The Extent of Singapore’s Investments Abroad

Abstract Purpose: This book empirically examines how Singapore has evolved from being a major importer of foreign investment (FI) to a net exporter of capital. The idea that Singaporean firms were investing abroad was a relatively new phenomenon. Usually, when Singaporeans referred to FI, they meant industrial capital put into Singapore factories by foreign investors. Similarly, most economic theories at the time focused on FI into developing countries. The question then was if Singapore was a net recipient of FI, why was it also a net capital exporter? Method: After a one-year field trip in Singapore gathering quantitative and qualitative empirical evidence, a reformulated Kojima model was used to critically analyse Singapore’s overseas investment strategies. Result: Microeconomic analysis and macroeconomic models of FI revealed that a number of objective and subjective motivators contributed to the uniqueness of Singapore’s capital export. It was also noted that Singapore’s experience could be very relevant for other countries planning to embark on rapid development as a net importer of FI and who also strive to become a major investor