In the beginning of 1992 , when the GDP dropped o 5 .8% , Prime Minister Goh and Lee Kuan Yew came up with new ideas to ensure Singapore 's place ahead of the pack. One such idea was "to go regional" to emphasize trade and investment in neighbouring countries:- Myanmar, Vietnam, Indonesia, India and China where wage were still low and where would be prudent to become owners of high yielding assets.
Singapore began to build industrial parks and resorts on Bantan Island, Indonesia and entered into collaborative projects in Bangalore, India. Singapore offered China its banking and oil refining facilities:- giving its expertise to Vietnam for its infrastructure projects, to Cambodia for development of its seaport and airport development, to China for assistance in telecommunication, tourism and hotel management.