Enclaves for Enterprise: An Empirical Study of Singapore's Industrial Parks in Indonesia, Vietnam and China

• Main Authors: YEOH, Caroline, HOW, Wilfred Pow Ngee, LEONG, Ai Lin
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2005
• Subjects: Industrial parks; investment enclaves; Singapore; Asian Studies; International Business
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/lkcsb_research/2870; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/lkcsb_research/article/3869/viewcontent/auto_convert.pdf
• Institution: Singapore Management University

The dynamics of globalization have prompted governments to re-examine accustomed policies, and search for alternative strategies, in order to re-position their economies for the future. This paper explores the spatial context of state involvement in the new economics of competition, with the focus on Singapore’s much publicized, and controversial, orchestration of its state enterprise network to encapsulate economic space for Singapore-based firms to expand into the Asian region. This strategic initiative is promulgated on the exportability of Singapore’s ‘state credibility’, systemic and operational efficiencies, and technological competencies, to locations where these attributes are less certain. A logit model is applied to questionnaire surveys culled from Singapore’s industrial-township projects in Indonesia, Vietnam and China and the findings are presented. We conclude that the strategic advantage created for the firms within these privileged investment enclaves, though remarkable, is oft at risk from the administrative complexities, and socio-political milieu, of the host environments.