Singapore has been crowned the tenth most attractive nation in the world for foreign direct investment (FDI), jumping ahead of economies such as Switzerland and Sweden, according to A.T. Kearney’s (A.T.) FDI Confidence Index. (sbr.com.sg)
Soon Gee Chua, Partner and Head of Southeast Asia at A.T., notes that Singapore has established itself as a regional financial hub. Its robust economy, stable political environment, corruption-free government and educated talent pool have made Singapore an alluring destination for global companies.
Notably, the index shows that domestic market size, cost of labour, regulatory transparency and lack of corruption are top considerations for executives when investing in a country. “Singapore is consistently ranked as one of the easiest places to do business. That has seen major global companies set up their regional headquarters here,” Chua adds. “Singapore is also a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) further adding to its lure for companies looking to tap into the 10-nation economic bloc’s growth potential. All of this has contributed to the growth in FDI into the country,” he further asserts.
The Lion City jumped five places–the biggest rise in rankings–to take the 10th spot in 2016’s index. Occupying the first to ninth places respectively were US, China, Canada, Germany, UK, Japan, Australia, France and India. Meanwhile, the index also reveals that only about 3 in 10 (31%) respondents were confident about the city-state’s economic outlook over the next three years, compared to a year ago. The index studies political, economic, and regulatory changes that affect FDI inflows into countries. It uses primary data from a proprietary survey administered to senior executives of leading corporations across 27 countries.