After growing at an average of seven percent per year between 1970 and 2001, the Singaporean economy hit a snag last year when it experienced slightly negative growth.

After muddling though 2001 with the worst recession the country had faced in its 37 year history, Singapore now expects to see three to four percent growth this year. Many leaders are turning their sights toward the problem of how to nurture more home-grown entrepreneurs to bolster economic growth.

Former Ambassador to the U.S. Tommy Koh says Singapore has always been essentially an entrepreneurial society. But, he says, the government has recognized the need for more homegrown job creation and has decided it must reduce the role of the state in the economy. More free-enterprise, it is hoped, will stimulate young entrepreneurship and help strike a better balance between public and privately owned business. “This way,” says Koh,” we get better circulation of brain power.”

What follows are three examples of what Minister of Trade and Industry, George Yeo, has called International Singapore Companies - homegrown startup enterprises that are based in Singapore but operate successfully worldwide.

Creative Technology Ltd. Chairman and CEO, Sim Wong Hoo

Photo Paul Douglass

Nanofilm Technologies International Pte Ltd. CEO, Shi Xu

Photo Paul Douglass

YCH Group CEO and Managing Director, Robert Yap

Photo Paul Douglass

Creative Technologies (www.creative.com)
Many American PC-users unknowingly use a Creative Technologies invention every day: the SoundBlaster sound card. CEO Sim Wong Hoo credits the company’s success to its emphasis on creativity and ability to “push the cutting edge.” Today, with 60 percent market share, Creative Technologies is the world’s “audio king” -- its SoundBlaster card is the world’s leading PC sound card. Because of Sim’s ability to stay at the top of his game in the provision of state-of-the-art audio and video components, Creative Technologies has been voted one of the top 10 best managed companies in Asia by a Finance Asia poll. “If your product is high margin,” says Sim, “Singapore is a good place to produce it. It’s safe.”

Nanofilms Technologies International (www.nanofilm-systems.com)
If you’ve ever wondered how computers’ hard disk memory capabilities seem to be increasing while staying the same size, it’s partially due to new technology being developed by Singaporean up-start Nanofilms Technologies International. Founded in 1999 by Nanyang Technological University professor Shi Xu, Nanofilms pioneered a clean coatings process called filtered cathodic vacuum art (FCVA), which, among its multiple applications, is widely used to protect disk drive surfaces. Xu, Chief Executive, won Singapore’s Innovation of the Year award in 2001 for his patented design. Ninety percent of his market is foreign. "If you really want to develop Singapore into a more innovative society, then you’ve got to have your own technologies," says Xu.

YCH Group (www.ych.com)
For someone who was reluctant to get involved in the family business, Robert Yap, CEO and Managing Director of the YCH Group, has certainly demonstrated a keen aptitude for what it takes to turn a local passenger transport company into a global, full-service supply-chain, logistics provider. With numerous Fortune 500 customers among his loyal clientele, YCH utilizes automated and computerized supply chain management solutions to track and trace hundreds of thousands on products at every stage of the logistics game. Satisfied customers have dubbed the company “Your Competitors Headache.” “National pride and national identity are very important,” says Yap, calling himself a “very firm believer” in entrepreneurial spirit being the key to building the Singapore Inc. brand.