laundering Archive

  • Singapore’s re-invention won’t be easy – but it doesn’t matter. Singapore has made mistakes in its attempt to push its economy in new directions. Attempts to promote the Singapore exchange to Chinese firms looking for a foreign listing, led to lower standards and a series of scandals, as I discussed here: Why you must tread carefully in emerging markets. The better Chinese firms have listed in Hong Kong and New York and won’t be back. The budget’s focus on productivity reinforces one thing. Singapore has failed to produce a single world-beating large company. Its largest government-linked companies (GLCs) are often inefficient and lack innovation. Their existence squeezes smaller, more innovative private-sector rivals. That’s unlikely to change until the politics does, irrespective of how much money is thrown at the problem.

    A cheap play on Asian growth

    Posted on March 1, 2010 | No Comments
    Singapore’s re-invention won’t be easy – but it doesn’t matter. Singapore has made mistakes in its attempt to push its economy in new directions. Attempts to promote the Singapore exchange to Chinese firms looking for a foreign listing, led to lower standards and a series of scandals, as I discussed here: Why you must tread carefully in emerging markets. The better Chinese firms have listed in Hong Kong and New York and won’t be back. The budget’s focus on productivity reinforces one thing. Singapore has failed to produce a single world-beating large company. Its largest government-linked companies (GLCs) are often inefficient and lack innovation. Their existence squeezes smaller, more innovative private-sector rivals. That’s unlikely to change until the politics does, irrespective of how much money is thrown at the problem.

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