Hong Kong is pretty much the same in those aspects, but larger population and more mountains. The government money for startups in Singapore has created an environment that is not entirely healthy or desirable in that there is little incentive to succeed or be that creative. Hong Kong has some government funding and space available, but tends to be in a matching funds arrangement.

I think you're right that Hong Kong is a comparable alternative; I've seen the two referred to as the Asian equivalents of New York and London in terms of their importance to Asian capital markets.

For myself, as an Australian, Singapore is more attractive because of its proximity.

You'll pay about 15-16% income tax in hong kong, there's no capital gains tax, no sales tax, no tax on dividends.

Hong Kong is also a global flight hub...in fact, compared to the US, most places in Asia are relatively close to each other.

If Singapore does have a tax advantage or a geographic advantage, it really can't be significant enough to be the reason you pick one versus the other.

Singapore is much closer to Australia. For me personally, that's a big advantage.

If however I were doing business in China, Korea or Japan, Hong Kong would be a better base.

Singapore is a dictatorship, and I think one should always consider the political and legal frameworks of a country in case one runs afoul of the law. I don't know about Singapore, but in some countries merely criticizing the government can get you into trouble, e.g. Thailand.

In this context, "dictatorship" is akin to an epithet, and using it risks short-circuiting rational discourse. There's nothing intrinsically wrong with personal rule: Napoleon wasn't Hitler, Queen Elizabeth I wasn't Stalin, and Marcus Aurelius wasn't Chairman Mao.

Singapore is a de facto single-party state with a strong prime minister. Is that good or bad? That depends on whether we're talking Aurelius or Mao. Having spent the better part of a week in Singapore this past summer, I can tell you that it was the only place on my itinerary where I thought, "I'd love to have a place here." (The other destinations were Thailand, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Ireland.) If I were to have a residence or business in Singapore, probably my biggest fear would be not government oppression, but rather the People's Action Party losing control, probably to the quasi-communist Workers' Party—i.e., a triumph of "democracy" over the highly effective government Singapore has today.

Excellent comment. I'd also point that there are democracies in the world that are orders of magnitude worse places to start a business than Singapore.

Singapore is consistently rated by the World Bank/International Finance Corporation as the number 1 country in the world to do business[1]. That covers the ease of starting a business, contract enforceability, getting credit, and other metrics that are necessary precursors to getting started.

Although China's rise has been the largest in absolute economic terms, Singapore has probably been the fastest.

1. http://www.doingbusiness.org/data/exploreeconomies/singapore...

Just to be clear, I was in no way trying to tie them to a brutal dictatorship. But I think it's important to understand the political structure of the country, not just the current economic/civil environment. For the political structure may help you determine what the civil/economic condition will be as things change, i.e. a change of leadership in an authoritarian regime will have more of an impact on economic and civil life than a change of leadership in a democracy (I don't know if this is true btw).

You are probably better off visiting the place and getting a feel for it rather than relying on "facts". For example, some people might see Hong Kong as part of China and thus conclude it's oppressive. However, it only takes a day or two here to realize that people enjoy a ton of freedom (I see protests all the time, and haven't seen anyone pepper sprayed or arrested yet).

"However, it only takes a day or two here to realize that people enjoy a ton of freedom (I see protests all the time, and haven't seen anyone pepper sprayed or arrested yet)."

It won't be like this forever. I think the autonomous government deadline is 50 years. When this happens, it won't be as "free" as it is now.

This is also only if the Chinese government doesn't go back on their word.

If you truly want a free country, go to Taiwan. Taipei is just as vibrant as HK.

If it helps, I'm go-authoring a book with Derek Sivers on Taiwan. Leaving next week for Taiwan to write the book over the next month. It's an awesome place to do business because of their low cost of living but their taxes are similar to the US>

Coincidentally, the main reason I visited Singapore was to hang out with Derek. I'll be interested to see the result of your collaboration. P.S. I'm sure it's a typo, but I love the idea of "go-authoring" a book—it has a great ambitious ring to it.

"Dictatorship" is not strictly accurate.

The downside to Singapore is that they are authoritarians. Confucian capitalists, you might say. William Gibson famously called it "Disneyland with the Death Penalty" in a Wired article of that title.

Dictatorship is not accurate. I'm from Singapore and seriously, you can do whatever you want, just don't break the law (as with any other countries).

Singapore is very pro-business.