Would you base an IT business in Singapore at the moment?

[BoroBoy]

I am a partner in a small (4 people)l asia based IT company and we are currently based in HK. There have been some initial discussions about most if not all employees moving to Singapore. I have previously lived in SG so I know what its like to live there but would you think now is a good time to start/move a small business there?

From reading this forum I know the govt are pushing back on EPs for foreigners and the locals seem to have a greater anti-foreigner sentiment than I remember. Does this concern anyone else who is starting a business now?

Also, has anyone has issues hiring good local talent? I worked with a number of Singaporeans in the past and some were very good, but most of the others probably wouldnt have been hired if the office was in any other country!

looking forward to some replies!

cheers!

BB

[offshoreoildude]

I am a partner in a small (4 people)l asia based IT company and we are currently based in HK. There have been some initial discussions about most if not all employees moving to Singapore. I have previously lived in SG so I know what its like to live there but would you think now is a good time to start/move a small business there?

From reading this forum I know the govt are pushing back on EPs for foreigners and the locals seem to have a greater anti-foreigner sentiment than I remember. Does this concern anyone else who is starting a business now?

Also, has anyone has issues hiring good local talent? I worked with a number of Singaporeans in the past and some were very good, but most of the others probably wouldnt have been hired if the office was in any other country!

looking forward to some replies!

cheers!

BB

An Australian partner of mine and I looked into starting an extension of his Aussie IT company here. We concluded it would be better off anywhere but here (Indo/MY/VN/TH/PI).

[Sergei82]

An Australian partner of mine and I looked into starting an extension of his Aussie IT company here. We concluded it would be better off anywhere but here (Indo/MY/VN/TH/PI).

Any non-obvious reason for that (aside from cheaper labour and property)?

[nakatago]

An Australian partner of mine and I looked into starting an extension of his Aussie IT company here. We concluded it would be better off anywhere but here (Indo/MY/VN/TH/PI).

Any non-obvious reason for that (aside from cheaper labour and property)?

Policy changes that are volatile?

[offshoreoildude]

An Australian partner of mine and I looked into starting an extension of his Aussie IT company here. We concluded it would be better off anywhere but here (Indo/MY/VN/TH/PI).

Any non-obvious reason for that (aside from cheaper labour and property)?

Competency and value were our concerns. The regions around Singapore are very quickly coming up in IT quality and capability.

[Strong Eagle]

I am a partner in a small (4 people)l asia based IT company and we are currently based in HK. There have been some initial discussions about most if not all employees moving to Singapore. I have previously lived in SG so I know what its like to live there but would you think now is a good time to start/move a small business there?

From reading this forum I know the govt are pushing back on EPs for foreigners and the locals seem to have a greater anti-foreigner sentiment than I remember. Does this concern anyone else who is starting a business now?

Also, has anyone has issues hiring good local talent? I worked with a number of Singaporeans in the past and some were very good, but most of the others probably wouldnt have been hired if the office was in any other country!

looking forward to some replies!

cheers!

BB

Not a good place for a new small business. Read the rules for starting a new business. Onerous, at the least. Cost of living is very expensive and bound to get worse. This means good talent will cost you a lot. Trying to import cheaper talent from elsewhere (India) will be thwarted by the government's clamp down on work permits.

If you want to hire tech talent, I'd look towards Vietnam and Thailand. I'd put Malaysia on that list but there are a lot of companies moving in and demand, talent availability, and salaries are sure to rise.

[BoroBoy]

thanks for the replies everyone, I'll checkout some details for the other countries in the region, although not sure if it will be a good solution for us immediately. We are finance related IT so it makes sense for us to be in a finance hub while we are starting out.

If the govt are restricting cheap labour from abroad and the cost of living keeps rising I guess a lot of small business might start to struggle, and MNCs will start to reassess their options too.

[Sergei82]

And why HK is not a finance hub? Moreover, trading centre...

[BoroBoy]

yeah it is, and its a decent base for now. There are some other factors r.e. potentially moving away from HK.

[Sergei82]

Can we know?

[BoroBoy]

its not really relevant tbh, more complicated than needed for this thread.

[businessengine]

In Singapore, it's very convenient to start a company. I don't think it is favourable to do IT/software in SG.