Author Description

Through the lens of the now-defunct Singapore government-linked company (GLC) called International Trading Company (INTRACO), this book offers a historical analysis of the country's economic development strategy. Since its Independence in 1965, GLCs like INTRACO were introduced by the former Deputy Prime Minister, the late Dr Goh Keng Swee, a pioneer of Singapore's remarkable transformation from Third World to First, to fulfil strategic economic objectives. As the country's "lifeblood" has been entreport trade, INTRACO was created to "blaze a trail overseas" by facilitating commercial ties behind the Iron Curtain during the Cold War. The eventual divestment of INTRACO highlights the same way in which the Singaporean state is acutely responsive to changing global economic and geopolitical trends. This book is useful to academics, students, and the interested lay reader for its insights into the role of the state in economic development in post-colonial countries.