Almost a decade ago, the government of Singapore began to promote entrepreneurship. However, the unsupportive culture and a traditional education system discouraged the development of entrepreneurship in Singapore. According to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, Singapore is one of the least entrepreneurial societies in the developed world.

In Singapore, people seem to recognize the need for entrepreneurship. They see opportunities in the world economy for new ventures, and much discussion going on to encourage Singaporean entrepreneurs to jump into the growing world market. There is no shortage of effort to foster entrepreneurship there.

There are many resources available to aspiring entrepreneurs: many Universities and Government bodies have set up institutes to nurture entrepreneurship. The National University of Singapore has established an Entrepreneurship Centre, and the Ministry of Trade and Industry has the Economic Development Board.

There have been many events such as workshops and networking cocktails to foster the movement. Also, many awards programs, from government-sponsored to private, encourage aspiring entrepreneurs to compete and succeed.

One of the predominant thrusts is one which looks to import the knowledge that contributed to the US entrepreneurial strength, and emulate that success. Many people are looking to apply some key US entrepreneurial formulas to Singapore ventures.

It appears that the environment is Singapore is ripe for entrepreneurship. One would think that more ventures would be coming out of Singapore, given such a positive climate. However, there seems to be frustration among many entrepreneurs and would-be entrepreneurs, expressed in blogs and some online communities. They seem to be frustrated by roadblocks resulting from some confusing government regulations.

• Entrepreneurial activity and innovation have become increasingly pervasive in Singapore in the past five years.
• Quoting the “2005 Global Entrepreneurship Monitor” report, the entrepreneurial activity has risen from 2.1 percent in 2000 to 7.2 percent in 2005 (Economic Development Board (EDB)).
• The total entrepreneurial activity, which refers to the proportion of adults aged 18 to 64 in a country that have engaged in starting up or running their own new businesses in the last three and a half years in Singapore.
• The number of patent applications filed by Singapore residents increased from 523 in 2001 to 641 in 2004.
• The number of new high-tech companies formed every year grew from 3,502 in 2001 to 3,908 in 2005.
• The nationalities of enterprises set up in Singapore have also been diversifying in the past years and the city state is negotiating more free trade agreements with its trading partners to expand its business connectivity.
• In 2005, the World Bank Report ("Doing Business in 2005") ranked Singapore 3rd in the ease of doing business in Asia.
• The Institute for Management Development (IMD) yearbook 2005 ranked Singapore the 3rd most competitive country in the world.