Singapore, which recently posted the second highest GDP growth in the world at 14.5

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per cent in 2010, could be a great springboard for Indian companies wanting to expand in the rest of Asia, including China, says EngKeat Lee, international director, Asia Pacific, Singapore Economic Development Board.

With its attractive tax structure, ability to attract talent and intellectual property protection norms, Singapore could be a great hub for Indian companies in businesses like semiconductor manufacture, pharma, precision engineering and clean energy, he says.

Singapore is largely seen as a hub for services sector companies like IT, healthcare and financial services. “But with one of the lowest corporate tax in the world at 17 per cent, absence of dividend distribution tax and capital gains tax Singapore is a good base for Indian companies to tap the China market and also send money back to India,” Lee asserts.

There are concerns like inflation, which is at 2-4 per cent and residential real estate costs, which could be points of concern for the city-state when it goes to polls during the end of this year. But those are not serious enough to topple the present government, which is well placed for another term, Lee says. The crisis in Japan was also feared to hit the electronics business of Singpore.