Fast-forward to the 1990s. Not only had the port become thebiggest, busiest, most IT-savvy in the world, but thecity-state was now home to thousands of multinationalcompanies, including Citibank, MicrosoftMicrosoft and SunMicrosystems--the East India Companies of the late 20thcentury, looking to take advantage of the following: Alles zu Microsoft auf CIO.de

"For a U.S. company coming into this marketplace, Singapore is verycosmopolitan, a melting pot of cultures," says Vincent Sim, seniormarketing manager for Microsoft's MSN business unit, which opened itsInternet portal to Singapore in 2000. In two years, MSN was able toattract 800,000 local e-mail subscribers, and in 2001 it usedSingapore as a laboratory to launch a successful series of liveconcert webcasts. "We find we can test new services in Singapore andthen cross-share the learnings across Asia," Sim says.

Of course, along with Singapore's business opportunities come a uniqueset of challenges, including the following:

But despite those problems,Singapore today is host to about 6,000 multinational companies, allseeking the seemingly unlimited opportunities presented by thelegendarily promising Asian market. What experienced global playershave learned is that the key to getting good grades in Asia 101 is toknow the rules of engagement with Singapore's government and culture,to develop local partnerships, and to work around the island'schallenges.