Informative Travel Guide and Discount Hotels in Singapore by Royal Exclusive Travel

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Singapore, a center of the shipping business port, provides a free-market system and an outward orientation, which include entrepot trade, shipping, and financial and business services; otherwise, it couldn't be considered as one of the busiest shipping ports in the world, while undoubtedly the busiest port in Asia. The Singapore's shipping port has 700 ships, with more than 600 shipping lines, and also links to more than 800 international ports. Although there's a paucity of natural energy resources there, it amazingly runs more than 10 refineries, and is one of the biggest oil-refining centers in Asia. Moreover, it has the world's third-largest petroleum refinery.

In 2001, there was a reversal in growth derived from the slump in external demand, as well as the low household consumption and contracted business investments; it then resulted in Singapore's economic growth which contracted by 2%, different from 2000, the economic growth increased to 10%. The government saw this problem and not very long, the Singapore's economy was improved with the growth of 5.6% in the fourth quarter of 2001 after facing the first three difficult quarters.

As of the economic crisis, the Singapore's jobless rate stood at 4.7% at the end of 2001, the highest unemployment rate in 15 years. The labor market was mainly affected by the deduction in external demand in electronic products, which later resulted negatively in the jobless rate at 25,600 people in 2001, even higher than the 2000's unemployment rate shown much less at 11,624 people.

The total labor productivity contracted by 5.4% in 2001 compared to a 5.9% rising in 2000. Labor productivity fell through the business services (-6.7%), wholesale & retail trade (-6.2%), hotels & restaurants (-4.4%), financial services (-3.7%), and transport & communication (-1.3%) sectors.

The Ministry of Trade and Industry or MTI said this crisis was the worst contraction in Singapore's labor productivity, primarily electronic products, and the MTI also wished to see the improvement in 2002 as its growth forecast made in October 2001 was -2 to +2%, but remember it was in view of uncertainties due to the terrorist attacks in the United States on the 11th September, 2001. Fortuitously, the US and the EU economies have shown some foreshadows of improvement as the US economy had the view of positive growth of 0.2% in the fourth quarter, while the EU had the interest rate and tax cuts to hold up consumer sentiments in Europe and finally generated the positive sentiments to Singapore, a country that depends on the economic conditions in the US, Europe, as well as Japan.

However, after being blissful in a decade of continuous economic growth, the Singapore government will not let the current economic problem last in the long run. The bygone economic achievement can be accredited to the strong infrastructure of Singapore's trustworthy government that has worked very hard to develop its economy to the international level, having 3 major different evidences to prove:

1. The quote from "Forbes Magazine" has claimed that Singapore is the world's second best business city, while the United States is at the top of the chart.

2. "McDonalds" has announced that Singapore is the world's greatest producer of Big Macs in quantity.

3. Singapore proudly organized the multilateral trade forums such as "The Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)" and "The Association for Southeast Asian Nations Free Trade Area (ASEAN AFTA)" were held here in Singapore. Moreover, the global conference "World Trade Organization Conference (WTO)" was also held here in December 1996.

In conclusion, as of the recovery in the U.S. and improvements in electronics industry, the economists then expect Singapore to keep recovering its economic condition. Hopefully in the second half of the 2002 the economy will grow by 2.8% and by 5% in 2003. However, this was just a forecast hence time will tell if their estimations were right or wrong.

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Royal Exclusive Travel

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