Singapore’s Prime Minister, Goh Chok Tong greets a crowd.

Courtesy Reuters

When Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong was appointed in 1990 to fill the shoes of Singapore’s dynamic founding father, Lee Kuan Yew, some worried about whether he possessed the vigor, acumen, and vision that would be needed to keep the country on track.

After almost 12 years in office, Goh has proved his doubters wrong. Under his leadership, Singapore’s per capita income has soared from $22,000 in 1990 to approximately $37,000 today, roughly equal to that in the U.S. And his educational reforms have greatly expanded the proportion of people (over 60 percent) receiving post-secondary education, thus strengthening the country’s most valuable asset – human capital.

Despite his tall stature for a man of Chinese descent, Prime Minister Goh has an unassuming presence. It is difficult to elicit a self-aggrandizing word from this personable and humble leader who is widely appreciated for his “common touch.” With great respect for and deference to Singapore’s founding father, Lee Kuan Yew, PM Goh says that his primary goal continues to be to simply “keep Singapore going.”

That he has achieved, and more. A genuine one-with-the-people man, Goh was educated both in Singapore and in the U.S. (Williams College, Massachusetts). He embraces the challenge of fostering creativity and entrepreneurship among Singaporeans and fully supports strong economic and political ties with the U.S.

A cornerstone of Mr. Goh’s vision is to continue to attract top foreign talent to Singapore. In his National Day speech in early August Mr. Goh said: “The U.S. has only five percent of the world’s population …but… is the world's undisputed superpower. This is because the U.S. has always warmly welcomed foreign talent to its shores. Americans have accepted all these foreign imports as one of their own. If a huge country like the U.S. has embraced foreign talent, we, with only three million people, must be crazy not to do so.”

To attract creative minds to Singapore, Goh is leading a national effort to “create a more interesting cultural ambience” and “widen the area of freedom” for innovation. Part of this effort is the Esplanade, a state-of-the-art cultural and performing arts center, which opens on October 12. Other avenues include encouraging more student exchanges and perhaps liberalizing existing rules, such as the debate over “dancing on bar tops.”

With the signing of the U.S.-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in view, Prime Minister Goh hopes to attract more U.S. businesses that will benefit from Singapore’s open economy, very low tariffs, and steadfast rule of law. According to Goh, the country’s “reputation for reliability is another major asset” for businesses. Many international businesses view Singapore as a regional safe haven.

With the FTA in place, Goh hopes to see U.S. businesses using Singapore “as a platform from which to move into the region.”

While some Southeast Asian countries may fear China’s growing strength, Singaporeans view China’s rapid economic growth as an enormous opportunity. “Our ties will be stronger because we … started trading with China years ago,” says Goh.

With the help of the U.S.-Singapore FTA, Goh sees a great opportunity for American businesses to position themselves strategically to conduct business within the ASEAN community of nations - Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam. These countries are not yet ready to pursue their own FTA’s with the U.S., but Singapore, says Goh, “should anchor [the] U.S. in ASEAN through a Singapore-U.S. FTA, and hopefully later, on a bilateral basis, some other countries in ASEAN [may] also enter into an FTA with the U.S.”

In the near term, says Goh, “We can explore areas which the WTO (World Trade Organization) may not yet be moving into.” He believes that the U.S. businesses that may benefit most from the FTA are in financial services, telecommunications, insurance, and medical and legal services. U.S. companies that manufacture products in Singapore and re-export to the U.S. will also benefit. His clear message to investors is: “We are pro-business in our approach.”