Astonishing Economic Achievements
Singapore is an extraordinary success story. In less than 50 years, it has gone from an impoverished island with no natural resources and a population a majority of whom were illiterate to a country of 4.7 million people with living standards that match those of the most highly developed industrial nations.
Singapore’s fast economic growth from the 1960s triggered its transformation into a modern city-state with a highly developed trade-oriented market economy. Its economy has been ranked as the most open in the world, least corrupt, most pro-business, low tax rates, and has the third highest per-capita GDP (PPP).
Government-linked companies play a substantial role in Singapore's economy, which are owned through the sovereign wealth fund Temasek Holdings, which holds majority stakes in several of the nation's largest companies, such as Singapore Airlines, SingTel, ST Engineering and MediaCorp.
Growth & Innovation
International Capital of the 21st Century
Singapore’s key strategies have been to adopt a pro-business, pro-foreign investment, export-oriented economic policy framework, combined with state-directed investments in strategic government-owned corporations.
With no presence of any natural resource, Singapore has long relied mostly on its human resources as well as its infrastructure. From 1960, the Singapore government has implemented various policies in order to maintain a high quality of workforce in the nation. The result is a population that is among the most technically competent in the world. Its challenge now, is to make sure that it is also among the most creative and innovative in the world.
Today, Singapore is home to one of the world’s largest and busiest ports. It is also one of the world’s major telecommunications hubs and a leader in consumer electronics, pharmaceuticals, financial services and information technology.
Singapore boasts one of the world’s strongest school systems as measured by international comparisons of academic achievements.
Source: PISA 2012 Mean Scores
Vision of Prosperity
Singapore has done well over the last fifty years, turning its people into assets as the launching pad of its economic development.
The wonders of the Singapore economic achievement since the 1960s have its roots in the hard work of the government and the people of Singapore. The government and the people of Singapore have realized that Singapore depends primarily on its human resources and secondarily on the resources of foreign investors. As such, both the government and the people have worked together throughout the years to ensure that Singapore’s economy remains competitive. With relatively stable governments from 1960 onward, Singapore has been able to attract foreign investors, from which it gains the crucial financial capital for its economic progress.
GDP Per Person at Purchasing Power Parity
2011 Prices, $,000
Source: IMF
Long-term Benefits Combined with Real Growth
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