Googling the three words in the above heading leads to the following useful reads for background information.

  • How Singapore Became an Entrepreneurial Hub, a 2015 Harvard Business Review article by Scott D Anthony.
  • Singapore’s State-Guided Entrepreneurship: A Model for Transitional Economies? This is a 2009 academic paper by Anthony Shome published in the New Zealand Journal of Asian Studies.
  • Thinking bigger: Pushing Singaporean entrepreneurship to the next level, from the Singapore Management University’s (SMU) collection of scholarly articles in Asian Management Insights written in 2015 by now SMU Professor Emeritus, Arcot Desai Narasimhalu.

On a more practical level, consider three examples showcasing why entrepreneurs may choose to establish a business presence in Singapore.

  • Flow of international visitors. An expatriate Japanese national, Entrepreneur A has an existing distribution network in several Asian countries selling a brand of cosmetic and other products manufactured and marketed by a Japanese e-commerce company. Notwithstanding its relatively small population and market size, Entrepreneur A sees the potential among the millions of annual international visitors to the city-state. The vision is that of a secondary effect from selling and marketing the company’s products in Singapore whereby some foreign visitors exposed to the products may convert into online customers back in their home countries.  
  • Intellectual property (IP) protection. Entrepreneur B, a British citizen, partners with another to operate an event organiser business (primarily weddings) in a popular island resort in the ASEAN region. Separately, the businessman also owns the IP rights to an internet sales and marketing software held in an Australian registered company (AusCo). This online software is used to procure wedding and other events business for the island resort company for a commission. The plan is for a local partner, who would be given equity ownership in the AusCo, to run the internet sales and marketing operations. For more effective IP protection, the rights to the online software would be transferred to a Singapore registered holding company (SgCo). With this restructuring, Entrepreneur B’s shareholdings in AusCo would be transferred to SgCo which then owns the IP and controls AusCo.   
  • Investor confidence and access to financing. American Entrepreneur C sees an opportunity to capitalise on the US movement away from over dependence on the China supply chain and the geopolitical and supply risks arising therefrom. The idea is to set up a facility in Vietnam to manufacture consumer products for export to the US. To get a project of this scale off the ground, however, not only requires adequate equity funding but sufficient access to other sources of financing as well. Singapore, with its rule of law reputation as well as a track record as a regional financial centre, provides the assurance to potential investors together with a ready supply of various financiers. In this case, Entrepreneur C could similarly set up a Singapore holding company to, one, invest in the Vietnam manufacturing facility; and two, procure the additional financing to fund the manufacturing operations. With this organisational structure, both the equity and debt investors are assured that their interests are accorded the protection of the Singapore legal system.

Date Posted: 30/08/2023