ABSTRACT
Singapore is a small island nation of 650 square kilometers and 4 million people. It achieved dynamic economic growth averaging more than 7 percent a year from the mid-1960s until the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis. By 1997 it had attained a per capita gross national product (GNP) of US$26,475. Singapore overcame its size constraint and achieved economic success by integrating into the global and regional economies through international trade and investment. Total merchandise and service trade is more than triple the GNP, reflecting not only a small resource base and domestic market but also the entrepot role and the free trade policy pursued by the Singapore government. Inward FDI stock ranks among the largest of the non-OECD economies. The high FDI penetration reflects the country’s role as a global export manufacturing base and its integration into global production networks, as well as its role as a regional services hub in finance, trade, transportation, and logistics. Foreign multinational corporations (MNCs) are considered valuable partners in Singapore’s economic development.
