Activity: The following comments are extracted from a group of experts on the issue reported and...

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Activity: The following comments are extracted from a group of experts on the issue reported and covered through the media on the recent developments on the potential economic gains both Singapore and Malaysia stand to gain from the Singapore-KL High Speed Rail (HSR) Project if it is completed. You can find the details from the link below: PERSPECTIVE ISEAS Yusof Ishak Institute (ISSN 2335 6677) Potential Economic Impact of the Kuala Lumpur - Singapore High Speed Rail By Kazunobu Hayakawa, Ikumo Isono, and Satoru Kumagai* Singapore | 27 July 2018 https://www.iseas.edu.sg/images/pdf/ISEAS_Perspective_2018_40@50.pdf Some key comments are: The Kuala Lumpur-Singapore high-speed rail project (HSR) is an ambitious 350km rail project aimed at connecting and reducing the travel time between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. Though the agreement to implement the project was signed in 2016, the fate of the project was cast into a limbo recently after the ruling coalition Barisan Nasional was decisively defeated in Malaysia's 14th general election on 5th May 2018. 1 Mahathir Mohamad, who became Malaysia's prime minister for the second time but now leading the Pakatan Harapan coalition, first opined in an interview with the press that the HSR was unnecessary and would be dropped.2 However, in another press interview two weeks later, he clarified that the project was not scrapped but merely postponed.3 A key concern of the new government is that the economic benefit from the project does not commensurate with the cost of the project (estimated to be around US$13-15 billion). Malaysia's Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has indicated that Malaysia is likely to postpone implementation of the HSR project. A key concern is that the project may not be sufficiently beneficial compared to the costs. However, our analysis based on simulations of the IDE-GSM model reveal that there will be some economic benefits from the project. The estimated economic impact of the HSR for Malaysia and Singapore in the best policy mix scenario are USD 1.589 billion and USD 641 million per year in 2030, respectively. The project's economic impact arises partly from a shift from the manufacturing to the services sector FITCH Unit ran an opinion piece on this issue. The author, Justin Ong, looked at how the KL- Singapore High Speed Rail could be back on track soon. You can access the article from the link below. Malay mail Fitch unit sees KL - Singapore High Speed Rail back on track soon By Justin Ong Thursday, 13 Feb 2020 https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2020/02/13/fitch-unit-sees-kl-singapore-high- speed-rail-back-on-track-soon/1837022 The Fitch Group unit said the economic benefits of the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High Speed Rail (HSR) were too great to ignore, adding that there was a strong business case to proceed with the project that was deferred due to its high cost. It noted that the Pakatan Harapan government has reversed its decisions to suspend or cancel other major developments, including Bandar Malaysia that would benefit from the HSR. The recent Singapore KL High Speed Rail project is expected to impact the Asian nations on a positive note wrote one Property Consultant. Although the high-speed rail will bring about economic growth to both nations, it will also spur the creation of jobs, increase in tourism, cultural diversity, and real estate opportunities. You can access the article from the link below: PropertyHunt.sg Benefits of the Singapore KL High Speed Rail https://www.propertyhunt.sg/benefits-singapore-kl-high-speed-rail/ Some key excerpts from the article are given below There will be a rise in the property value of lands in the nodal towns along the Singapore-Kuala Lumpur HSR. There will be increased land and ownership demand in the Johor, Klang Valley and all the nodal stops along the HSR route. This will bring about many new housing estates along the rail route that will be like a spillover from the Singaporean property market. This opportunity is open to all property investors, Malaysians, and big foreign players. Another essential benefit of the Singapore-Kuala Lumpur High-Speed Rail to Malaysia is the direct job opportunities it will present. From the construction till the operations, many Malaysians will be directly involved in various capacity and manpower. Also, this will result to the up springing of business opportunities around Jurong East terminus in diverse sectors including tourism, hospitality, retail, logistics and much more. Many other professionals can work in Singapore while living in Malaysia. The HSR project will reduce the hassles involved with traveling to and from Singapore hence; many people (especially low-income professionals) working in Singapore will prefer to live in the less expensive apartments a few kilometers into Malaysia than the highbrow neighborhoods of Singapore. Other people in this category are retirees that will be looking at