Dubai vs Singapore, Research Paper Example

Singapore or the lion City as it is otherwise know as well as Dubai share many things in common. Both are city states and have enjoyed nothing short of remarkable economic growth as well as standards of living over the past several years.  They are both beneficiaries of their geographic locations as well as to a certain extent accidents of history. What brings them together that is the historical starting point of their rise is the British. Dubai signed a treaty to protect them against the Ottoman Empire and became an important trading post due to its proximity to Iran. While Singapore as well signed a treaty with Hussein Shah making its southern part a trading post.

Singapore became a port of entre and it hosted the main British Naval base in the region this coupled with the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 catapulted the small island state. The port of Singapore became a major trading post with the boom in international trade precipitated by the opening of the Suez Canal. Like Singapore, Dubai has a port that makes it a major trading post in the region. However its  rise was due to oil. The oil reserves however much more modest than its neighbors and it’s benevolent king set about planning to diversify its economy away from oil which was slated to run out last year. On the flipside Singapore’s preverbal black gold was its port however it did not provide enough jobs for its citizens just like Dubai’s oil industry. Both set out a plan to transform their economies using basically the same business models of developments. This paper will explore how these tiny city states managed there remarkable economic growth as well as how the current economic crisis has affected them and answer one critical question will they come out of this recession or sink deeper.

In the 1960’s a Singapore Tourism Promotion Board (STPB) and a Economic Development Board (EDB) was established. The Singaporeans sort to industrialize through import substitution via the development of the Jurong Industrial Estate. For a decade the GDP growth averaged 5.3 %. Then in the following decade Singapore industrialized using an export-orientated strategy. The state focused heavily on education and training of the population. This had the dual advantage moving the economy toward skill intensive value added production. This also poised the country to move the country into the emerging automated, mechanized and computerized world. Between 1979 and 1985 GDP growth was on average 7.7% per year. This has meant Singapore is the freest, most innovative, most business friendly and least corrupt economies in the world. This coupled with tourism makes Singapore truly an Asian Tiger.

Dubai used its oil revenue to turn the economy into a Information Technology, financial, service and tourism oriented economy. Dubai and Singapore are both mixed economies involved in these same industries. While turning Dubai into a major business hub it created free trading zones just like Singapore. They invited all the major world companies in the above mentioned fields and gave them very favorable terms in which to operate. The models used to grow Singapore are exactly the same so it would be repetitious to repeat them. The only difference is Dubai had oil Singapore had a port and the English language.

The economic down turn caused the housing market to collapse in Dubai leaving Abu Dhabi to bail them out. Their debt is estimated to be 80 billion dollars. Dubai in February 2010 discovered more oil off its coast and with rising world demand this will be its redemption. Dubai will survive. It is for the same reason Singapore will survive as well, remarkably without a single drop of oil. She is the 18^th largest exporter of oil in the world exporting 1.3 million barrels a day its petro chemical industry is one of the worlds largest. As the only country in the world with a AAA rating from all the big three rating agencies it will continue to have AAA growth and stability and if the euro zone crisis affects its exports it still has Asia the fasted growing economies in the world to tap into so the prognosis is she is truly the Lion City.