Singapore was a British colony from 1819 and joined the Malaysian Federation in 1963. It left again two years later and has since become one of the world’s most prosperous countries with strong international trading links. It has an excellent infrastructure, highly educated labour force, political stability and an efficient business structure. English is the most commonly used of the official languages.

Singapore is governed by a cabinet consisting of ministers and headed by a Prime Minister. The legislature is the parliament, which consists of the President and a single chamber elected by majority vote. The role of the President is largely ceremonial although he does have power to veto some decisions and exercises powers over civil service appointments and internal security matters.

Singapore is a major regional financial centre but is not generally regarded as a “tax haven”. It is nevertheless an attractive territory in which to establish a company for international trade or international investment. There are tax incentives available, foreign source dividends; foreign branch profits and foreign source service income are exempt from tax. Singapore also has extensive tax treaties and unilateral relief and foreign dividends can often be redistributed to foreign shareholders tax-free. By these means the effective rate of tax in Singapore can be significantly reduced.