easing their expenses and overhead while they sustain a healthy lifestyle. Finally, business activities will begin to overflow into Malaysia from Singapore. Shopping malls and other business properties will start to spring up in other towns in places close to the train routes in Malaysia, especially, Johor. This will increase the growth rate of Johor and the property sector too. Many Singaporeans already live in Johor but, more will begin to own and develop resources. The above identified articles would give you an idea of the nature of the problem and its potential impact on the business operating at the territory. Can this be a game changer for a Business Enterprise? Using information from such sources and synthesising with relevant academic theories and frameworks (from books, journal articles), prepare a Business Report on a Business Entity. Required: Prepare a Business Report of 4,000 words (+/- 10% words) * * This word limit does not include the executive summary, organization profile, tables, diagrams, appendices or references. (Include a word count on your title page.) You are required to select an existing business entity or create a new business entity that you think will be able to take advantage from the recent proposed developments in the KL - Singapore High Speed Rail Initiative at the firm's level as well as from the global connectivity and competitive value added chain platform. This is in anticipation of its proposed completion. Singapore's MOT (Ministry Of Transport) spokesman reiterated that the HSR Bilateral Agreement, signed in December 2016, is a legally binding international pact which remains in force today. This is a pre-emptive strategical deployment of resources and hence it is seen to be an opportunity to take advantage of the proposed Malaysian High Speed Railway and its close proximity to Singapore. Your analysis and evaluation should consider areas of the external business environment that will affect the business entity. In your report, you must show whether your analysis and evaluation of the existing or new business entity will enable the business entity to ultimately benefit or not benefit from the proposed completion of the KL-Singapore High Speed Rail (HSR) Initiative. External issues faced by the business entity in terms of political, economic, social, and legal and any other external macro issues that may be linked to the KL-Singapore HSR Initiative should be examined and evaluated. What are the impacts on your business and what are you going to do, strategic wise. For example, you could examine SWOT and propose that some components of the business (if not all) may be outsourced to and assemble in the targeted country to take advantage of the logistical and service connectivity and reducing logistical costs. These may also be leverage upon by China's Belt and Road Initiative and the upcoming Port Development in Indonesia.. There are opportunities and benefits to examine. You may be able to approach and redesign the distribution channels and make new channel relationships that could under-price the entrenched competitors with established distribution network and undercutting their tariff-hiked pricing. The business entity that you will be selecting or will be creating need not be limited to a business entity in your home country. In your answer, you may state your assumptions but they must be clearly backed by evidence from the literature or other reliable sources. Guidance notes: In your answer, you must clearly demonstrate knowledge and understanding from research and reading wider than that contained in the module pack and core textbook. This is a BUSINESS REPORT and so must be presented in business report format and style. This is an academic piece of work therefore you are expected to link theory and practice. You should take care to ensure that the work you submit has a high standard of presentation. This is an individual assignment. You must acknowledge your sources of information and evidence using the Harvard referencing system. All assignments are subject to the University's regulations on collusion and plagiarism and must be submitted in electronic form for checking (Turnitin report must also be submitted). Summary Assessment Criteria 1. Relevance: Directly relevant to the requirements of the assessment. (10%) 2. Knowledge: A substantial knowledge of relevant material, showing a clear grasp of themes, questions and issues therein. (20%) 3. Analysis: Good analysis, clear and orderly (20%) 4. Argument and structure: Coherent and logically structured, using an appropriate mode of argument and/or theoretical model(s). (20%) 5. Critical evaluation: Contains distinctive or independent thinking; may formulate an independent position in relation to theory and/or practice. (10%) 6. Presentation: Well written, with standard spelling and grammar, in a readable style with an acceptable format. (10%) 7. Reference to literature: Critical appraisal of up-to-date and/or appropriate literature. Recognition of different perspectives. Good use of a range of sources. (10%) (See marking scheme for more detailed guidance) Activity: The following comments are extracted