Eng Keat Lee Regional Director Singapore Economic Development Board

The key focus is training our manpower. Unemployment currently stands at about four percent. Though this is a relatively low rate, we are not taking things for granted and are actively facilitating science, technology and engineering training. We are helping to boost the capabilities and retaining experienced manpower, especially in the growth industries. There are new programs whereby instead of retrenching the workers, you could send them for training. A large part of the training cost is covered by the Singapore Government and companies can claim absentee pay.

Some of the other efforts include facilitating cash-flow by enhancing tax exemptions on foreign source income, enhancing the provisions for capital allowance and allowing companies to convert some of their losses into cash refunds.

What are the new opportunity areas for investors in Singapore?
The key interest from Indian companies so far has been the use of Singapore as a base to tap the region. Interest first started from the IT industry. In addition, there has been significant awareness to set up trading activities here.

New areas where companies can explore opportunities are described by what we call growth themes such as urban solutions and health and wellness. Looking at some of the statistics and macro trends, half of the world’s population is going to be moving into cities. With the increasing crowd in cities, the world would need solutions for urban mobility or transport, homeland security, environment and water. We are positioning Singapore as a living laboratory for companies to develop their ideas to products or solutions that could be eventually marketed to the world. The Singapore government is quite open to test bed new innovative solutions that companies might bring forward, which could eventually use Singapore as a reference point to target other markets in the world.

The other area is of health and wellness. This is partially born out of Singapore’s own need for solutions in this space. The cost of healthcare has been escalating rapidly and Singapore has an ageing population. We believe there are opportunities to introduce innovative, cost-effective solutions to home care, and also the care in the hospitals.

What makes Singapore an attractive destination for investors?
The ease of doing business in Singapore is one of the key factors. Indians companies are comfortable that Singapore practices common law with the background being the British law. In recent times, some Indian companies are using Singapore as an arbitration platform to settle disputes.

There are a lot of business opportunities in Asia and Singapore is one of the good locations to use as a base to seek those potential opportunities because of the cosmopolitan nature and the connected nature of the Singapore economy. We are by no means a low-cost location but we are a cost-effective location because if you look at our rentals, the cost of infrastructure, etc. it is comparable to some of the Indian cities, like Mumbai.

Singapore is a home for talent. Its safe and secure environment allows talent to be comfortable as in a home away from home.

How is the tax system in Singapore favorable for foreign companies?
The taxation system has a few key characteristics. There is corporate tax, individual tax and the goods and services tax. For corporate tax, Singapore has a one-tier tax system whereby profits and losses at the subsidiary level could be pooled at the parent holding company level. As for the foreign sourced income, if you are repatriating dividends, branch profits or service income from other countries which has a headline tax rate of more than 15 percent, that is also exempted in Singapore under the foreign sourced income tax exemption. Capital gains are also tax exempt in Singapore.

When you are looking to bring dividends back to India, Singapore does not withhold taxes on dividends repatriated back to India. This, coupled with the country’s network of double taxation avoidance agreements in Asia, allows you to effectively manage your tax incidence.

How easy is it to start a business in Singapore? How much time does it take? And what is the cost?
You would need a resident director to register a company in Singapore. The resident does not have to be a Singaporean or a Singapore Permanent Resident or PR. Once that information is ready, most companies would be able to register the company fairly easily online. Some companies take just a day to get it done. To be on the safer side, we sometimes quote ten days to the companies we meet. The registration fee is around Singapore 300-600 dollars.

If you are dealing with the domestic economy, such as food and beverage or a night club or a hotel, there will be other regulations that are specific to these industries.

How does your agency help entrepreneurs wanting to set up shop in Singapore?
For those who are interested in exploring product development efforts or interested in using Singapore to serve the region, we help facilitate introductions that would help them achieve their goals faster.

For product development, the Economic Development Board (EDB) helps to identify possible technology partners, such as companies or research institutes that are able to augment their efforts and shorten their time to market.

For those wishing to use Singapore as a base for the region, EDB provides suggestions on various partners that have experience in overseas markets.