Singapore is a high-income economy with a gross national income of US $40,920.00 per capita. It is presently ranked among the world’s most competitive economies.

Forty years ago, post-independence Singapore was confronted with severe unemployment, poor infrastructure, and a housing shortage. Rapid industrialization took momentum in the 1960s and by the end of the decade manufacturing had become the lead sector of the country’s economic growth.  By the early 1970s, Singapore had reached full employment and, in the 1980s, Singapore had joined the ranks of Hong Kong, South Korea and Taiwan among the newly industrializing countries in Asia.  Presently, the strong manufacturing and services sectors have become the twin pillars of the Singapore economy. There is a wide range of businesses, with a particular focus on high value added activities.

The World Bank Singapore office opened on September 1, 1999. Initially, the World Bank Singapore office focused on collaborating with local and regional private and public sector groups in order to identify and share information and expertise for the benefit of developing countries, especially in areas related to rapid globalization.

In 2009, the World Bank-Singapore Urban Hub was launched. The Singapore Urban Hub leverages Singapore’s recognized expertise in urban development and infrastructure finance, and the World Bank’s global knowledge and operational experience for the benefit of developing countries. The Singapore Urban Hub is already implementing a sizable portfolio of joint WB-Singapore projects in several countries, and has established a strategic partnership with the Australian Treasury. Discussions are on‐going to expand the partnership to include other developed economies. The Singapore Urban Hub operations are designed to provide specific and practical solutions based on four priorities: (i) transferring the expertise and experience of Singapore to developing countries; (ii) developing partnerships with regional organizations like APEC and ASEAN; (iii) developing partnerships with private sector and; (iii) combining technical assistance on urban planning and infrastructure with financing solutions.

Part of the Singapore office is the Infrastructure Finance Center of Excellence (IFCOE), which was established in 2010. The IFCOE is a platform for channeling funding and infrastructure finance expertise from the public and private sectors globally to developing countries engaged in leveraging private capital for infrastructure development.

Building on the success of the Singapore Urban Hub and IFCOE, on September 6, 2011, World Bank President Robert B. Zoellick and Singapore Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam signed an agreement to expand the World Bank Group’s partnership with Singapore. The expanded World Bank presence includes the IFC (International Finance Corporation) – the largest provider of multilateral financing for the private sector in developing countries—and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) –the Bank Group’s agency that provides political risk insurance. IFC is drawing on Singapore’s strong private sector experience to support the scale-up of critical infrastructure projects in developing Asia and will seek to partner with Singapore-based firms to invest in emerging markets around the world. MIGA views Singapore as a center for insurance and will work closely with the government and public and private sector entities to share knowledge and experience. The agency’s scaled-up presence will assist Asian investors to facilitate their plans for inbound and outbound investments.

The World Bank’s Treasury Department manages, from Singapore, the Reserves Advisory and Management Program that provides capacity building and investment services to member country central banks, national pension funds and sovereign wealth funds.  The Center of Excellence on Accounting and Auditing delivers technical advice and expertise on institutional strengthening, systems development, and capacity building to developing countries in the region. The Office of the World Bank’s Chief Economist for East Asia and the Pacific also moved from Washington DC to the Singapore Office to bring the best possible knowledge on development issues and challenges closer to the Region. The World Bank Group partnership with Singapore is increasing the focus on solutions to address urban development challenges, infrastructure financing, information communications technology and accounting and auditing services.

Singapore is a member of all five World Bank Group institutions, namely the IFC, MIGA, International Bank of Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), the International Development Association (IDA), and the International Centre of Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID).

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The Singapore Urban Hub and IFCOE are supporting innovative projects across the region, including the securitization of future toll road revenues in China, public-private partnership in water supply and treatment in Indonesia, urban transportation planning in Vietnam, and infrastructure financial planning in Mongolia, among others.

IFCOE leads a number of regional initiatives on infrastructure finance in partnership with key regional organizations.  It manages the World Bank-ASEAN Infrastructure Finance Network (IFN), which was launched in 2009 as a regional knowledge partnership that offers “How to” training and policy seminars on operational topics in infrastructure finance and PPPs. The IFCOE is also leading the World Bank’s partnership with APEC on infrastructure financing, including the PPP Mentoring Scheme launched at the APEC Finance Ministers Meeting in Nov 2010, and providing technical advice to the APEC Business Advisory Council.

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World Bank Singapore Office
10 Shenton Way #15-08
MAS Building Singapore 079117
Phone: (+65) 6501-5500
Fax: (+65) 6501-5510
Website: www.worldbank.org/sg

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