Singapore - The Natural Choice for a Regional Headquarters
Singapore provides a wide range of compelling reasons for companies large and small to base their regional operations center here. Every week, more and more companies are realizing these benefits and announce plans to setup their operations in Singapore in preference to other regional centers.
Economic
Growth
Over
the last four decades, Singapore has achieved tremendous economic advancements.
From earning a GDP of S$2.15 billion in 1960 to a GDP of S$153 billion in
2001, the city-state is today a reputable financial center, a key regional
trading center, the world's busiest port and a top location for investment.
Leading
surveys have consistently ranked Singapore highly. In the latest 2002 survey
by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) involving 60 economies, Singapore
has taken over Hong Kong's title of having the best business environment in
Asia. Singapore was also once again rated the most competitive economy by
the Swiss-based World Economic Forum (WEF). It released in advance a section
of the Global Competitiveness Report 2002-2003 on the competitiveness of Asian
economies at the 11th East Asia Economic Summit. It pointed out that Singapore
was evidently an economy that possessed the greatest innovative ability and
a solid macro economy in the world.
Launch-pad to the region and beyond
Singapore is located at the heart of Asia, which has a combined market of
over 500 million people. Within a seven-hour flight radius, your business
can reach out to a market of 2.8 billion people.
Leveraging on initiatives such as country-to-country platforms like the Singapore-US
Business Council, German-Singapore Business Forum, France-Singapore Business
Council, Singapore-British Business Council and Singapore-Bavaria Economic
Cooperation, Singapore is more than armed to meet the expansion needs of your
business.
Global trade linkages
In the area of free trade, Singapore signed an FTA with Japan in January 2001
and with the US mid 2003. The FTA with the European Free Trade Association
(EFTA) was signed in mid-2002. Singapore is also negotiating with the Canada,
Australia, Mexico and other countries. These FTAs will be commercially significant
for Singapore and the participating countries. A study by the Institute for
International Economics says the US-Singapore FTA will boost Singapore's GDP
by at least 0.7 percentage points.
On a regional note, ASEAN moved to launch several major initiatives that will
increase its competitiveness. On 6 November 2001, ASEAN and China leaders
agreed to establish 
an
ASEAN-China FTA within 10 years. This will create a Free Trade Area of 1.7
billion people and combined GDP of over US$1 trillion. To date, intra-regional
trade stands at US$39 billion, and will grow with this FTA. Other significant
economic partnerships currently being discussed include ASEAN-Japan and ASEAN-Australia/New
Zealand (known collectively as CER, or Closer Economic Relationship).
Singapore is also involved in a continuing process to achieve APEC's long-term
goal of free and open trade and investment no later than 2010 for industrialized
economies and 2020 for developing economies.
Well-connected to the rest of the world
Singapore is well-served by air, sea and telecommunications connectivity.
As the world's busiest port, Singapore is the focal point for 400 shipping
lines to more than 700 ports worldwide. Singapore Changi Airport is also a
leading air hub in the world, with more than 3,450 weekly flights to 146 cities
in over 50 countries. In telecommunications connectivity, besides a nationwide
broadband network infrastructure, Singapore has 21 Tbps of installed international
capacity, sufficient for your every business need.
International
talent pool
Currently, there are more than 90,000 professional expatriates living and
working in Singapore. They bring with them their unique cultures and perspectives,
adding colour to the cosmopolitan lifestyle in Singapore.
To enhance this critical talent mass, Singapore has already attracted 10 world-class
universities to set up here, complementing its three local universities. They
are respected names such as INSEAD, Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
Chicago Graduate School of Business and Technische Universiteit Eindhoven.
High quality of life
While Singapore continues to advance economically, it is more than a converging
point for business. In a survey reported in The Economist in March 2002, Singapore's
quality of life surpassed that of London or New York. Thirty-nine factors
were considered, including political stability, personal freedom, air pollution
and the quality of healthcare, schools, restaurants and theaters.