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| Executive Travel: Singapore |
Business Essentials
Daniel DelRe
09/01/2005
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Singapore attracts the lion’s share of direct foreign investment in
Asia
because of business-friendly policies, low level of corruption and
its location,
making it a business gateway to the region. When Carrier
Transicold, one of the world leaders in transport refrigeration and
air
conditioning systems, decided to consolidate its Asia-Pacific operations in
Singapore, that country’s Economic Development Board eased the way for
the
company to invest $12 million in an 188,000-square-foot facility
employing 430
people, 55 percent of whom are Singaporean.
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January 1*
January 10
January 29, 30*
April
14
May 1
May 12*
August 9
November 21**
November 24
December 25
December 31* |
New Year’s Day
Hari Raya Haji
Chinese New Year
Good Friday
Labour
Day
Vesak Day
National Day
Deepavali
Hari Raya Puasa
Christmas
Day
Hari Raya Haji |
* Falls on a Sunday; a following weekday will be a public holiday.
** The date for Deepavali is determined annually by Indian almanacs when they
become available toward the end of the year.
Source: Ministry of
Manpower |
When he
announced the plan, Carrier President Geraud Darnis, who is based in Farmington,
Conn., enthused
over the attractiveness of Singapore for engineering
and manufacturing
companies: proximity to regional suppliers and
consumer markets, well-trained
engineers and “a favorable business
environment fostered by the Economic
Development Board.” Carrier’s
parent company, United Technologies Corp., has 11
facilities in
Singapore, employing 3,700 people.
U.S. companies have shown
that these benefits—along with Singapore’s strong economic
fundamentals, a free
trade agreement with the United States and a
squeaky-clean business
environment—help spur their businesses. Using
Singapore as the hub of regional
operations, Carrier saw revenues in
Asia increase 25 percent in 2004. Investment
flows suggest that other
U.S. companies expect similar results. Singapore
attracts more U.S.
direct investment than any other county in Southeast Asia:
$5.7 billion
in 2003, which accounted for 26 percent of all U.S. direct
investment
in Asia that year, and almost four times the amount of U.S. direct
investment in China. Overall, the Economic Development Board estimates
that
foreign direct investments made in 2004 will contribute $6.4
billion, or roughly
6 percent, to the GDP of Singapore—a country that
is only slightly bigger than
Chicago—solidifying its reputation as a
gateway to Asia’s growing
markets.
Certain pockets of industry
have absorbed the lion’s share of
foreign investment. In 2004, foreign
companies purchased more than $2.8 billion
in fixed assets designed to
manufacture electronics products. Investors also
poured almost $1
billion into fixed assets for producing chemicals and
petrochemicals.
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