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Growing global champions with roots in Singapore

The digital economy has thrown up opportunities for unicorns such as Grab and Sea to emerge. But it takes more than a stable of successful global companies to sustain inclusive economic growth.

While MNCs remain a vital part of Singapore's enterprise ecosystem, the desire to grow large local enterprises has gained impetus through the years. ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI
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It is, for many, a matter of national pride to have home-grown companies attain a position of global dominance in their respective industries. Besides the United States, China and Japan, smaller economies have also succeeded in growing global champions such as Samsung (South Korea), Ikea (Sweden) and Nestle (Switzerland).

However, success has proved elusive for promising Singapore companies over the years. During the early to mid- 2000s, home-grown technology firm Creative Technology went toe-to-toe with Apple for supremacy in the global portable media player market, but was ultimately outmuscled by the American giant.

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