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MP A R

Munich Personal RePEc Archive

Singapore economy:An overview

Menon, Sudha Venu ICFAI Business School, Ahmedabad

30 May 2007

Online at http://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/4667/ MPRA Paper No. 4667, posted 07. November 2007 / 04:06

SINGAPORE ECONOMY: AN OVERVIEW

Sudha Menon

The spectacular growth of economies in Asia over the past few years has amazed the economics profession and has evoked a torrent of books and articles attempting to explain the phenomenon. Since 1960, Asia, the largest and most populous of the continents has become richer faster than any other region of the world. Asian growth, like that of the Soviet Union in its high-growth era seems to be driven by extraordinary growth in inputs like labor and capital rather than by gains in efficiency. Of course, this growth has not occurred at the same pace all over the continent. The eastern countries turned in a superior performance, although variations in achievement can be observed here too1. Singapore plays a leading role in changing the destiny of post colonial countries in Asian region, by heralding the unique success path of economic growth, industrial competitiveness coupled with political stability and transparency. Even though the country was constrained by geographical limitations and a vast natural resource base, the city- state was able to lay the foundations of economic prosperity and diversity through effective utilization of its entrepot status. When other Asian countries faced a chequered history of economic under development, political instability and social unrest, Singapore attempted a brave step towards liberalization, international trade and capitalistic growth strategy which ultimately made the country a ‘brand’ among other countries. Now Singapore serves as a regional headquarters for more than 3000 multinational companies and has world class financial and service sectors and above all highly efficient physical infrastructure. The country consistently ranks high...