Is Singapore’s hub status at risk?

(June 5): Hardly a day passes these days without some news item that breathlessly reports yet another threat to Singapore’s regional hub position. There is much concern about China’s mega projects under its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which some say will create rivals to Singapore. There is also talk about our neighbours’ ambitions to displace Singapore in airports, ports and related services, which are reflected in ambitious schemes to expand their infrastructure. And, if that is not enough, every now and then we are told Thailand will build a canal across the Isthmus of Kra that would completely knock Singapore out of the running as a major port.

The good news is that much of this is exaggerated. The bad news is that there are other, potentially existential, threats to Singapore’s hub position that we must face and overcome.

Is Singapore still on top of the game?
Singapore has one vital advantage: Its head start gives it a critical mass of interlocking activities that cannot be easily replicated by a challenger — a web of high-end financial services, manufacturing activities, business headquarters, superb supporting services of all kinds, high-value tourism attractions, world-class physical infrastructure combined with best-inclass “software” to run it, credible tax, policy and regulatory frameworks, free trade agreements that promote connectivity, and all the flows of goods, services, people and capital that result from it.

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