Why did Singapore follow a policy of export?led growth, and how was this policy effected?

SECTION 1: Remaking Singapore: Case Study Questions

What competitive advantages did Singapore originally have, and what were the key drivers to Singapore?s early growth (before independence)?

What were the main competitive challenges for Singapore when it gained independence in 1965?

What are the factors that turned Singapore into an ?Entrepôt? Economy?, and how did this occur?

How did the government contribute to creating a ?Singapore ?culture?? Why was this important to Singapore?

How did the Government of Singapore attract Foreign Direct Investment, and why was this important?

? Unemployment rate was 13.5% in 1959: Government supported job creation by attracting investment

? Basis of few international companies

? Government decided to improve the investment climate, and welcomed FDI (when many countries thought that FDI was part of the old colonialism)

? New laws improved labour market flexibility by reducing the powers of unions

? Exchange rates were made close to market rates

? Free convertibility of the Singapore dollar

? Tariffs and duties on imports and exports were set at low rates

? 1967 unemployment was till 10%,

? Britain pulled out troops in 1970 (British military expenditure = 18% GDP and 20% employment).

? But global trade and investment were booming in the 1960s and early 70s, and US and European firms were seeking offshore sites for assembly plants

? Singapore made an active policy to attract foreign firms and succeeded in attracting the electronics sector to Jurong and other industrial estates (US firms used Singapore mainly to make components to ship back to USA)

How has Singapore maintained investor confidence during the 1990s and why has this been important?

What competitive advantages had Singapore achieved by the 1990s, and why were these important?

Why did Singapore follow a policy of export?led growth, and how was this policy effected?

Date: 2016-06-12; view: 104