Many multinational companies seeking to realize opportunities in Asia, creating regional headquarters as a financial centers in Asia specifically for Asian markets. Today, more than 7,000 global conglomerates developing in Singapore, including many “blue chips” of the United States, Europe and Japan.
Singapore offers a quality ground presence in Asia as it constantly takes a leading place in the top five countries in “ease of doing business”, business support policy, good governance, low levels of corruption, the quality of the workforce and realistic immigration policy.
Singapore is also the preferred business destination for global investors. According to 17% of respondents questioned in the poll Bloomberg, Singapore beat London, occupying the second position in the list of the world’s leading financial centres. Investment climate attracts firms who seek specialised financial centre serving certain segments of the industry. Moving from traditional financial services locations to Singapore now includes hedge funds, project finance, private wealth management, and most recently also venture capital. Singapore has a lower tax rate plus there is no capital gains tax.
Singapore boasts the highest number of supporting services to players in Southeast Asia, banks, insurance, air and sea transportation, advertising and PR, the results of scientific research in various fields and also offers a range of state support schemes.
For its innovative system, Singapore is in one of the first places in the world. In 2007, expenditure on R & D in this country amounted to 2.5% of GDP, and in 2008 (in absolute value) – $ 6 billion in 1990 was registered on 5 – fold increase in R & D funding from the private sector. Currently, the private sector provides two-thirds of gross expenditure on R & D, the lion’s share of which are foreign companies.
Singaporean knowledge-based economy in the 1960s has gone through several stages of formation – from the import of technologies from TNCs to form their own innovative industry, which was already dominated by local companies. In the early 1980s, the government decided to send the economy on the development of industries that create high added value. Of government initiatives, that period should be noted an increase in wages in these sectors, tax benefits and effective financial mechanisms.
Singapore has managed to create a system of quality education, the country attracts reputable world-class educational institutions – MIT, Wharton, John Hopkins University, Shanghai “Dzhiatung”, INSEAD and the Chicago business school. It is important to note here that almost all the educational institutions in Singapore are involved in applied R&D and collaborate with industrial companies.
