Singapore

Singapore, or officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country located 137 kilometers north of the equator at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula. It is one of the few city-states in the world, surrounded by Malaysia’s Johor in the north and Indonesia's Riau Islands in the south.

The capital is also Singapore and according to 2017 data, the country’s population is 5.5 million. The surface area of the country is 181 thousand square kilometers and the currency is Singapore Dollars. Languages spoken are English, Chinese, Malay, and Tamil.

Singapore has highly developed free market economy. Also, the APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) secretariat based in Singapore and operates as the core support mechanism for the APEC process

Singapore, which was founded as a separate state in 1965, has an economy based on electric product assembly, oil refinery and shipbuilding facilities and has made significant strides with the effect of its long-term plans and policies. In the meantime, both the region has become an important financial and commercial center, as well as reached the status of developed countries.

The first semiconductor factory established in 1967, important developments in oil refineries in the late 1960s and early 1970s, the start of the first computer disk drive manufacturing facility in 1980, and Singapore become the world's largest manufacturer in this field, the petrochemical industry making more progress and increased production of some new sectors, especially pharmaceutical products in the 1980s, and the fact that electronics became the dominant sector again in the 1990s points to important turning points in the country's economic development. Despite some difficulties especially in 2001 and 2003, the rapid growth in the manufacturing industry is remarkable.

Singapore has been economically structured in a very short time; has become a major port and free trade centre around the world, one of the world's leading petrochemical and electronics manufacturers, a successful financial and banking centre in the region, a major transit trade centre worldwide with the result of rapport and rapid adaptability to developing trade conditions.

The position and importance of the Asia-Pacific region in the world economy and trade are increasing day by day, and Singapore is an important trade center in the Asia-Pacific region and especially in Southeast Asia.

Strong economic and commercial ties with the developed countries of the world such as USA, Japan, EU countries; and region countries like Malaysia, Indonesia, People's Republic of China, Hong Kong, India, Taiwan, Thailand, and Australia strengthen and make this position of  the Singapore possible. Imports of around 350 billion USD give important clues about the level of development of Singapore economy and its openness to foreign trade.