Here's why Singapore is the most desirable country for business expansion

Businesses hoping to expand into the overseas markets would do well to consider Singapore as an option.

In a recent study carried out by communications solutions provider BT, the country was revealed as one of the top Asia Pacific (APAC) destinations for business expansion. What's more, global rankings for the same thing placed Singapore at sixth on the list.

The report, entitled 'The Art of Connecting Global Business', involved companies spanning 13 different regions and 1,150 leaders in business. A total of 350 respondents were based in the Asia Pacific region.

A large number of businesses in both India and China (47% and 48% respectively) are currently planning, or are in the middle of, an expansion that will take their businesses to Singapore.

It can come as little surprise, therefore, that approximately 41% of company leaders based in India consider Singapore an extremely lucrative location in terms of expansion.

Among the reasons cited by respondents for ranking Singapore so highly was the affluence of the country's citizens and the large possible customer base.

Other benefits included the good quality of governance and the excellent IT skills and security. The nation's data-protection capabilities are also considered very attractive.

The managing director of BT Global Services in South East Asia, Ron Totton, pointed out the benefits of the country's regulatory framework and impressive digital infrastructure, which, alongside the huge economic potential, make Singapore and similar locations extremely desirable.

Expansion overseas appears to be a priority for business leaders on a worldwide level, with 80% believing that branching out in this way is critical to business success.

As well as Singapore, other popular designations cited included China, Indonesia, and Thailand. The US and Hong Kong were named as the top two.

91% of those businesses taking part in the polls agreed that the dawn of 'digital first' economies has made expansion much more viable. That is, those countries that enjoy reliable nationwide high-speed internet.

The report found that there is a range of other technological factors that companies consider when planning expansion overseas, such as IT capability (62%), the availability and quality of communications infrastructure, including digital capability (62%), and the potential workforce and their IT capabilities (52%).

In fact, according to a massive 96% of survey participants, if IT infrastructures are not in place or are inadequate, this is a fundamental challenge for growth and development into new territories.

As both the BT research and the Doing Business report https://www.doingbusiness.org/rankings prove, Singapore may be small in comparison to global giants China, Brazil, and India but its businesses are best helped and least hindered by the government.

Although there are, of course, rules and regulations in the region, the government has managed to create rules that facilitate interactions in the marketplace without needlessly hindering the development of businesses.