>> Singapore: Trusted bench-mark


"ONE OF THE things that sets us apart is our trustworthiness. When I was in Beijing recently, I met a Singaporean who was a general manager of a Chinese-owned real estate company. He told me that one of the reasons he and a good number of other Singaporeans are sought by the Chinese for senior managerial positions is that the Chinese know Singaporeans can be trusted.

This is not an isolated observation, it has been repeated in the different countries that I have visited. When I met officials in Hyderabad, India, they were very keen for our Singapore companies to develop townships there. They told me that with Singapore, they know they will get what they contract for.

Many IP-rich companies that seek a regional presence make a beeline for Singapore because of our reputation for high standards of integrity and honesty. They know that we respect and will protect their copyright and so they locate their most sensitive intellectual property facilities in Singapore. The World Intellectual Property Office has set up its Asian office here, the first in the Asia Pacific.

Our Singapore name is held in such high regard that it is becoming a trusted reference used by many other countries and companies - be it for the purchase of commercial planes or sophisticated weaponry. Boeing and Airbus vie to have us buy their planes partly because they know that others will see our purchase as confirmation of quality.

And in a world powered by knowledge, being regarded as a trusted reference is a critical advantage. It is a distinctive and competitive attribute that cannot be easily commodotised like widgets or copied like tax incentives. "


--- RAYMOND LIM, Minister in Prime Minister's Office and 2nd Minister for Finance and Foreign Affairs, concluding a talk Mr Lim gave at a corporate associates lunch held by the Institute of Policy Studies on 28 Oct 2005.