ABSTRACT
The Singapore experience is a case of limited resources and people being organised into a disciplined society and efficient economy, in which government and foreign multinational corporations play dominant roles and domestic private enterprises a lesser part. The strategic economic plan aims to upgrade the economy from the factor-driven stage to the investment- and innovation-driven stages; from a reliance on cost advantage and foreign technology towards product differentiation and the development of domestic expertise and know-how. The traditional economic pillars of Singapore, its entrepot and British military base, were respectively threatened by the growth of direct trading by neighbouring countries and Britain’s wish to close down its colonial outpost. In addition to manufacturing, Singapore’s economic strategy has focused on the development of export services, and it is a regional financial, transport and telecommunications centre and a tourist destination.
