ABSTRACT
Singapore literally means 'lion city' and has five colossus merlion statues in the city. Over the past 50 years or so, the Singapore government has succeeded in growing the economy, creating job opportunities, ensuring good working conditions for nationals and raising the standard of living, all in a tiny city-state with few natural resources. Transparency and integration of sustainable business issues into corporate governance and financial markets is also weak, and reducing the carbon intensity of the economy, which includes the biggest container port and biggest gas refinery in the world, and a prolific construction industry, remains a vast challenge. There is a positive side-effect of Singapore's obsession with competitiveness. The Round Table on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) is part of the new generation of multi-stakeholder sustainable business codes, which have far more credibility than their industry-led predecessors (such as Responsible Care). The most interesting sustainable business-related discovery in Thailand was undoubtedly Cabbages & Condoms.
