Doing Business in Singapore
Cultural tips and travel advice for foreigners, from a local.
Transparent corporate practices, Singaporeans’ fluency in English (one of four official languages), and a pro-business government have helped this 50-year-old city-state become the world’s third-richest country. Established sectors include shipping and finance, and there’s an emerging biotech scene: Amgen (AMGN) opened a $140 million plant in 2014. Impressive but more telling is Singapore’s first-place rank on the World Bank’s Doing Business 2016 report (the U.S. is seventh).
Etiquette 101
Singapore’s multiculturalism: Indians and Chinese conversing in fluent Malay is quite normal—there’s no one size fits all. Ethnic Malays might not want to shake hands with the opposite sex, since some believe men and women shouldn’t touch in public. Giving a Chinese person a clock as a gift is unthinkable; the Chinese words for “clock” and “funeral ritual” sound similar.
General pointers: Exchange business cards with both hands and study the cards before placing on the table; never put them in a bag, wallet, or pocket immediately. Singaporeans are more direct than other Asians, but nonverbal communication can signify intent as implicitly as what’s spoken, so pay attention to facial expressions and body language. Avoid extended eye contact—it could be perceived as intimidating and rude—and don’t speak confrontationally or in a way that could cause a client or partner to lose face. Tone down the volume; Singaporeans are generally more soft-spoken than Americans. For pointing, the thumb is more acceptable than the forefinger.
Though one party has governed since independence, Singaporean politics is a complicated subject discussed among friends and family. Skip it. Sports, apart from British Premier League soccer, are not fodder for banter, but do talk about food (Singaporeans’ food obsession is legendary), the weather, the wonderful airport, and whether your hosts have always lived here (many Singaporeans have studied or lived abroad; others have emigrated from overseas). Given the importance of civility, emails should err toward the formal and avoid references that might lead the recipient to lose standing in front of his or her peers. This will doom a business relationship.
A version of this article appears in the March 1, 2016 issue of Fortune.