Business In Singapore

Introduction

During 2003, President George W. Bush signed the U.S. вЂ" Singapore Free Trade Agreement. This agreement went into effect on January 1, 2004 and immediately created a zero tariff on all U.S. imports into Singapore. This was the first agreement by any Asian nation with the United States.( http://www.ustr.gov/Document_Library/ Fact_Sheets/2003/Quick_Facts_US- Singapore_Free_Trade_Agreement.html) With a population of just over 4 million and an area just a little over half the size of Los Angeles, Singapore is a very big player in commerce and economics in South-East Asia and around the World. It's centrally located port operations handle more material than any other port in the world. A stable political system, strong economy and focus on education have made it the best country to do business with in the World.

Local Facts

Demographics

Singapore is a city-state located on the southern border of Malaysia and north of Indonesia. It is one of only a few city-states remaining in the world. The entire country covers only 272 square miles, and comparatively, is about 3 times the size of Washington D.C. (Wikipedia, Singapore) The population of this island nation is roughly 4.68 million people. The population is very diverse in that 3.7 million people are actually Singaporean. The other million people are made up of Chinese (75.2%), Malays (13.6%), Indians (8.8%) and Eurasians and others (2.2%).(ustr.gov)

Education

The primary language in Singapore is English. Other common languages are Mandarin, Malay, and Tamil. Nearly half of the children learn English before they learn their native language. Due to the diversity of the population, many other languages are spoken as well. For example, some schools receive financial aid to teach in Mandarin Chinese (Wiki, Singapore). There is a wide range of public and private schools to choose from. The separation of public and private schools is nearly non existent and is classified more into categories such as government-funded, government-aided, and independent. In addition, there are four state run university level institutions. Admission to these institutions is very competitive and is based on scoring in the annual Singaporean GCE �O’ Level. This is a system that tests those students that have completed their secondary school education and determines which of the institutions they would be able to be admitted too.

Singapore holds education in very high regard. It is evident with a literacy rate of 94.6% of people 15 years or older, and 32.7% having a higher than secondary education.(wiki, Education in Singapore)

Cuisine & Culture

Doing business in a foreign land means that one must understand the culture and standards in that country. Singapore’s cuisine is influenced by its diverse culture. Traditional Singaporean foods have roots that come from all of the different cultures that make up the population. It is not uncommon to see a traditional dish with a Chinese or Malay twist to it. Most of the dishes are, however, what an American would consider a traditional Asian dish containing rice and some kind of duck or pork meat. Because of the dense population and small land area, nearly all food is imported from neighboring countries. (Wiki, Culture)

Since the 1990’s, the Singaporean government has been promoting Singapore as a cultural center for the Arts, such as Music and Painting. One of the largest endeavors was to construct the Esplanade. This centre was built to showcase the performing arts in Singapore.

Transportation

Since Singapore is situated on a peninsula, the most obvious form of transportation is by sea. During 2005, the Port of Singapore handled a little over 1 billion tons of material, making it one of the busiest sea-ports in the world. In addition to the sea traffic, Singapore is also considered to be the hub of Southeast Asia. The main airport in Singapore, Singapore Changi, serves 81 airlines connecting 185 cities in 58 countries around the world.

Domestic transportation consists of a network of roads, highways, and expressways. There are multiple state owned transportation systems such as the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) bus system and the Light Rail Transit (LRT) train system. More than 2 million people depend on these systems to get to and from work each day. Private vehicle ownership is discouraged because of tolls during high traffic hours on heavily used roads, and the high tariffs placed on privately owned vehicles. (Wiki, Singapore)

Political

The political situation in Singapore is unique in the region and around the world. Designated as a Parliamentary Republic, Singapore follows many of the traditional characteristics of a republic. The head of the government is the Prime Minister of Singapore, currently held by Lee Hsien Loong. Loong has been the Prime Minister in Singapore since August 2004. He is only the third Prime Minister in Singapore's short history. Similar to the United States, Singapore has three branches of government. The Prime Minister makes up the Executive Branch. Singapore also has a parliament, similar to the American Senate and House of Representatives. Third, there is a Judicial Branch. Some experts have called the government of Singapore an authoritarian democracy. Others have said that the government is nearly socialist, mostly due to the fact that a majority of people live in state owned housing complexes.

Singapore was originally colonized by the British. In 1959, Singapore broke from British rule and became an independent City-State, forming its own government, legislature, and judicial branches. From 1963 to 1965, Singapore became a part of Malaysia. This ended when the prime minister of Singapore and the Malay government began to disagree on larger issues and Singapore was expelled. Since that time Singapore has been independent.

The primary party in Singapore is the PAP (Peoples Action Party). The PAP is known to use lawsuits and slander to demean and eventually convince opposing parties to quit politics or drop out of races. In some cases, the opposing parties simply run out of money due to legal fees and must drop out of any kind of political race. (Wiki, Politics in Singapore)

The government is known to be very conservative and any types of crimes that demean or harm individuals and/or the general public are punishable by caning or death. One of the most remembered incidences for Americans is the 1994 incident involving Michael Fay. Fay was tried and found guilty in Singaporean