Economic Competitiveness In Singapore

1935 Words8 Pages
1.0 Introduction Singapore’s constantly improving infrastructure, skilled workforce, good employee relations, natural connectivity, favourable tax regime, political stability and strong rule of law have all contributed to the country’s competitive advantage. These factors enabled the Singapore economy to grow and develop over the past decades and have contributed to Singapore being Asia’s most competitive economy (Medtech, 2013). Singapore is well developed in its infrastructure and being in a strategic location as a port is one of the major factors behind its economic success. Known as the world’s busiest port, the maritime industry contributes approximately 7 per cent to Singapore’s GDP which makes up three-quarters of the Singapore economy…show more content…
Singapore’s tax policies enhance its economic competitiveness and attract foreign investments to Singapore. With its prudent fiscal policy, Singapore is able to enjoy consistent budget surpluses over the years, which contributes to a high savings rate that allows it to achieve one of the highest investment rates in the world without having to incur foreign debt. Based on the Budget 2014 speech by Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam, stated that Singapore is expected to have an overall surplus of S$3.9 billion and 1.1 per cent of GDP (Channel NewsAsia, 2014). Together with the monetary policy, the MAS ensure that there is low inflation for a sustained economic…show more content…
IE promotes international trading and the export of Singapore goods and services. It helps local companies to identify overseas markets, develop international trade capabilities and expand into the region. With more export of goods and services, Singapore will collect more money which result in appreciation of Singapore dollar and increases it’s buying power, and improve Singapore’s economy (IE Singapore, 2015). There are some strategies that IE has implement to support overseas growth of local companies. Both the Market Readiness Assistance (MRA) Grant and the Global Company Partnership (GCP) Grant which will be increasing its funding support from up to 50 per cent to a maximum of 70 per cent. These grants will support new activities for overseas promotion and enhance the SMEs market access. 200 per cent tax deduction will be given for qualifying manpower expenses incurred for Singaporeans who are posted to new overseas entities (IE Singapore,
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