Singapore has topped the list for the most business-friendly city in the world for the last 6 years, and shows no sign of slowing down now. The wonderful thing about this for any worldly entrepreneurs looking to set themselves up here is that Singapore isn’t just a great place to do business – it’s a great place full stop. The people, food and climate are all wonderful here, and this is truly a great place to live even when you’re not considering working here.

But, if you are considering working, the bonuses keep on coming. The enormous advantage Singapore has for businesses over all of the competing “business” nations is its tax system, which has been carefully standardised and automated, making the entire painful process of filing tax reports and income forms a very simple, easy job. Which, as any business owner knows, is an enormous advantage to actually getting stuff done.

Alongside this is Singapore’s friendly and welcoming business laws, which are designed to be as unrestrictive and advantageous as possible. Here, labour is cheap but not exploited – as it is in many of Singapore’s neighbours – rules and regulations are restrained and relaxed, and businesses of all shapes and sizes are encouraged to thrive.

Singapore makes almost all of its money from business, and the government here understand how important it is to keep the culture of easy business maintained, well-fed and happy. Businesses have the power here, to some extent, and because Singapore is so well-developed as a country, this doesn’t mean that people are exploited by big business as can so easily happen in other countries. Singapore is a great, ethical place to start a business, and is close to the enormous Asian markets that everybody wants a piece of without having the ethical restrictions that many other countries do. That’s what really makes Singapore so special – it’s an Asian marketplace without the drawbacks.

Singapore itself is a wonderful place, and has had a long and vibrant history and culture. This culture has – of course – been tied in with the rest of Asia, but has managed to maintain its own identity in a region of the world where identity is nowhere near as valued as hard work. The flexible immigration policies of Singapore have also made the entire process of starting a business here as a foreigner much, much easier than in most Asian countries. In fact, starting a business as a foreigner here is easier than anywhere else in the world, simply because of the laws here.

Sadly, not every country is able of following Singapore’s example of business-friendly laws, simply because Singapore’s such an individual country. There’s not many other city-states out there full stop, but Singapore is surrounded by the enormous and still-growing Asian marketplace that every western business is trying to claw their way into, with varying degrees of success. This, coupled with the country’s attitude to business, is what has made this tiny island so successful, and if you’re seriously considering moving somewhere to start a business, you may well have just found it.

And even if it doesn’t work out, Singapore’s a great country. You might want to think about moving there anyway.