In survey after survey, conducted by dozens of different organizationsfrom the Heritage Foundation to the World Bank, Singapore is repeatedly cited as perhaps the best place in the world to do business.

Last year, for example, for the second year running, the Lion City was named the easiest place in the world to do business by the World Bank. Singapore topped 177 other places surveyed for the report. The Bank’s rankings are based on 10 key business indicators, which tracked the time and costs required to launch a business start-up, as well as corporate tax levels, quality of local staff, quality of life and other considerations.

One area where Singapore especially outshone its rivals was the willingness of the government to help foreign investors and foreign businesses link up with Singapore’s own firms. One such agency is the International Enterprise Singapore.

Operating under the Ministry of Trade and Industry, IE Singapore’s role is to develop Singapore’s external economy by helping Singapore companies find suitable overseas partners.

The chief goal of the International Enterprise Singapore, says its amiable deputy chief executive officer Ted Tan, is to help Singapore-based companies grow and internationalize successfully, and the mega US market is a key part of that goal.

“We help Singaporean companies develop their capability to internationalize, and we also promote international trade between Singapore and other nations. To achieve these goals, we assist Singaporean companies to develop new products, and then help them find new markets and overseas partners, to sell those products in those markets.

“We have more than 30 offices around the world, spread across various continents, including the US, Europe, the Middle East, Latin America, obviously China and India, and the rest of Asia. In the US, we currently have eight staff in our two US offices, in New York and Los Angeles. But we also work closely with our sister agencies, for example, the Singapore Economic Development Board, the Singapore Tourism Board, and so on.

“We gave many friends around the world, including expatriates who previously lived in Singapore, who help us; they become our honorary advisors. This is how we operate, asking friends around the world to help us in finding suitable business partners.

“Basically, we’re very industry driven-wherever the business is, we will go! For example, the Middle East is today really a hot market, so we have opened four offices there- in Dubai, Qatar, Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia.”

Meanwhile, Singapore companies have also been steadily increasing their presence in the US. Foreign direct investment in the US in 2004 amounted to S$9 billion, an increase of more than 20 percent since 2001. International Enterprise Singapore deputy chief executive officer Tan says the US is attractive to Singaporean companies because “of the sheer size of the country, and your ability to absorb many of the technologies that we offer. It’s an affluent market, so consumers have the ability to pay for our high quality products.

“We’re confident that the US will continue to be one of our largest markets for our technology products, such as bio-medical, aerospace, electronics, for a long time. We already have more than 250 Singaporean companies operating in the US.

“Our future plans for the US market include entry by our food industry, because several of our culinary companies want to enter the US market, and we know that more American consumers are increasingly curious about Asian cuisines. We’ve already organized several “food missions” in California. We’ve done Tiger Beer and chili crab festivals in Los Angeles, so we’re not just marketing Singapore’s high technology products! In a way we actually market Singapore itself!”