Publications
Publications
- March 1996 (Revised October 1996)
- HBS Case Collection
Singapore's Trade in Services
By: Debora L. Spar
Abstract
Focuses on the efforts of Singapore's Economic Development Board (EDB) to grow the tiny island almost wholly through an expansion of its service economy. Between 1965 and 1990, Singapore achieved a remarkable rate of growth, largely by opening its economy to foreign investment and by providing these investors with a full range of business and infrastructural services. By 1990, however, the island is running out of room for expansion. To keep the economy expanding at its customary pace, the EDB crafts an ambitious strategy of regionalization. Under this strategy, Singapore plans to export its service economy, developing a string of overseas enclaves to replicate the business environment that, physically, can no longer expand in Singapore. In these enclaves, designed to rim the Southeast Asian region, foreign investors could enjoy the full range of services they had come to enjoy in Singapore. And, by providing investors in these parks with a full range of business, administrative, and infrastructural services, Singapore would become the ultimate service economy.
Keywords
Growth Management; Service Operations; Government and Politics; Developing Countries and Economies; Macroeconomics; Service Industry; Singapore
Citation
Spar, Debora L., Julia Kou, and Laura Bures. "Singapore's Trade in Services." Harvard Business School Case 796-135, March 1996. (Revised October 1996.)
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