Various Asian countries have become a stage for entrepreneurs to start and establish their business. These countries include India, China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore and others. They are favorite locations for entrepreneurs because the policies are friendly and the environment is business-friendly.
But Singapore stands out when the entrepreneurs want to relocate their company or start a new one. Singapore’s Economic Development Board calls the country – “the best place in Asia for your business”. Let us take a look at the reasons why Singapore is the best place to start and run your business:
1. Connectivity to a global reach:
Singapore is located in the heart of southeast Asia. Its strategic location makes it an easy hub to access the growing consumer market. You can reach any South East Asian country within a six-hour radius.
Being the second most globally connected country it is also ranked for its airport. There are over 7400 flights that attend the airport regularly. It works with over hundred airlines that fly to 100 countries on a global level.
In addition to this, Singapore sea port is one of the best ports for the last two decades. The city connects about 600 Global ports and 200 shipping lines that go through Singapore.
This is one of the reasons why I Singapore is rated as one of the top countries in Asia for logistics.
2. Infrastructure in Singapore:
Singapore has a mobile penetration rate of about 159 percent in the domain of telecommunication and information technology. It also provides connectivity with a top submarine cable hub that offers connection to 23 fully functional subsea cables.
The country plans to roll out 5G connectivity and it is expected to reach about half of the country by 2022. Singapore has one of the strongest electricity supplies in the whole world. They claim to have less interruption time in their electricity compared to Tokyo, London and New York.
3. Business-friendliness:
Singapore ranks in one of the top countries who offer Ease of Doing Business according to the World Bank. The country is also rated as one of those that offer the best IP protection infrastructure and incentives in the continent. These ranks are maintained by the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Reports.
4. Tax structure:
Singapore is known to have signed more than 25 free trade agreements and about 70 comprehensive avoidance of double tax agreements. Because of this the business and trading are made easy.
Because of such policies the taxation barriers for trading and investment have decreased significantly. Additionally, Singapore maintains a very strong reputation for arbitration facilities.
It has zero capital gains and dividend tax along with very fewer withholding taxes. This makes Singapore a desirable destination for company registration.
5. Life quality:
As far as safety is concerned, Singapore is one of the best countries on a global level. It maintains transparency within legal systems and a strong police community supported by citizens.
In terms of natural reserves Singapore maintains a lot of parks and botanical gardens. About 47% of Singapore is covered under green spaces.
The country is also known for least corruption in Asia and they value transparency to a great extent.
6. High-skilled local talent of Singapore:
Singapore takes pride in having the world’s most competitive talent and workforce. They are also proud of their highly skilled and educated individuals. With 27.5% of the adult literacy rate the population ranks first for proficiency in English.
The Singapore government also introduces educational initiatives like skills future so that people can upgrade their skill set. They can also learn new skills to excel at the workplace.
7. Funding benefits:
Singapore is known as a triple A-rated economy and a location that offers political stability for business expansion.
It has more than 128 commercial banks, over 31 merchant banks and about 604 capital markets. Singapore also offers the third largest forex trading centre on a global level. It is known by the name Singapore Exchange (SGX).
The Singapore government is famous for supporting the thriving startup ecosystem. They run an initiative called startup SG. It provides a starting point for entrepreneurs. This enables them to access the local initiatives and connect with the global network.
As a consequence, about 3000 startups are connected with a global network of 300 investors in the country.
8. Quick setup of business:
The Singapore government offers fully digitalized business regulation to start a business with a lot of convenience. This stands true even when the entrepreneur is not based in Singapore yet.
In a literal sense it takes only 15 minutes to get your company registration in Singapore. This is the quickest place in south east Asia for company registration. Additionally, it will take you a day and a half to set up a business. That means, it is 17 times faster than the general business setup pace average.
The most important thing to note here is that you need only S$1 to register a new local company. This is the minimum issued capital requirement to register your company in Singapore.
Conclusion:
Looking at all the points listed here, it is evident that Singapore is the best place to start and establish your business. The country, while having natural reserves and plantations, also has a very supportive government. Moreover, it goes without saying that it’s taxation structure and entrepreneurial policies are also supportive.