from a group of experts on the issue reported and covered through the media on the recent developments on the potential economic gains both Singapore and Malaysia stand to gain from the Singapore-KL High Speed Rail (HSR) Project if it is completed. You can find the details from the link below: PERSPECTIVE ISEAS Yusof Ishak Institute (ISSN 2335 6677) Potential Economic Impact of the Kuala Lumpur - Singapore High Speed Rail By Kazunobu Hayakawa, Ikumo Isono, and Satoru Kumagai* Singapore | 27 July 2018 https://www.iseas.edu.sg/images/pdf/ISEAS_Perspective_2018_40@50.pdf Some key comments are: The Kuala Lumpur-Singapore high-speed rail project (HSR) is an ambitious 350km rail project aimed at connecting and reducing the travel time between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. Though the agreement to implement the project was signed in 2016, the fate of the project was cast into a limbo recently after the ruling coalition Barisan Nasional was decisively defeated in Malaysia's 14th general election on 5th May 2018. 1 Mahathir Mohamad, who became Malaysia's prime minister for the second time but now leading the Pakatan Harapan coalition, first opined in an interview with the press that the HSR was unnecessary and would be dropped.2 However, in another press interview two weeks later, he clarified that the project was not scrapped but merely postponed.3 A key concern of the new government is that the economic benefit from the project does not commensurate with the cost of the project (estimated to be around US$13-15 billion). Malaysia's Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has indicated that Malaysia is likely to postpone implementation of the HSR project. A key concern is that the project may not be sufficiently beneficial compared to the costs. However, our analysis based on simulations of the IDE-GSM model reveal that there will be some economic benefits from the project. The estimated economic impact of the HSR for Malaysia and Singapore in the best policy mix scenario are USD 1.589 billion and USD 641 million per year in 2030, respectively. The project's economic impact arises partly from a shift from the manufacturing to the services sector FITCH Unit ran an opinion piece on this issue. The author, Justin Ong, looked at how the KL- Singapore High Speed Rail could be back on track soon. You can access the article from the link below. Malay mail Fitch unit sees KL - Singapore High Speed Rail back on track soon By Justin Ong Thursday, 13 Feb 2020 https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2020/02/13/fitch-unit-sees-kl-singapore-high- speed-rail-back-on-track-soon/1837022 The Fitch Group unit said the economic benefits of the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High Speed Rail (HSR) were too great to ignore, adding that there was a strong business case to proceed with the project that was deferred due to its high cost. It noted that the Pakatan Harapan government has reversed its decisions to suspend or cancel other major developments, including Bandar Malaysia that would benefit from the HSR. The recent Singapore KL High Speed Rail project is expected to impact the Asian nations on a positive note wrote one Property Consultant. Although the high-speed rail will bring about economic growth to both nations, it will also spur the creation of jobs, increase in tourism, cultural diversity, and real estate opportunities. You can access the article from the link below: PropertyHunt.sg Benefits of the Singapore KL High Speed Rail https://www.propertyhunt.sg/benefits-singapore-kl-high-speed-rail/ Some key excerpts from the article are given below There will be a rise in the property value of lands in the nodal towns along the Singapore-Kuala Lumpur HSR. There will be increased land and ownership demand in the Johor, Klang Valley and all the nodal stops along the HSR route. This will bring about many new housing estates along the rail route that will be like a spillover from the Singaporean property market. This opportunity is open to all property investors, Malaysians, and big foreign players. Another essential benefit of the Singapore-Kuala Lumpur High-Speed Rail to Malaysia is the direct job opportunities it will present. From the construction till the operations, many Malaysians will be directly involved in various capacity and manpower. Also, this will result to the up springing of business opportunities around Jurong East terminus in diverse sectors including tourism, hospitality, retail, logistics and much more. Many other professionals can work in Singapore while living in Malaysia. The HSR project will reduce the hassles involved with traveling to and from Singapore hence; many people (especially low-income professionals) working in Singapore will prefer to live in the less expensive apartments a few kilometers into Malaysia than the highbrow neighborhoods of Singapore. Other people in this category are retirees that will be looking at easing their expenses and overhead while they sustain a healthy lifestyle. Finally, business activities will begin to overflow into Malaysia from Singapore. Shopping malls and other business properties will