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Singapore Economic Boards
Under the appropriate government ministries, statutory
boards--
a concept carried over from colonial days--were
established to
manage specific parts of the economy and foster overall
and
sectoral development. Each worked somewhat autonomously,
using a
hands-on approach to the problems in the areas in which it
operated.
Economic Development Board
The Economic Development Board was established in 1961
to
spearhead Singapore's industrialization. Initially its
function was
to promote industrial investment, develop and manage
industrial
estates, and provide medium- and long-term industrial
financing.
The latter function was taken over in 1968 by the newly
created
Development Bank of Singapore
(see Financial Center Development
, this ch.). When the limits of import substitution became
evident,
given the small domestic market, policy was redirected
toward
promoting an export-oriented, labor-intensive
industrialization
program. After 1986 the board's portfolio was enlarged to
include
the promotion of services in partnership with other
government
agencies responsible for the various service sectors and
the
development of local small- and medium-sized enterprises.
In the
first two decades following independence, the board
evolved
industrial strategies in response to changes in the
international
and domestic business environments, as well as negotiating
the
public-private consensus necessary for implementing them.
The board
was not an economic tsardom but, rather, a consensus maker
among
agencies and corporations that commanded larger financing.
In 1989
the Economic Development Board focused its attention on
attracting
investments in manufacturing and other high value-added
services,
which met the technological skills and employment needs of
Singapore's future economic development.
Data as of December 1989
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