The 4th Study Meeting on Asia

1. Date:
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November 17, 2010 15:00 – 17:00

Venue: Meeting Room, the Takeda Foundation
Title: Singapore: why are they making profits?
Speaker: Mr. Ikuo Moriwaki, Dou Yee International
Participants
01

Ikuo Moriwaki

Dou Ye International

02

Yoshihiro Mikami

03

Kazutoshi Oyamada

SRID
International Program Department, Japan
Society for the Promotion of Science04

Ikuo Takeda

Chairman, the Takeda Foundation

05

MIstuo Akagi

Senior ManagingFoundation

06

Ysuo Tarui

Managing Director, the Takeda Foundation

07

Yuzo Mizobuchi

Director, the Takeda Foundation

08

Norio Ohto

Director, the Takeda Foundation

09

Naoaki Aizaki

Program Officer, the Takeda Foundation

10

Aiko Ubasawa

Program Specialist, the Takeda Foundation

11

Setsufumi Kamuro

Program Specialist, the Takeda Foundation

12

Mototaka Kamoshida

Program Specialist, the Takeda Foundation

13

Emiko Mitsui

Program Officer, the Takeda Foundation

14

TakamiMember, the Takeda Foundation

Director,theTakeda

6. MEMO
Lecturer
Mr. Moriwaki graduated from Osaka City University, joined Sansha ElectricCompany, and, after working for Analog Devices and SGS-Thomson, moved toSingapore. In Singapore, he joined Dou Yee International, which manufactures
and trades various items including electric and electronic devices, materials forsemiconductors, metal injection molding, clean rooms, static electricity parts,and dispenser parts. He helped Japanese firms localize their overseas branches
in Singapore for 17 years. He has rich experience in working with local firms in
Singapore, and has been watching Singapore grow.
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Overview of Singapore
Singapore is a city-state with a population of 4.7 million people and a land areaof about 700 square kilometers, which is about the same size as the Tokyo
metropolitan area. Some parts of the land are landfill and the developing parts
are still expanding. Singapore faces the Straits of Malacca, which combine theIndian Ocean and the South China Sea, and has been a very important port formaritime transportation in Southeastern Asia. Singapore used to be a colony ofBritain, but during World War II it was occupied by the Japanese army. It wasre-colonized by Britain when Japan lost the war, but became independent in1957 as a part of the Federation of Malaysia due to the efforts of theindependence movement. However, as a result of preferential measures toward
Malays adopted by the Malaysian federal government, the conflict between
Malays and local Chinese descendent escalated, and finally, in 1965, Singapore
became an independent city-state with local Chinese descendent as the majority
population. Seventy-seven percent of Singapore citizens are of Chinese descent,
14% are of Malay descent, and 8% are of Indian descent. Public languages inSingapore are English, Malay, Mandarin, and Tamil. Singapore is strongly
affected by Chinese morals favoring a diligent and clean life style, surepunishment and reward, equal treatment, and a focus on money. Politically,Singapore is a near oligarchy despite the existence of several opposition parties.
Despite its size, Singapore is one of the strongest military powers in Southeast
Asia based on its universal conscription system. Singapore possesses the latest
military ships and jet fighters.
Society and industries in Singapore
The facts that Singapore is a very important port for maritime transportation anda city-state without any natural resources are major determinants of thecharacteristics of Singapore society and industries. Their basic strategy involves
making profits by collecting materials, people, and information from all over theworld. For this to happen, they have built the necessary infrastructure, including
ports and airports, and environment to attract foreign students and humanresources to universities and research institutes from all over the world. They
take measures to attract foreign investment to Singapore, and most major firmsin Singapore are overseas branches and factories of foreign firms. The
establishment of a corporate firm is very easy in Singapore. If you are a2

