Doing business in Singapore

• The Singapore Economy
• Singapore’s advantages
• Made in Singapore: Manufacturing Excellence
• Key Industry Sectors
• Setting Up in Singapore
• Hyflux

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Learning Unit Summary

Singapore consistently scores high marks in global and regional rankings of the factors that matter to businesses. These range from political risk to workforce productivity, from the quality of life to the prospects for making profits.

• Singapore is ranked the second most competitive economy by the World Competitiveness Yearbook 2007 and the seventh most competitive economy by the Global Competitiveness Report 2007-2008.
• The World Competitiveness Yearbook 2007, published by the International Institute for Management Development (IMD), ranks Singapore as the second most competitive economy in the world. The competitiveness ranking is based on four categories measuring economic performance, government efficiency, business efficiency and infrastructure. In terms of small economies (population under 20 million), Singapore is the world's most competitive small economy.
• The Global Competitiveness Report 2007-2008 by the World Economic Forum (WEF) ranks Singapore seventh in its Global Competitiveness Index (GCI), and ninth in the Business Competitiveness Index (BCI).
• Singapore’s economy is 87.4 percent free, according to Heritage 2008 assessment, which makes it the world’s 2nd freest economy. Its overall score is slightly higher than last year, reflecting improved scores in five of the 10 economic freedoms. Singapore is ranked 2nd out of 30 countries in the Asia–Pacific region, and its overall score is much higher than the regional average. Singapore is a world leader in all 10 areas of economic freedom.
• 26,000 international companies call Singapore home. Of these, 60% of 7,000 foreign MNCs have regional activities in Singapore.
• One-third of the FT500 companies with Asian HQs have chosen Singapore.

Singapore has signed numerous free trade agreements (FTAs) in the past years and currently has the most extensive FTA network in Asia. Agreements have been signed with key economies such as US, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, members of the European Free Trade Association (Switzerland, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway), Jordan, China (under the ASEAN-China framework), Chile (under the Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership Agreement), South Korea, India and Panama.

With a focus on innovation and R&D, Singapore's manufacturing sector has steadily increased its GDP contribution over the past decade, surpassing 27% in 2005. By 2018, the industry aims to double manufacturing output and value-add while maintaining its one-quarter share of GDP.

MTI forecasts the Singapore economy to grow by 4.5-6.5 per cent in 2008. This represents a moderation in growth towards the economy’s underlying potential rate, following four years of above-trend growth.

Hyflux Ltd began in 1989 as Hydrochem (S) Pte Ltd, a trading company selling water treatment systems in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia and later, China. Today, Hyflux has a market capitalization exceeding S$1 billion and has grown beyond just a water treatment company. It is recognized as Asia’s leading environmental company with operations and projects namely in Singapore, China, the Middle East & North Africa and India.