4 MANAGEMENT DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS 59 SINGAPORE Singapore is a core market for us, where we support a mature environment with healthcare support solutions for public and private hospitals, IFM solutions, and hospitality services for commercial and industrial sectors. Trends • Growing demand for outsourcing and integrated facilities management as organisations seek to optimise costs and improve operational efficiency. • More frequent launches of large-scale facilities management contracts, presenting opportunities alongside heightened competition. • Rising demand for sustainable buildings and smart technologies, driven by the Government’s commitment to sustainable urban development and smart city initiatives. • Tightening contract requirements as clients optimise costs, including reduced headcounts, higher project outputs, more complex billing structures and stricter terms and conditions. • Escalating labour costs due to regulatory-driven wage increases, including the Progressive Wage Model, higher S Pass minimum qualifying salaries and higher local qualifying salaries. • Persistent labour shortages in the sector despite rising wage levels, exacerbated by tight controls in Singapore to maintain the dependency ratio ceiling which determines the ratio of foreign workers to the total workforce. • Rising cost of supplies driven by market constraints and fluctuating trade-tariff conditions. Our Response • Establishing UEMS NXT Pte. Ltd. as a dedicated Singapore subsidiary and deepening collaboration with technology partners to enhance our technology capabilities and strengthen our smart building consultancy services. • Leveraging UEMS NXT to streamline smart building technologies under the UETrackTM product stack. • Investing in our corporate brand positioning as a leader in innovation and service quality, leveraging our strong reputation in the sector. • Offering wages above regulatory requirements to attract and retain quality staff in a tight labour market. • Enhancing productivity through investment in technology, automation and mechanisation, supported by workforce upskilling. • Implementing targeted operational improvement initiatives across the business to minimise costs while maintaining service quality. • Adopting agile procurement to diversify sourcing to suppliers in non-tariff-affected regions, while negotiating with existing suppliers to defer price increments and maintain cost stability. TAIWAN In Taiwan, we provide support services to hospitals, technology companies, shopping malls, and high-speed rail operators. To maintain our competitiveness, we continued to deepen relationships with existing clients by focusing on our core capabilities and service quality. Trends • Rising manpower costs driven by minimum wage increases, four additional public holidays and an additional 10% wage uplift on top of the minimum wage for public organisations in accordance with a government advisory. • Compressed margins due to inflationary pressures and tighter customer budgets. • Highly competitive hospitality sector with limited budgets, dominated by local players offering aggressive discounts to gain market share. • Growing demand for cost-effective solutions, accelerating innovation through robotics and AI. • Higher service quality expectations requiring heightened operational excellence and efficiency. Our Response • Maintaining strong service delivery through enhanced employee training, improved standard operating procedures and continuous client engagement from frontline teams through to senior management. • Leveraging our improved in-house mobile resource optimisation platform, UETrack™, and other advanced systems to drive process efficiency, improve service transparency and strengthen our competitive edge. • Optimising manpower planning and exploring innovative market solutions, including process reengineering, to sustain service quality and operational excellence. • Fostering long-term client relationships through regular engagement, creating an environment where constructive feedback is actively received and acted on for continuous improvement. • Adding value for clients by driving sustainability initiatives to position ourselves as a forward-thinking partner, while reinforcing that sustainability is integral to service quality.
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