Economy
Posted on 9 Nov 2009
Last modified on 7 Jun 2010
Singapore’s economic structure has a high level of development. Primary sector is virtually non-existent, accounting for only 0.2% of GDP, due to his lack of natural resources and small size. Its industries, which provide the 34.16% of GDP, electronics, petrochemicals, metal products, chemicals and pharmaceuticals.
The service sector is the key sector of the Singapore economy, accounting for 61.75% of GDP. Its banking and financial services, consulting and counseling, and mediation and agency are very competitive and highly effective, especially being targeted to foreign markets. The financial services market is among the most open, sophisticated, professional, able to react quickly to international contingencies due to the absence of exchange controls and the strong cooperation of the authorities. Singapore also stood by new technologies, with a boom recently in the field of information technology, nanotechnology and biomedicine.
The free market economy of Singapore has enjoyed a virtually uninterrupted growth since its independence in 1965. The city-state has one of the highest GDP per capita in the world (over $ 51,656) resulting in a quality of life similar to the United States and Western countries. Its political stability, good relations with the unions and his opposition to protectionism has allowed its highly qualified workforce of some 2,990,000 million professionals asset to generate a GDP of $ 257 billions in 2009. Growth has continued since then, except for the brief period of recession of 2009. The Singapore dollar is a strong currency and risk agencies-Fitch, Moody’s and S & P-awarded to Singapore in their triple A ratings.
The pillars of Singapore’s economic development after independence were trade, manufacturing, shipbuilding and ship repair and oil refining. The trade volume exceeds $ 747 billion, of which $ 391 are due to export. The output of global manufacturing exceeds $ 213 billion. Singapore’s container port is the busiest in the world and its ten refineries make him one of the main oil refining centers of Asia.
The Singapore economy has matured over time and its population is increasingly better educated, which resulted in a sharp increase in banking and financial services, telecommunications, electronics and professional services that have made Singapore a regional operations center and a manufacturing base to over 7,000 multinational from a broad spectrum of sectors. The technology industry was predominant in the 90’s to the point that 30% of world production of hard disks was carried out in Singapore. Tourism has also become an important source of income.
In response to strong international competition due to the reduction of production costs in countries of the region as China and India, combined with higher wage costs in Singapore, the country has begun to offer high value-added services while trying to become a knowledge economy fully integrated into the global economy. The focus is now on research and development, information technology, e-business, entertainment industry and the arts. Singapore also encourages life sciences with branches in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical equipment, strategic areas in the new phase of economic development. Telecommunications, financial services and power generation industry are in the process of liberalization with the aim of encouraging the participation of foreign companies. The opening of the Esplanade in 2002 after investing $ 650 million, completes the circle of the island’s economic progress.
The government has never taken for granted its economic success as it recognizes their vulnerability and dependence on regional and global events that leads to a very narrow management of the economy.
Tourism
Singapore received more than 9 billion visitors in 2009. The government has initiated projects to triple spending on tourism promotion to reach 17 million tourists in 2015. The two main profiles of visitors would be: first, the tourist or passenger cruise ships and on the other those who come on business. The main source countries are Indonesia, China, Australia, Japan and India, as these 5 countries account for 50% of visitors to Singapore. Today the island has about 42,000 rooms in more than 230 hotels, with an occupancy rate of 76%.
The tourism industry is well developed and has won numerous international awards. In 2004, Singapore won the contest of the readers of Conde Nast Traveller magazine in the UK. Singapore was chosen as best city to travel abroad. In 2005 he won the title of Best City Convention in Asia and the second best in the world, granted by the International Congress and Convention. Singapore offers its visitors a rich cosmopolitan destination for an incredible cultural diversity and dynamic contrasts between tradition and modernity, East and West. In just one day, visitors will journey through protected economic enclaves and ultra-modern skyscrapers, while doing their shopping in exclusive stores. The contrast from day to night is well worth seeing and the fantastic variety of cuisines, as well.
Singapore is a free port for all the goods entering the country with the exception of automobiles, gasoline, alcohol and tobacco. The goods and services tax is applied to all products, although tourists can claim a refund when leaving the country (GST refund). As a result of this policy, a range of products such as electronics, cosmetics and perfumes prices remain very competitive with other countries. The Singapore Tourism Board is focusing its efforts in promoting the island, which will benefit from the opening of two casinos in 2010 and a theme park on Sentosa Island. To all this we must add the holding of international events like Formula 1 (since 2008) and the first Youth Olympic Games in 2010 to make Singapore a more attractive place to visit.