Decades of planning by the government to successfully attract investment into the chemical sector have created an integrated strategy of refining and chemical production to serve companies in the downstream petrochemical and specialty chemical industries. At the heart of this planning, has been the development of a world-class chemicals manufacturing center of Jurong Island and in late 2010, the government announced a plan for Jurong Island version 2.0 (JIv2.0) as the latest push for Singapore’s for development in the chemicals sector. When viewed within five decades of context, JIv2.0, which emphasizes further integration of auxiliary services, diversification of feedstocks and a focus on developing specialty chemicals manufacturing. This is just the latest element of a seemingly natural progression of the government’s strategy for the industry.

Despite Singapore perennially ranking at the top of the World Bank’s annual “Ease of Doing Business” survey, its well-educated population, strong intellectual property protection and a clear, incorruptible bureaucratic process, the new restrictions on migrant labor and increased attention to social and environmental concerns all raise costs for chemical manufacturers. These issues are becoming even more pressing at a time when Singapore’s regional peers are being increasingly viable places to do business. Singapore’s firm commitment to progress and foreign investment has not necessarily wavered, but must now compete with other concerns to continue the unprecedented development of Singapore’s technically complex and often regulation heavy chemical industry.