The Miracle of Singapore - Will the Country Respond to Future Challenges?

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remarkable balance between its native and foreign stakeholders. Today the country is one of the so called “Tiger Economies” of the world.

On the other hand, there are many analysts who support that Singapore’s economic growth was seized because the country managed to take full advantage of the global economic boom in 90’s and 2000’s and thus its economic model cannot perceived as beneficial for the country in the long run. There are huge challenges that the country and its future governments are forced to deal with in order to sustain this rapid economic growth. The fact is that recently Singapore has entered an economic decline period and this strengthened the opinion of those considering Singapore as not a significant competitor to China. An important reason for that, is the country’s main geopolitical strategy. Trans-Pacific partnership, to which Singapore was the main promoter and now an important partner, excludes China, who until today, is the main regulator of the region’s maritime trade. Singapore’s economy is thus under huge pressure as the country perceives China as a main trading partner for its future economic sustainabillity. Besides this, Singapore’s choice to rely highly on the US is questionable as US is currently lacking the ability to support economies because of its financial weaknesses. Last but not least, the so much debated future project of Kra Isthmus Canal in Thailand, entail a high threat for Singapore’s economy. The project if implemented could result in real extermination of Singapore’s economy with ships choosing a shorter and less dangerous route than that through the straits of Malacca.

To conclude with, we can assess that, despite the fact that Singapore is considered today one of the richest and most growing economies, its recent slowdown and the challenges and threats the country will face in the long run, may result in a complete change of the scenery. Economic and geopolitical pressures are very intense and we have to wait and see if the country will manage to respond once again to them in the near future.

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