It is well known that foreign investments by the industrialized world are driven by the
private sector leveraging its technological, management and marketing skills, and that
those by developing countries arise because of geographic proximity, social and
economic homogeneity, and cultural familiarity. In the case of Singapore, a unique
characteristic is the direct participation by government-related corporations and their
affiliates, and persuasion by statutory bodies such as the Economic Development Board
and Trade Development Board for the corporate sector to venture abroad. Although
Singapore is active in the property sector in China and elsewhere, its limited
technological resource suggests that its future overseas manufacturing would rest on
collaborations involving larger scales of operations and higher technologies from the
developed world. In fact, as it is inevitable that host countries will require higher
quality foreign investments, it is crucial that these alliances be created to take advantage
of Singapore's present business experiences and cultural links in China and other Asian
countries
