the number of stores up to 25.

This is on the back of the chain’s sales revenue in Singapore rising. The chain, which manufactures its own glasses and sunglasses, made $25.5 million last year, 75 per cent more than the $14.6 million in 2014. The company projects sales this year to reach $40 million .

Umiyama attributes Owndays’ success partly to it plugging a market gap here. “The optical shops here are generally traditional, and have not changed over the years. They were doing well, so there was no need to change,” he said, pointing to how many do not offer a simple price structure and quick service.

In many cases, Owndays customers can collect their spectacles within 20 minutes as the shops stock 2,000 to 3,000 types of lenses at any one time. The spectacles, including the frames, go for set prices of between $98 and $198.

Owndays’ expansion comes even as retail sales, excluding motor vehicles, decreased 1.2 per cent last year from 2014, according to data from the Singapore Department of Statistics.

Low sales, rising costs and weak consumer sentiment have been cited as reasons for the weaker showing for the retail sector. Several brands have recently announced plans to exit Singapore amid the slump.

Another Japanese retailer which has forged a different path is Uniqlo. Last month, it announced plans to open its first global flagship store here in the third quarter of this year. The store would be Uniqlo’s 26th outlet in Singapore.

The shop will have a sales area of 2,700 sq m and take up three levels at Orchard Central. It will offer high-tech displays and a wide range of products, including the latest lines for children and babies.

Uniqlo’s spokesman said that Singapore “is the ideal location for us to open our first Uniqlo global flagship store in the region”.

Another Japanese retailer, Muji, also announced last month that it is setting up a flagship store here, although it did not say when it would open.

The new store, measuring about 3,300 sq m, will feature an “Open Muji” concept where community creators will be invited to interact with the brand.

The three Japanese brands have been able to go against the grain in the retail scene here because they sell durable products that are necessities, and because of the general popularity of Japanese products in Singapore, said Dr Dianna Chang , a lecturer at SIM University’s School of Business.

“Combined with the affordability of these products, these retailers are rather resistant to, or are even able to thrive in economic downturns,” she added.

Besides attractive prices, Associate Professor of Marketing Prem Shamdasani from the National University of Singapore Business School added that Singapore customers also value good quality and service, which the Japanese brands have been able to deliver.

Adjunct Associate Professor Lynda Wee, from Nanyang Technological University’s Nanyang Business School, said the brands’ ability to understand who their core customers are and what these shoppers want has also allowed them to expand.

“For example, Uniqlo knows its target customers want comfortable wear that is affordable yet stylish and innovative, such as in terms of design and the use of fabrics ideal for Singapore’s climate,” said Dr Wee.

“Once they earn the trust of their customers by meeting and exceeding their needs, they expand their brand promise to other (segments), such as (clothes for) kids and babies. Hence, the brand is scalable.”

Tony called for an integrated institution in Asean to ensure the cross-border aviation safety regulation, formed either by government or Asean airline companies.

“I think there should be one integrated institution on aviation safety,” he said during the 33rd anniversary of The Jakarta Post on Monday in Jakarta.

The multilateral agreement is aimed at uniting Asean skies into a single aviation market and should liberalize the rules regarding customs and cargo to increase the flow of goods and people in the region.

Indonesia has already confirmed that they will join the pact by issuing a presidential regulation last week.

“The scariest part is the non-tariff barrier as it will make competition increasingly tough. Regulators have to ensure the safety of the passengers and, at the same time, protect the players,” Tony said.

Currently there is no association of Asean airlines except for flag carrier airlines such as Garuda Indonesia and Malaysia Airlines. The Association of Asia Pacific Airlines ( AAPA ), headquartered in Kuala Lumpur with 16 members, does not include low cost carriers such as AirAsia.

“I have talked with Tony during the discussion. The creation of an Asean airlines association is a good idea. It is not a cartel but a way to protect the common interests among the countries and its airlines,” Garuda Indonesia President Director Arif Wibowo said.