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The 1990s |
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The 1990s: Looking beyond the region
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By 1990, EDB had 16 investment promotion centres worldwide. Its role had broadened into that of a business architect helping companies configure and design activities through strategic planning partnerships.
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Globalisation became the new target. Under the Singapore Unlimited initiative, EDB looked to the world for resources in finance, technology, manpower and information. Singapore still sought to attract foreign investments, especially in high value-added industries, but the development of an external economy linked to the domestic economy was crucial to Singapore's economic competitiveness.
The concept of creating economic space beyond Singapore was shaped. The idea was to get local companies and Singapore-based multinationals to participate in the region's growth by distributing resource-dependent operations to resource-rich countries. Meanwhile, operations in Singapore were upgraded to higher-end activities that required Singapore's unique set of competencies.
New economic space was created when Singapore tapped the land and manpower resources of other countries in the region to establish industrial parks. Companies which invested in these parks benefited from their proximity to Singapore, from where they still controlled their operations, as well as by operating in an environment with similar standards to Singapore. These industrial parks were established in China, India, Vietnam and Indonesia.
Singapore has made remarkable progress since the early 1960s. Some 7,000 multinational companies now operate in Singapore, with about half having regional operations. In 2000, Singapore became the first country in the world with a nationwide broadband network.
Singapore's economic structure today is as diversified as it is balanced. Strong manufacturing and services sectors are the twin pillars of the economy, and there is a wide range of businesses, particularly in the higher value-adding activities. It welcomes talent from around the world to augment the local pool of talent and skills.
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