Georgetown University: School of Foreign Service in Qatar

H.E. Mr. Umej Singh Bhatia, head of mission spoke to Georgetown University students last week regarding the rise of Singapore as a prominent financial centre in Asia. Students of Professor Ibrahim Oweiss's International Finance class enjoyed an hour-long presentation on how a Singapore became leading financial center through building its human capital.

Considered an "economic miracle", Singapore has witnessed rapid growth for the past three decades. The GNP of Singapore outperformed that of many developed nations such as the United Kingdom and France. As Asia has continued to grow rapidly, Singapore has grown as a financial hub serving the Association of Southeast Asian Nations ASEAN region. According to Bhatia, the country has succeeded in building itself as a global center for trade due to visionary political leadership and a culture of efficiency. Striving to survive in a changing global environment, Singapore cannot afford to lag behind. "It is just like riding a bicycle, as soon as you stop, you fall off." Bhatia said.

Singapore, a country 40 times smaller than Qatar and 4 times its population, had no natural resources to depend on – except for its people. Its leadership considered building human capital as the key to the country's future. "Building talent is one of the hardest things to do," said Bhatia. The government has invested in its citizens as the engine of growth through subsidizing education and vocational training. These programs have succeeded in raising the Singaporean education level of its people and started attracting world-renowned universities such as University of Pennsylvania, Cornell and INSEAD to open branch campuses there.

Responding to a student's question, Bhatia noted that there are similarities between Qatar and Singapore. He mentioned that in both countries, visionary leadership from the government and belief in investing in education have been cornerstones to development.

In addition to his role as Head of Mission, Bhatia is an academic. He graduate from both Stanford and Harvard universities. His latest book entitled "Forgetting Osma bin Munqidh Remembering Osama bin Laden: The Crusades in Modern Muslim Memory," was published in Singapore this year.

The lecture was well received by the class. According to Oweiss, "Mr. Bhatia's presentation proved that a country with no resources can still raise the standards of living of its people.”