Singapore citizen or possess permanent residency, then you can establish a firmby opening a bank account at a local Singapore bank.
They are quite enthusiastic about recruiting people from outside Singapore, andeven Japanese recruiting companies have opened overseas branches inSingapore. The largest domestic firm in Singapore is Singapore Airlines, andlarge domestic firms have annual sales of several hundred million US dollars atmaximum. Singapore’s GDP is not large, but per capita is very high. Several
years ago, Singapore had several manufacturing firms, but most of the major
manufacturing firms moved out.
Women in Singapore play much more important roles in business, especially inaccounting and financial areas, than in Japan. The Singapore government hasdeveloped the infrastructure and environment to support working women,including child raising facilities and schools, and has taken legal measures toallow usual families to employ live-in maids. It is common that women work
equally with men in Singapore.
Singapore tries to take benefits from having no natural resources, but their watersupply depends completely on imports from Malaysia and domestic reservoirs,
and the water supply is a serious problem for the security of Singapore. Recently,
they have started to use recycled water from domestic sewage using Japanesereverse osmotic membrane technology. Some firms have started selling
Singapore brand water, and they are making profits.
Comparison between Singapore and Japan (a comment from a Singapore
firm owner)- Japan is a single race society but Singapore is a multi-ethnic society-Singapore has four national universities, and three of the four universities
have foreign presidents.

-Even some government ministers have recently acquired Singapore
citizenship.
Japanese people use only Japanese, but Singaporeans use fluent English
and Mandarin (or more).
Singapore society is open to the outside, while Japanese society is closed.

-Singapore has a stable cabinet, while the Japanese cabinet changes inshort-lived cycles.

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So far, the political monopoly has been working efficiently, and Singapore has
Been enjoying its prosperity due to the stable political management by the first
Prime minister, Lee Quan Yew, and his successor, Goh Chok Tong. However,there is a possibility that the political monopoly in Singapore might lead to
dictatorship as seen in North Korea or some Middle Eastern and Africancountries. Singapore is going to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of its
independence, and its future now depends on the political management by its
third prime minister, Lee Hsien Loong. I think that what the Singaporean firmowner said is true. The stability of Singapore is dependent on its open society.
International Strategy of Singapore
Singaporeans have a broader sense of working abroad. They go abroad in theway Japanese go to other prefectures. They do not have a large land area andnaturally know the necessity of expanding fields of activities in the international
business world. They depend on capital assets and focus on trading andmarketing instead of investing in heavy industries. They know how to use money.
They eat lunch at a snack stand, but spend a large amount of money on
cutting-edge machines if necessary. That’s the business sense of the Chinese.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Question 1
I am curious about how they make profits by attracting people to Singapore.
Mr. Moriwaki
When people come to Singapore, they bring things and money. They spendmoney by buying souvenirs at shops, eating dinner at restaurants, and staying athotels. The Singapore government has spent a lot of money to keep the city safe,clean, and convenient, and maintain high levels of education and medical care toattract more people. They also organize events such as night F1 racing and run
casinos. When people come to Singapore, they pay utility fees at ports andairports. That’s how they make profits by attracting people.
Question 2
How do they develop a broader sense of freely engaging in international
business?

4Mr. Moriwaki
Usual Singaporeans speak at least three languages fluently including Englishand Chinese. There are also many talented people of Indian descent, as well as
Malay and Indonesian descent in Singapore. They easily cross borders. Anotherimportant factor is overseas Chinese networks. Singapore has close relations
with Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Shanghai. Singapore also has a special district inChina and they conduct joint business with mainland Chinese. These are alldeveloped from overseas Chinese networks. They also share the feeling ofsolidarity of being Chinese. Some time ago, Deng Xiao Ping visited Singaporeand asked Lee Quan Yew for advice when China was unsuccessfully introducing
its market mechanism. Lee Quan Yew gave some advice and China’s economic
bureaucrats kept visiting Singapore to learn from the success of Singapore. Thisbackground helps Singaporeans engage freely in international business.

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