Singapore

ESSENTIAL FACTS

LOCATION: 1 22 N, 103 48 E
Singapore is in Southeastern Asia between Malaysia and Indonesia.

POPULATION: 4,553,009

CURRENCY: Singapore dollar (SGD)

LANGUAGE: Mandarin, English, Malay, Hokkien, Cantonese, Teochew, Tamil and other Chinese dialects

CLIMATE: Singapore has a tropical climate with two monsoon seasons - Northeastern monsoon (December to March) and Southwestern monsoon (June to September).

EDUCATION: A little over 92 percent of those age 15 and over can read and write.

PUBLIC HOLIDAYS: National Day, 9 August (1965)

HISTORY AND GOVERNMENT

HISTORY
Singapore was founded as a British trading colony in 1819. It joined the Malaysian Federation in 1963 but separated two years later and became independent. Singapore subsequently became one of the world's most prosperous countries with strong international trading links (its port is one of the world's busiest in terms of tonnage handled) and with per capita GDP equal to that of the leading nations of Western Europe.

POLITICAL SYSTEM
Singapore is a parliamentary republic, with a President, Prime Minister, Senior Minister, Minister Mentor and two Deputy Prime Ministers. The legislative branch is a unicameral Parliament. Their legal system is based on English common law.

COMMERCE AND TRADE

COMMERCIAL ACTIVITY
Agriculture: Rubber, copra, fruit, orchids, vegetables; poultry, eggs; fish, ornamental fish
Industry: Electronics, chemicals, financial services, oil drilling equipment, petroleum refining, rubber processing and rubber products, processed food and beverages, ship repair, offshore platform construction, life sciences

TRADE PRACTICES
Exports: Machinery and equipment (including electronics), consumer goods, chemicals, mineral fuels to Malaysia, US, Hong Kong, China, Indonesia, Japan and Thailand
Imports: Machinery and equipment, mineral fuels, chemicals, foodstuffs from Malaysia, US, China, Japan, Taiwan, Indonesia and South Korea

BANKING, FINANCE AND INVESTMENT

FINANCIAL FACTS
Fiscal year: 1 April - 31 March

STOCK MARKET
Market value of publicly traded shares: $382.4 billion (2007)

MEMBERSHIPS
ADB, APEC, APT, ARF, ASEAN, BIS, C, CP, EAS, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICRM, IDA, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, NAM, OPCW, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNMIT, UPU, WCL, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

FOREIGN INVESTMENT
While Singapore represents a crucial area geographically for trading and Asia-based finance, there are not a tremendous amount of incentives or tax breaks to be found here. The corporate tax rate is levied at 18 percent across the board on income worldwide. There is no VAT, but there is a 7 percent tax on goods and services.

Some tax incentives and exemptions include the following. Companies that have not done any business since incorporating do not have to pay any taxes or annual fees. The company is small - under 20 members - and none of those members are a corporation.

Incorporation of a resident company, non-resident company, branch or subsidiary takes one working week. Annual meetings can take place anywhere in the world.

Singapore does have double taxation treaty agreements with many countries.