How Singapore managed to become an Asian startup oasis
Singapore is a famous innovative Mecca for the whole world. Attractive for startups and high-tech companies, it makes not only belonging to the Southeast region of Asia but also amazing opportunities for the rapid development of technology and business.
In the World Bank’s ranking of ease of doing business, Singapore has been ranked first among other Asian countries for many years in a row. This was made possible by the fact that the republic is a neutral international jurisdiction with high confidence ratings. The city-state is one of the few countries in the world where small and medium-sized businesses have the active support of the state, which provides grants and subsidies for the development of promising projects.
New programs appear here every year. For example, the country is interested in preserving and reproducing natural resources. If the company is engaged in technological and innovative developments in this area, the chance to become a participant in government support programs is very high.
An entrepreneur in Singapore takes an average of 1-2 days to start his own business: in other countries in this part of Asia and Oceania, it usually takes almost a month to register a business. The taxation system is also attractive: the corporate income tax of up to 300 thousand Singapore dollars (about $222.3 thousand) per year is 9%, more than 300 thousand — 17%.
Singapore has a one-tier tax system. The standard corporate tax rate is 17%. There are fiscal concessions for young companies that operate for the first three years after company registration.
Among Singapore’s innovation ecosystem, the Singapore-Sichuan High Technology Innovation Park (SSCIP), developed jointly by Singapore and Sichuan Province, occupies a large place. Covers an area of about 10.34 square km. The total investment in this project is over $2.95 billion.
About 30% of the area is allocated for housing, including both commercial housing and state-subsidized housing for young talented professionals in the field of high technology. It’s estimated that more than 120,000 residents and about 150,000 residents will work at SSCIP upon completion.
The park has five main sectors: biomedical sciences, interactive digital media, environmental technologies, high-quality services for production, assembly and production. Singapore has many accelerators and incubators, and their number is growing rapidly. The average amount of investment in successful selection is $25-35,000, and the investor’s share in the capital of the startup company is 6-7%.
Accelerators and incubators are usually specialized. They help to develop business in this or that sphere. For example, the AirMaker accelerator helps startups get back on their feet with IoT projects. And Entrepreneur First selects startups related to new technologies – robotics, aerospace research and machine learning.