S'pore Can Thrive in Fragmented Global Economy: Morgan Stanley

Proven track record shows Republic can adapt better than others, say analysts

- Ovais Subhani

As investors look in bewilderment at the fast-deteriorating global economic landscape under US President Donald Trump's onslaught on globalization, some analysts are looking to Singapore as one of the few safe havens worldwide.

One of these analysts is Mr Derrick Kam, a Singapore-based Asia economist at US investment bank Morgan Stanley who believes the Republic is one of the few that offers more visibility on growth potential, political stability and governance quality.

He believes that Singapore has a proven track record of making policies needed to adapt to a changing global economic environment.

"Where Singapore excels is sort of being able to spot these global trends and try to navigate through them... and then get ahead of them," he said in an interview with The Straits Times, along with the bank's head of Asean research Nick Lord.

Both the analysts recently co-authored a research report, Singapore At 60: Unlocking Wealth Creation, which tells investors that "now is the time to build exposure to this dynamic and enterprising market". The report references post-independence Singapore turning 60 in 2025.

The report highlights the various initiatives Singapore has launched in recent years—to reinforce its hub industries and implement emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) to boost productivity—which could see its household net assets almost doubling to reach US$4 trillion (S$5.13 trillion) by 2030.