Singapore Ranking

http://www.sedb.com/edb/sg/en_uk/index/why_singapore/singapore_rankings.html

Singapore consistently scores high marks in global and regional rankings of the factors that matter to businesses. These range from political risk to workforce productivity, from the quality of life to the prospects for making profits.

Singapore: Most Cost-Competitive Place for Business

Country Cost Index Rank Singapore 77.7 1 Canada 94.5 2 France 95.6 3 Netherlands 95.7 4 Italy 97.8 5 United Kingdom 98.1 6 United States 100.0 7 Japan 106.9 8 Germany 107.4 9

Source: KPMG Competitive Alternatives Study, 2006 According to a study by accountancy firm KPMG, Singapore is the most cost-competitive business location among nine industrialised countries. The bi-annual study - which covers 128 cities in nine countries - indicated that Singapore was 22 per cent cheaper than the benchmark United States. KPMG's 2006 Competitive Alternatives study analyses 27 cost components, including wages, freight, business taxes, rent and utilities.

World's easiest place to do business

Rank Country 1 Singapore 2 New Zealand 3 United States 4 Canada 5 Hong Kong 6 United Kingdom 7 Denmark 8 Australia 9 Norway 10 Ireland

Source: World Bank report: "Doing Business 2007: How to Reform"

Singapore tops World Business Environment rankings

Country Total Score Global Rank Denmark 8.75 1 Finland 8.72 2 Singapore 8.70 3 Canada 8.70 4 Switzerland 8.66 5 Australia 8.65 6 Hong Kong 8.64 7

Source: EIU Country Forecast, February 2008

World's Most 'Network Ready' Country

Rating Country 1 United States 2 Singapore 3 Denmark 4 Iceland 5 Finland 6 Canada 7 Taiwan 8 Sweden

Source: Global Information Technology Report 2005/06, World Economic Forum

World: E-readiness Rankings

Rank Country 1 Denmark 2 United States 3 Switzerland 4 Sweden 5 Britain 6 Netherlands 7 Finland 8 Australia 9 Canada 10 Hong Kong 11 Norway 12 Germany 13 Singapore 14 New Zealand

Source: Economist Intelligence Unit, 2006

Singapore: 2nd Most Technologically Ready Nation in Asia

Rank Country 1 Finland 2 Japan 3 Sweden 4 Israel 5 Iceland 6 Germany 7 United States 8 Switzerland 9 Norway 10 Denmark 11 Singapore 12 Canada 13 United Kingdom 14 Netherlands 15 United Arab Emirates 16 Taiwan

Source: Global Competitiveness Report 2006-2007

Most competitive Asian Economy

Rank Country 1 United States 2 Singapore 3 Hong Kong 4 Luxembourg 5 Denmark 6 Switzerland 7 Iceland 8 Netherlands

Source: World Competitiveness Report 2007

Best Labour Force

Country Rating Singapore 88 USA 75 Taiwan 74 Belgium 73 Japan 72 Ireland 67 Netherlands 66

Source: BERI's 2007 Labour Force Evaluation Measure (LFEM) report

Countries with the least restrictive immigration laws for employing foreign labour

Ranking Country 1 Ireland 2 Chile 3 United Kingdom 4 Singapore 5 Hong Kong 6 Iceland 7 Scotland 8 Argentina 9 Finland 10 Portugal

Source: IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook 2006

Singapore: 2nd in the World for Global Potential Competitiveness

Rank Country 1 Hong Kong 2 Singapore 3 United States 4 Switzerland 5 Belgium 6 Netherlands

Source: Japan Center of Economic Research, 2007

Most attractive investment incentives in Asia

Rank Country 1 Slovak Republic 2 Czech Republic 3 Ireland 4 Singapore 7 Hong Kong 10 Thailand 11 United States

Source: IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook 2005

Singapore: 1st in the World for Quality of Air Transportation

Ranking Country 1 Singapore 2 Bavaria 3 Hong Kong 4 Germany 5 Denmark 6 Finland 7 Australia 8 Austria 9 Iceland 10 Netherlands

Source: World Competitiveness Yearbook 2006

Singapore: Best Quality for Port Infrastructure

Ranking Country 1 Singapore 2 Netherlands 3 Hong Kong 4 Germany 5 Belgium 6 Denmark 7 Finland 8 Japan

