SINGAPOREAN ETIQUETTE Our experts’ tips on local business customs FACE VALUE
“Don’t make people look silly in front of their colleagues,” Braca advises. You can give someone frank criticism in private, but “treat others with respect out in the office. Many westerners make the mistake of having difficult conversations in a public forum and inadvertently make someone lose face.”
LESS WINING, MORE DINING
“In the UK, a lot of bonding with colleagues and clients is done with the help of alcohol,” Johnson says. “In Singapore, taking people out for a nice meal is more important than going for drinks.”
CREDIT HISTORY
Smooth lines: Singapore’s Mass Rapid Transport system is widely regarded as a clean, efficient and cheap way to get around the island
‘Having a good blend of nationalities and languages opens up diff erent commercial opportunities here’
be a world leader in sustainable development too. It was the fi rst city to introduce a congestion charge, for instance, pre-dating London’s system by nearly fi ve years. More recent initiatives building on LKY’s 1967 vision of a garden city “with abundant, lush greenery and a clean environment” have involved reclaiming potable water from sewage and growing vegetables in skyscraper greenhouses. Such environmental sensitivity is refl ected in Singaporeans’ concern about the provenance of food. Ever since the 2003 outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) cast doubts about the safety of meat originating in China, Singapore has increasingly imported food from Europe. Wicks Manor Farm, near Maldon, Essex, has been meeting this demand since 2014, exporting pork sausages and bacon. “The expat community [Singapore is home to about 30,000 British citizens] and people with high incomes here don’t want meat from local wet markets; they want assurance that what they buy is safe,” says the farm’s MD, Fergus Howie. “They would rather pay more for a brand that they can trust.” Receiving £5.6 billion in British goods and services a year, Singapore accounts for half of all British exports to the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean). But, as Frost points out, most international businesses that
36
director.co.uk
“Singaporeans think of the British as trustworthy,” Howie says. “That old ‘bowler-hat, straight-bat’ mentality may be a hangover from the past, but this image is still strong in their minds. It underpins the views that Singaporeans have about us.”
TIGHT KNIT
“This is a small place, so you can quickly burn your reputation. Act without integrity and everyone will know about it,” Frost says. “There’s also a close link between work and personal networks. If you meet someone professionally here, you might also run into them at the weekend in a social setting.”
For advice on doing business overseas, visit
iod.com/information
set up shop here “do so to open doors elsewhere in the Asia Pacifi c region”.
Indeed, Singapore’s trade links are stellar. “Half of the world’s population is within six hours of here,” Braca notes. Dyson, GlaxoSmithKline and Rolls- Royce use Singapore manufacturing hubs to export around the region. For its part, Wicks Manor Farm has started exporting to Vietnam, which became a member of the Asean free-trade area in 1995. But there’s one prize market beyond Asean that everyone wants to crack: China. “It will always be a catalyst for any business looking at Asia,” Acconci says. “Singapore, which is positioning itself as the gateway to China with direct foreign investment, makes the perfect base for such fi rms.”
MIX AND MATCH
Singapore is a truly multicultural state. Although well over 70 per cent of its population would class their ethnicity as Chinese, there are substantial minorities of Malay and Indian origin. Such ethnic diversity makes it an ideal test market for new goods and services.
One of the keys to success for an incoming
fi rm is to refl ect this cultural mix in its workforce, according to Johnson. “Having a good blend of nationalities and languages opens up different commercial opportunities here,” he says. “By
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68
