For an island nation spread over just 700 sq km, Singapore wields outsized economic clout. The city state has grown inordinately wealthy since its 1965 separation from neighbouring Malaysia, recording gross domestic product per capita of nearly six times that of its former partner to the north.
Such wealth has been driven in part by Singapore’s transformation from a sleepy trading post into a modern centre for global finance.
As the economy developed, however, it soon became clear that a tiny domestic market presented limits to growth, while Singapore’s position at the heart of Asian trade offered it the ideal location to seek opportunities abroad.