Treasury Select Committee Visit – Singapore  

Singapore - the best place in the world to do business! That's according to the World Bank's 'Doing Business' Report. I am on a Treasury Select Committee visit to Singapore and China and I see our job as 1. Promoting British business; 2. Understanding how financial services are regulated and what Britain can learn from them; 3. Working out whether Singapore is a 'threat' or an 'opportunity' for British financial services; 4. Understanding China's policy toward opening up her economy. When we arrived we could immediately see why Singapore has such a high business rating. A huge, modern airport, no queuing for passport control or luggage. In fact they target no more than a 12 minute wait........Heathrow could learn something from Changi. And if there was one consistent message right through our visit, it was that efficiency, ease of doing business and openness to trade is key to Singapore's...