The Peninsula
4 Apr 2008
DOHA • Small countries can succeed on a global stage, Singapore's head of mission to Qatar told Georgetown University students last week, giving as an example his country's rise as a prominent financial centre in Asia.
Umej Singh Bhatia spoke of Singapore's success through building its human capital to become an 'economic miracle' in an hour-long presentation to students of Professor Ibrahim Oweiss's International Finance class.
Singapore has witnessed rapid growth for the past three decades with the GNP outperforming that of many developed nations such as the United Kingdom and France.
As Asia has continued to grow rapidly, Singapore has grown as a financial hub serving the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region. Bhatia said the country has succeeded in building itself as a global centre for trade due to a culture of efficiency. However, he pointed out that Singapore's success cannot allow the country to slow down. "It is just like riding a bicycle, as soon as you stop, you fall off," he said.
Singapore, a country 40 times smaller than Qatar and four times its population, had no natural resources to depend on - except for its people. "Building talent is one of the hardest things to do," said Bhatia.
The government has invested in its citizens as the engine of growth through subsidizing education and vocational training.
These programs have succeeded in raising the education level of the Singaporean people and have started attracting world-renowned universities such as the University of Pennsylvania, Cornell and INSEAD to open branch campuses there.
Responding to a student's question, Bhatia noted that there are similarities between Qatar and Singapore. He mentioned that in both countries, visionary leadership from the government and belief in investing in education have been cornerstones to development.
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