PHOTO: BT FILE[SINGAPORE] Stronger connections by air to developing markets could add a healthy tailwind to the Singapore economy, simulations by government economists have shown. Singapore could thus benefit by serving as a key stop for goods and travellers on routes between emerging markets and South-east Asia and Oceania, the authors of the report said. They calculated that Singapore could gain an annual increase of S$200 million in foreign direct investment, and an added S$520 million in direct investment abroad, just from axing a stopover to a similar-sized economy located within 7,500 km. Industries such as accommodation and retail and logistics could also benefit, the report showed. Still, adding direct flights to “selected cities in North America and Europe” would yield “significant economic gains”, the report’s authors added, without naming destinations.