Other reasons for ranking Singapore as a financial and business hub are the free-trade agreements (FTAs) that facilitate trade between businesses in Singapore and countries around the world - Singapore was the first Asian country to sign an FTA with the United States, which also is Singapore's largest direct foreign investor and second-largest trading partner. Where IGAs protect Singapore-based companies in other countries, FTAs remove barriers to trade and investment, thereby "creating freer flow of goods, services and people". Singapore also has FTAs with Australia, Japan, New Zealand, and members of the European Free Trade Association, among others. With the effective signing of these agreements, multi-national companies have greater flexibility to move capital resources and staff around, among other things.
Not that foreigners need much persuasion to pick Singapore if their companies decide to relocate them and their families somewhere in Asia - you can walk along your average Singaporean street at 3am unmolested, remember? And with English as the medium of instruction and large government expenditures on education, Singapore isn't a bad place to send children to school either.
Low crime versus no crime