The Extent of Singapore's Investments Abroad

This text aims to focus on four main objectives, these are to; examine the causes of inward and outward direct investment in Singapore's economy; investigate the motivation for Singapore's firms to invest abroad; provide a theoretical explanation for overseas direct investment from Singapore; examine Singapore's direct investment strategies, strengths and weaknesses and consider whether the trend of outward direct investment will continue into the next millenium. The methodology adopted in this book is a modified kojima theory. It is argued that Singapore's direct investment abroad is determined by two sets of phenomena: the objective conditions of profitability for capital, and the subjective motivation of Singapore-based firms for foreign direct investment (FDI) as influenced by state policies and firms desires to invest outside Singapore. It is concluded that profitability, a limited domestic market, product diversification and risks, labour shortage, trade barriers, culture, religion and tax incentives are some of the other determinants of overseas direct investment from Singapore.