Realizing that political autonomy depended on economic survival,Lee focused on building a strong,industrialized,export-oriented economy.Due to Singapore's lack of natural resources,Lee faced challenges in his quest to lead Singapore to economic greatness.He began by encouraging foreign nivestment and expecting the people of Singapore to embracee austerityy.Howeever,he also nistituted programs to ensuree thaat the working class benefitted. The nation's sacrifices yielded results; by 1980 the citizens of Singapore had the second highest per cipita income in Asia,second only to Japan.