The WeChat owner will take up almost 200 seats or almost 10,000 sq ft of space, with the lease running for a year. Image: JustCo at OCBC Centre East

Tencent Holdings Ltd will set up its first Singapore office within JustCo’s co-working space in OCBC Centre East at Raffles Place, reported Bloomberg.

The WeChat owner will take up almost 200 seats or almost 10,000 sq ft of space, with the lease running for a year, according to people familiar with the plans but requested not to be identified as the matter is private.

The people noted that the one-year lease provides the company flexibility to seek a bigger space as it adds staff. In September, Tencent had revealed plans to open an office in Singapore.

The transaction paves the way for the Chinese social media and video-gaming company to make the city-state its beachhead for a push into the Southeast Asia region.

Other Chinese tech firms that are using Singapore as a launch pad into the rest of Asia include TikTok owner, Bytedance, which is expanding its Singapore office. Alibaba, on the other hand, acquired a 50% stake in a Singapore office tower earlier in the year.

The demand coming from these tech companies could help boost Singapore’s office market, which saw some companies vacating leases and landlords forced to slash rents due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Cushman & Wakefield revealed that tech companies have taken up 350,000 sq ft of new office space leases and expansions this year. It expects the figure to rise to between 400,000 sq ft and 500,000 sq ft next year.

Singapore – with its developed legal and financial systems as well as stable political environment – is considered as an attractive base as it offers a gateway to the 650 million smartphone-savvy population of Southeast Asia.

China’s tech giants have been focusing their attention on the region, given the growing hostility from India and the US.

The company’s hit games “Arena of Valor” and “PUBG Mobile” are barred in India, while the Trump administration seeks to remove WeChat from mobile app stores within the US.

Christine Li, Cushman & Wakefield’s Head of Research and Business Development Services for Southeast Asia, noted that co-working space provides companies “the advantage to be flexible in markets where headcount growth is unclear and there is a possibility that business can grow so quickly that they run out of space”.

Source: CommercialGuru, 19 Oct 2020