Ibus380 Singapore Country Analysis Project

Country Analysis Project – Singapore

IBUS 380

Dr. Turgut Guvenli

Students: John Fransson, Hunter Frericks, and Sydney Germscheid

April 22, 2019

Table of Contents

Executive Summary      …........................................................ 3

Introduction    …........................................................................4

General Information …............................................................ 5

Government, Legal, and Labor Union …................................5

Economy ….................................................................................6

International Trade…................................................................6

Foreign Direct Investment …...................................................10

Statistical Information ….........................................................11

Local Currency and Exchange Rate …...................................12

Trade Policies …........................................................................13

FDI Policies …...........................................................................13

Conclusion and Five-Year Forecast …....................................14

Recommendation …..................................................................15

Executive Summary

The following is a report for Guvenli International Inc. to determine whether this organization should invest in Singapore. We conducted quantitative research from various credible sources across the internet. Our sources can be found in APA format on the last page of the report. Singapore is a Southeastern Asian country, founded in 1965, located by Malaysia and Indonesia. It has a population of six million people with the average age being 35 years old. Life expectancy is one of the highest in the world with an age of 85.5 years. Singapore has a Free Market Economy that boasts its corruption free business environment. It is also pro-foreign investments and has export orientated policies. The GDP per capita is $94,100, ranked at 7th in the world. Their most profitable industries include electronics, chemicals, financial services, and oil drilling equipment.

The labor force is made up of 3.66 million people; the unemployment rate for 2017 was 2.2%. About 18% of the workforce has union membership. Most of the unions are affiliated with the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC). Unions have the right to strike unless they are working in the three essential services of water, gas and electric. Services make up 75.2% of the economy, and industry makes up the rest at 24.8%. Inflation rose from -0.5% in 2016 to 0.6% in 2017. Unfortunately, Singapore’s budget recorded deficit in 2017, recording a loss of approximately $1.2 billion. Singapore currently has a political risk ranked at 1, which means it is a very low risk. The country risk is a 2, but this leaves room for improvement while also being low risk. Singapore’s government is Parliamentary Republic that represents a stable political climate based on English Common Law. The local currency is the Singapore Dollar ($ or S$) and is known as a soft currency because of fluctuations in value over the last 10 years. As of 2018, $1.3707 Singapore dollar equals $1 U.S. dollar.

The median household income increased in 2017 by 1.5%, with a monthly income of $9,023. This has rose 15.5% since 2012. Singapore has the highest standard of living in South East Asia. They have an advanced education system, affordable health care, and public transportation. Since Singapore has strict laws, this gives them one of the lowest crime rates in the world. They have clean cities due to bans on public smoking and traffic congestion policies.  

Singapore is a World Trade Organization (WTO) member and has free trade agreements with 43 other countries including China, the European Union and the United States. They are also members of four different regional economic integration organizations. Singapore is known to be pro-trade with an open and receptive market. 99% of imports are duty-free, and everything from the U.S. is duty free. There are a few service barriers such as pay tv, media services, legal services, and banking. Singapore has eight Free Trade Zones. However, there are some requirements for use of these areas, such as labeling, licensing or export permits, and storage and transportation regulations.

There are a few FDI policies that attract companies to outsource from Singapore. They have double tax agreements, a skilled workforce, an effective legal system and the world’s best infrastructure. Singapore also allows foreign ownership of 100%. In general, Singapore is a country that is welcoming and open. They have a well-developed and stable financial sector, and a very low rate of corruption. Singapore’s top importing products are monolithic integrated circuits, petroleum oils, and gold. A few of the top importing countries include China, Malaysia, Indonesia and the United States. The top exporting products are monolithic integrated circuits, gold, aircraft parts, and petroleum oil. China, Malaysia, and the U.S. are the top exporting countries for Singapore. In 2017, the historical cost of U.S. FDI in Singapore was $274,260 million U.S. dollars. Singapore’s historical cost in FDI for the U.S. in 2017 was $22,360 million U.S. dollars. The United States has had a trade surplus over Singapore for 16 years.

Based on the information provided, HSJ recommends for Guvenli International Inc. to export products to Singapore. First, we recommend starting out with a branch office to conduct research on the interested markets. Next, determine benefits and compensation packages to bring in employees from a competitive workforce. Singapore is a promising country to invest in, and Guvenli International Inc. could be getting more money per dollar than they would in the United States.

Introduction

The purpose of this project is to do thorough research on the country Singapore. Our company, which is called HSJ Consulting, is working in collaboration with Guvenli International, Inc. to determine whether Singapore is an appropriate country to invest in. To make an accurate assessment on Singapore, we considered many factors. These factors include the government, economy, international trade, exports and imports, foreign direct investment, local currency and exchange rate, trade policies, and FDI policies. To conclude this paper, we included a 5-year forecast and a recommendation regarding investment in Singapore.