start to spring up in other towns in places close to the train routes in Malaysia, especially, Johor. This will increase the growth rate of Johor and the property sector too. Many Singaporeans already live in Johor but, more will begin to own and develop resources. The above identified articles would give you an idea of the nature of the problem and its potential impact on the business operating at the territory. Can this be a game changer for a Business Enterprise? Using information from such sources and synthesising with relevant academic theories and frameworks (from books, journal articles), prepare a Business Report on a Business Entity. Required: Prepare a Business Report of 4,000 words (+/- 10% words) * * This word limit does not include the executive summary, organization profile, tables, diagrams, appendices or references. (Include a word count on your title page.) You are required to select an existing business entity or create a new business entity that you think will be able to take advantage from the recent proposed developments in the KL - Singapore High Speed Rail Initiative at the firm's level as well as from the global connectivity and competitive value added chain platform. This is in anticipation of its proposed completion. Singapore's MOT (Ministry Of Transport) spokesman reiterated that the HSR Bilateral Agreement, signed in December 2016, is a legally binding international pact which remains in force today. This is a pre-emptive strategical deployment of resources and hence it is seen to be an opportunity to take advantage of the proposed Malaysian High Speed Railway and its close proximity to Singapore. Your analysis and evaluation should consider areas of the external business environment that will affect the business entity. In your report, you must show whether your analysis and evaluation of the existing or new business entity will enable the business entity to ultimately benefit or not benefit from the proposed completion of the KL-Singapore High Speed Rail (HSR) Initiative. External issues faced by the business entity in terms of political, economic, social, and legal and any other external macro issues that may be linked to the KL-Singapore HSR Initiative should be examined and evaluated. What are the impacts on your business and what are you going to do, strategic wise. For example, you could examine SWOT and propose that some components of the business (if not all) may be outsourced to and assemble in the targeted country to take advantage of the logistical and service connectivity and reducing logistical costs. These may also be leverage upon by China's Belt and Road Initiative and the upcoming Port Development in Indonesia.. There are opportunities and benefits to examine. You may be able to approach and redesign the distribution channels and make new channel relationships that could under-price the entrenched competitors with established distribution network and undercutting their tariff-hiked pricing. The business entity that you will be selecting or will be creating need not be limited to a business entity in your home country. In your answer, you may state your assumptions but they must be clearly backed by evidence from the literature or other reliable sources. Guidance notes: In your answer, you must clearly demonstrate knowledge and understanding from research and reading wider than that contained in the module pack and core textbook. This is a BUSINESS REPORT and so must be presented in business report format and style. This is an academic piece of work therefore you are expected to link theory and practice. You should take care to ensure that the work you submit has a high standard of presentation. This is an individual assignment. You must acknowledge your sources of information and evidence using the Harvard referencing system. All assignments are subject to the University's regulations on collusion and plagiarism and must be submitted in electronic form for checking (Turnitin report must also be submitted). Summary Assessment Criteria 1. Relevance: Directly relevant to the requirements of the assessment. (10%) 2. Knowledge: A substantial knowledge of relevant material, showing a clear grasp of themes, questions and issues therein. (20%) 3. Analysis: Good analysis, clear and orderly (20%) 4. Argument and structure: Coherent and logically structured, using an appropriate mode of argument and/or theoretical model(s). (20%) 5. Critical evaluation: Contains distinctive or independent thinking; may formulate an independent position in relation to theory and/or practice. (10%) 6. Presentation: Well written, with standard spelling and grammar, in a readable style with an acceptable format. (10%) 7. Reference to literature: Critical appraisal of up-to-date and/or appropriate literature. Recognition of different perspectives. Good use of a range of sources. (10%) (See marking scheme for more detailed guidance)

Answer rating: 100% (QA)

ANALYSIS ESSAY The comments from experts focus on the potential economic impact of the Kuala LumpurSingapore High Speed Rail HSR project The project aimed at connecting and reducing travel time betwee... View the full answer