After the Communist victory in the south in 1975, Vietnam sought hegemony in all of Indo-China. China intervened and, in Cambodia, Vietnam found its own Vietnam. Singapore was able to concentrate on economic development and built up strong links to North America, Japan and Europe. Until the recent economic crisis, Singapore progressed and prospered almost without interruption for 30 years. Our strategy has always been to identify the larger trends early and stay ahead of the game.
Information is everything.
In Singapore, you buy cheapest and sell dearest. We do not grow coffee in Singapore, yet we are a major supplier of coffee beans in the world. We produce no spices, but we are a centre of the Southeast Asia spice trade. We are also the biggest exporter of Swiss watches in the region. We have no oil but we refine a lot of it, and we are a trading centre for oil and other related products.