In business rankings regarding competitiveness, profitability, business environment, lack of corruption, and intellectual property protection, Singapore is consistently ranked among the top five in the world.
For the past 45 years, Singaporeans have worked hard to make Singapore the best place in the world to do business. Singapore understands the keys to business success and ensures it can provide everything companies need.
The more than 7,000 international companies based in Singapore enjoy the best conditions for doing business, including:
First-class physical, legal, and social infrastructure
Pro-business tax regime
A variety of financing schemes
A skilled local workforce and overseas talent ready to enter the country for service
Numerous free trade and investment agreements signed between Singapore and other countries, ensuring that companies based in Singapore can smoothly enter international markets
If you are from another country, you can also enjoy special entry schemes for convenient access to Singapore
Singapore is consistently rated as one of the world's most competitive countries and one of the best places to do business.
Rankings from the past few years include:
Ranked among the top five in the world for low levels of corruption, and ranked 1st in Asia - Transparency International, October 2004
Ranked 7th in the Global Competitiveness Report (2004-2005) - World Economic Forum
Ranked 1st in the Global Information Technology Report (2004-2005) - World Economic Forum
Ranked 1st in Asia and 3rd in the world for ease of doing business - World Bank "Doing Business 2005" report
Ranked 1st in Asia for quality of government policy - Political and Economic Risk Consultancy, Ltd. (PERC), February 2005
The Singapore government adopts a highly cooperative attitude toward the needs of businesses and regularly seeks the views and suggestions of the private sector when formulating economic policies. This was the case when the Economic Review Committee set out to propose policy changes in 2002 with the aim of optimizing Singapore's long-term growth prospects.
Employment Treatment in Singapore
Employment Treatment
Once an applicant is hired, P-pass holders earn a monthly salary of over 3,500 SGD, and Q1-pass holders earn a monthly salary of over 2,000 SGD. After working in Singapore for six months, with the employer's consent, one may apply to become a Singapore Permanent Resident (PR). After two years as a permanent resident, one may apply to become a Singapore citizen.
Work Permit (R-pass)
Work permits are processed and approved by the Work Pass Division of the Ministry of Manpower. Under current regulations, any employer intending to hire a foreign worker with a monthly salary not exceeding 2,000 SGD must apply for a work permit.
The employment of work permit holders is subject to a foreign worker levy and a quota on the number of foreign workers permitted in each industry. The marine industry has the highest permitted ratio of foreign workers, with a ratio of foreign workers to local full-time employees of up to 9 to 1. This is followed by the construction industry at 5 to 1, the marine engineering industry at 3 to 1, and the manufacturing industry at 1 to 1. The service industry stipulates that foreign workers can only account for 30 percent of a company's total employees.
In addition, employers must pay a monthly foreign worker levy for each work permit holder. The amount is 30 SGD per month for semi-skilled workers, while the monthly levy for unskilled workers ranges from 240 to 470 SGD, depending on the industry. Under the current framework, the work permit is also known as the R-pass. The R1 pass is issued to foreign workers who possess at least a National Technical Certificate (NTC-3) or equivalent qualifications, i.e., semi-skilled workers; the R2 pass is issued to foreign workers who do not meet the requirements for the R1 pass, i.e., unskilled workers. Work permit holders are not allowed to bring their families to Singapore.
