Singapore’s recent economic history
Singapore is well located for international industry and trading. The development of the Singapore economy depends heavily on foreign capital, foreign technology and foreign workers. Foreign companies are attracted by an interesting tax system. The foreign investors profit from the fact that they pay lower tax rates than local residents. The Singaporean government has a big influence on the social and economic development. The authorities organized for example trainings for Singaporean workers in order to obtain trained, highly motivated residents. This resulted in the fact that nominal wages raised and unemployment declined.
The Singaporean government always supported the free enterprise system in order to obtain industrial stability. The combination of supporting the Singaporean inhabitants, inviting multinationals and embracing the free enterprise system resulted in the fact that Singapore is nowadays one of the most important leading, financial countries in Southeast Asia.
GDP Growth
Year GDP in M$
2002 157,694.4
2003 160,890.4
2004 181,539.8
2005 194,241.7
2006 209,990.9
(Source: Yearbook of Statistics Singapore, 2007, page 74)
Year GDP growth in %
2002 3.0 %
2003 2.0 %
2004 12.8 %
2005 7.0 %
2006 8.1 %
(Source: Yearbook of Statistics Singapore, 2007, page 74)
The last five y ...