Source: Global Competitiveness Report 2006-2007

Most Vital International Air Travel Hubs

Rank City 1 Paris 2 Anchorage 3 London 4 Singapore 5 New York 6 Los Angeles 7 Port Moresby 8 Frankfurt 9 Tokyo 10 Moscow

Source: National Academy of Science, May 2005

World: Overall Competitiveness

Rank Country (<20m pop) 1 United States 2 Hong Kong 3 Singapore 4 Iceland 5 Denmark 6 Australia 7 Canada 8 Switzerland 9 Luxembourg 10 Finland

Source: IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook 2006

Singapore: 2nd in the world for Investment Potential, 1st in Asia

Rank Country POR Score 1 Switzerland 82 2 Singapore 78 3 Netherlands 75 4 Japan 75 5 Norway 73 6 Taiwan 72 7 Germany 71 8 Austria 69

Source: BERI Report August 2006

Bureaucracy and Red Tape in Asia

Country Level of Red Tape (0 = no red tape, 10 = high levels of red tape) Singapore 2.48 Hong Kong 2.52 Taiwan 5.21 South Korea 5.49 Malaysia 5.9 Japan 6.07 Thailand 6.39 Philippines 7.54 China 7.67 Vietnam 8.23 India 8.2 Indonesia 8.62

Source: Political and Economic Risk Consultancy, June 2006

World's Top 20 Most Globalised Nations

Rank Country 1 Singapore 2 Switzerland 3 United States 4 Ireland 5 Denmark 6 Canada 7 Netherlands 8 Australia 9 Austria 10 Sweden 11 New Zealand 12 United Kingdom 13 Finland 14 Norway 15 Israel 16 Czech Republic 17 Slovenia 18 Germany 19 Malaysia 20 Hungary

Source: A.T. Kearney/FOREIGN POLICY Magazine Globalization Index 2006

Perceptions of Corporate Governance Standards

Country Rating (0 being the best and 10 the worst) Singapore 2.4 Japan 3.8 Hong Kong 4.2 Taiwan 5.8 South Korea 5.9 Thailand 5.95 Malaysia 6 India 6.1 Philippines 6.85 Indonesia 7.5 China 8 Vietnam 8.8

Source: Political and Economic Risk Consultancy, June 2006

Singapore has one of Asia's highest Integrity Government

Country Level of Corruption (0 = no corruption, 10 = high levels of corruption) Singapore 1.3 Japan 3.01 Hong Kong 3.13 Macao 4.78 South Korea 5.44 Taiwan 5.91 Malaysia 6.13 India 6.76 China 7.58 Thailand 7.64 Philippines 7.8 Vietnam 7.91 Indonesia 8.16

Source: Political and Economic Risk Consultancy, March 2006

Global Country Brand for Shopping

Rank Country 1 United States 2 Singapore 3 Italy 4 United Arab Emirates 5 Japan 6 France 7 United Kingdom 8 Canada 9 Thailand 10 India

Source: Global Country Brand Index, 2006

Country Brand for Nightlife/Dinning

Rank Country 1 Italy 2 Singapore 3 United States 4 Spain 5 Netherlands 6 United Kingdoms 7 France 8 Greece 9 Thailand 10 Brazil

Source: Global Country Brand Index, 2006

The best place to live for Asian expatriates

Rank Location 1 Singapore 2 Sydney - Australia 3 Melbourne - Australia 4 Canberra - Australia 5 Kobe - Japan 6 Auckland - New Zealand 7 Copenhagen - Denmark 8 Vancouver - Canada 9 Wellington - New Zealand 10 Basel - Switzerland

Source: ECA International 2006

Asia's No.1 place to live, work and play

Rank City Country 1 Zurich Switzerland 2 Geneva Switzerland 3 Vancouver Canada 4 Vienna Austria 5 Auckland New Zealand 6 Dusseldorf Germany 7 Frankfurt Germany 8 Munich Germany 9 Bern Switzerland 9 Sydney Australia 33 Paris France 34 Singapore Singapore 35 Tokyo Japan

Source: Mercer Human Resource Consulting, 2005-2006

Singapore: World's 2nd Freest Economy

Rank Country 1 Hong Kong 2 Singapore 3 Australia 4 United States 5 New Zealand 6 United Kingdom 7 Ireland 8 Luxembourg

Source: The Heritage Foundation, Index of Economic Freedom 2007