Free Trade In Singapore

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Introduction

Singapore is widely regarded by the global community as a developed nation. As a city-state with no natural resources and humble beginnings as a small fishing village, it may seem nothing short of a miracle that Singapore is where it is today, as these circumstances have not stopped Singapore from achieving high economic growth, boasting one of the world’s highest Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita. These accomplishments can be accounted to several key milestones in Singapore’s past that have influenced the country’s policy-making decisions, such as the introduction of free trade in Singapore, as well as principles of governance left from its colonial days under the British.

Free Trade in Singapore
One of the most important …show more content…

According to the 2014 Index of Economic Freedom, Singapore is the second freest economy in the world. Since then, Singapore has gone on to sign Free Trade Agreements (FTA) with 32 trading partners (Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 2012), which has had a beneficial impact on Singapore’s economy. Having a small domestic market, Singapore has had to maintain an open economy that is highly dependent on external demand. As FTAs encourage trade between countries by eliminating trade barriers, they are crucial to Singapore’s economy. According to the Ministry of Trade and Industry Singapore (2011), in 2010, external demand accounted for nearly three-quarter of Singapore’s total demand, and Singapore’s FTAs have indeed increased its domestic exports. Hence, this shows that the principles of free trade left behind by the British were important in shaping the nation’s future policies regarding trade, and has been of paramount importance in ensuring Singapore’s survival as a small economy with no natural …show more content…

Under this system, all Singaporeans are given equal opportunities for success, regardless of their background. As a result, this has ensured that only the most competent Singaporeans govern the country, which has largely benefitted the nation and is partly the reason why Singapore has been able to move from the Third World to the First. Other measures taken by the government to promote equal social mobility include increased benefits for the socioeconomically disadvantaged and the middle class, such as investing in education and making healthcare more affordable (Bell & Li,

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