Singapore has grown from a small fishing village into a reputable business and innovation center. This tiny little red dot serves as a base to over 55,000 startups due to the myriad of benefits from costs, infrastructure, low-risk planning and business friendly eco-system. Starting a business in Singapore, especially in 2021, is less risky as compared to doing so in many other countries. The COVID pandemic was handled exceptionally well in Singapore, making it one of the top 10 safest countries in the world according to Forbes.

Now that we’ve mentioned some of the benefits of starting a business in Singapore, let us look at each of these more extensively.

1) Infrastructure

Singapore has one of the best infrastructures in the world. From healthcare, transport, education, governance, financial institutes and IT systems to better facilitate business processes. A country’s infrastructure sets a base on which its socio-economic growth rests on. Without a dependable and sustainable infrastructure, it is impossible for a country to prosper.

Despite being a resource-scared country, Singapore has managed to achieve substantial and rapid socio-economic growth due to its infrastructure. With that established, setting up a base in Singapore ensures a solid business foundation for new start-ups.

2) Skilled Local Workforce

Being a resource-scared country, Singapore shifted its focus by investing in education for its people. This in turn has made Singaporeans the main resource of the country. Besides an effective education system and infrastructure, Singapore also invested in a countrywide programme by providing subsidised courses for training or upskilling called SkillsFuture. This benefits businesses as they can send employees for subsidised courses.

The extensive variety of courses ensures that regardless of profession or industry, every Singaporean can leverage on this programme. This extends from courses covering leadership skills, management, digitalisation, languages all the way to workshops on cooking and even sewing.

3) Pro-business environment

There are many things a person has to consider before starting a business in Singapore. Besides the basic necessities of infrastructure, there are other factors that can help facilitate the set up and operation of a business in a country. This may include availability of platforms for businesses to network, corporate business tax, government policies and even rent are some of the many factors one has to consider.

With that being said, it is no surprise that Singapore has one of the most attractive corporate tax systems in Asia. To attract more businesses, Singapore has implemented subsidies and exemptions for new businesses with regards to corporate tax. This includes partial tax exemptions as well as a three-year tax exemption for qualifying startups. Singapore does not have a double tax system so dividends paid out to shareholders are exempted from tax as well.

Setting up a business in Singapore is also known to be hassle-free along with the emphasis on intellectual property protection further reinforces reasons to start a business in Singapore in 2021.

4) Digital Friendly and High Technology Adoption Rate

Striving to be a SmartNation, Singapore has rolled out several campaigns to help digitalise the country. These campaigns cover a wide variety of applications from using drones to monitor dengue, implementing contactless payment for transport, integrating online platforms for government services, assisting businesses digitalise and more.

According to The Straits Times, the adoption rate for fintech in Singapore has increased by 23% in 2017 to 67% in 2019. This huge jump has put Singapore above the global average of 64% as well as Asia-Pacific’s rate of 63%. With a high technology adoption rate along with Singapore’s mission to be a SmartNation, many businesses can worry less when digitalising as well as innovating business processes and services.

5) Singapore’s Strategic Location

One of the main reasons why Singapore is deemed the busiest port in the world is due to its strategic location. Singapore sits at the intersection of trade routes connecting around 600 ports of 120 different countries. Besides Singapore’s port capitalising the sea routes, Singapore has also been awarded with having the best airport in the world for eight consecutive years. With now connected countries are through the ease of travel and trade, having the busiest port and the best airport all in one country definitely benefits businesses.

Singapore has also established over 20 Free Trade Agreements – further elevating their position as an ideal location to establish a business.

Now that we’ve elucidated why should you start a business in Singapore, the next step would be how to do it! At TalenSpot, we ensure that your business will have the best access to the talented local workforce Singapore has to offer. With our extensive database of niche talents and years of recruitment experience, we can find you the talents you need to grow your business.

Besides recruitment, TalentSpot also specialises in other HR matters from compensation, policies, tax compliance, training, onboarding and off-boarding. With years of experience and connections especially in the Asia Pacific region with offices in Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Thailand and Vietnam.

Your ideal HR partner – taking your first steps from establishing your business, growing and achieving your goals together with TalentSpot. Choose TalentSpot today!