Regionalisation and Singapore's Transborder Industrialisation: A New Perspective on Suzhou Industrial Park

Abstract

The dynamics of international economic competition 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 takes a look at Singapore's search for a competitive positioning in the global marketplace, and focuses on the city-state's much-publicized, and controversial, flagship project in China, viz, the Suzhou Industrial Park (SIP). This strategic initiative is premised on the perceptions that Singapore's positive reputation with multinational corporations, and 'guanxi' (or connections) with regional governments, will give the regional sites a strategic advantage in the competition for foreign investments. Earlier studies have established that the privileges secured for the investment enclaves are vulnerable to changes in the socio-political milieu, and that Singapore's reputation for efficiency, is at risk from the administrative complexities in emerging economies. This paper, however, contends that with the 'realignment of interests' in 2001, the outlook of the SIP project is promising.