Singapore and the UAE are already in sync

Two smaller nations have much in common.

The Tekka Centre Hawker Market in Singapore's Little India. (Brian Kerrigan / The National)

There is a natural logic in the way the UAE is looking to Singapore, in this instance to learn about smart cities, as The National reported yesterday. And that the successful Southeast Asian city-state is reciprocating with respect to the UAE’s energy efficiency, urban planning and policies on foreign workers.

Our two countries are already twinned in so many ways: we are strategically located in our respective regions. We are relatively young countries with a can-do spirit that matches our leaders’ vision. We are both small states in the sense that small is generally defined as having a population of 10 million or less.

We also share dynamic goals and an honest sense of the challenges along the way. As one of Singapore’s senior diplomats, Bilahari Kausikan, put it recently: “A small state cannot be only ordinarily successful. If we were no different from our neighbourhood, why should anyone want to deal with us rather than our larger neighbours who, moreover, are well endowed with natural resources? To be relevant, we have to be extraordinary. Being extraordinary is a strategic imperative.”

This is rather well put. For the UAE, being extraordinary means many things: becoming a strategic hub for the Middle East North Africa region, much as Singapore is for Southeast Asia and inculcating the capacity to change quickly in response to disaster or opportunity. In KPMG’s Change Readiness Index of 90 countries in 2013, Singapore ranked first for its readiness to respond to changed circumstances.

It is undeniable that Singapore has accomplished much in the 50 years since it bravely set out to forge its own destiny.

When it cut loose from Malaysia, many wondered whether it would thrive on its own. Today, its annual per capita income of more than $56,000 (Dh205,000) is one of the highest in the world and it has the second most entrepreneurs-per-capita. So there is much to learn from Singapore about building an entrepreneurial ecosystem. To quote Mr Kausikan again: “For small states, relevance is not something to be taken for granted, but an artefact – created by human endeavour.”