REITS in Asia (think singapore)

Business Times - 23 Apr 2007


S'pore Reits market is largest in Asia outside Japan: minister

SINGAPORE - Singapore's real estate investment trust (Reit) market has become the biggest in the Asia Pacific region outside Japan, Trade and Industry Minister Lim Hng Kiang said on Monday.

Since the first Reit listing in 2002, Singapore now has 16 listed Reits with a total market capitalisation of $26 billion (US$17.22 billion), he said in a speech to a property conference.

This makes it 'the largest Reit market in Asia outside of Japan,' he said, without giving a size of the Japanese market.

'Singapore Reits offer investors access to a diversity of real estate assets including retail malls, office buildings, industrial properties and serviced apartments,' Mr Lim said.

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Click here to read the full text of Mr Lim Hng Kiang's speech

In 2006, Singapore saw its first dedicated hotel Reit and Asia's first healthcare Reit, said Mr Lim, who is also deputy chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore, the republic's central bank. -- AFP