Enter The Lion's Den
Making Country Growth Inclusive for Everyone
🎙️ Earlier today, I was listening to Prime Minister Mark Carney’s remarks at the APEC Summit in Korea — and one line stood out:
“We want to build big things with nations and companies who share our ambition — and our belief that we are stronger together.”
It struck me — because few countries embody that builder’s mindset better than Singapore.
🇨🇦 Canada’s Abundance vs. Singapore’s Design
Canada is an energy superpower — the third-largest oil reserves and fourth-largest natural-gas reserves, powered by an 85% clean-energy grid with plans to expand another 50%.
It’s a story of abundance.
But abundance alone doesn’t guarantee inclusive progress.
Singapore, by contrast, began with almost nothing.
No natural resources. No safety net. Yet today it ranks #4 globally in GDP per capita ($92,932) — a nation that designed its destiny through discipline, foresight, and people-first policy.
🇸🇬 The Lion City Playbook
I’ve visited Singapore seven times over my career, and each visit felt like progress in fast-forward — new skylines, faster trains, sharper systems.
It’s a country where the long game isn’t aspirational — it’s default.
No natural resources. No shortcuts. Just strategy.
✅ Human Capital: relentless investment in education, skills, and global talent.
🏗️ Infrastructure: a port handling 20% of global container traffic and a transport system so efficient you don’t need a car.
⚙️ Governance: policy continuity, low corruption, and decades-ahead planning.
It’s a nation that engineered growth, not inherited it.
🔄 What Changed This Year
📈 Singapore’s continued outperformance:
- GDP grew 4.4% year-on-year in Q2 2025 and 2.9% in Q3 2025, exceeding expectations.
- The Ministry of Trade and Industry raised its 2025 forecast to 1.5–2.5%, led by manufacturing, finance, and transportation.
- Growth is powered not by geography or geology — but by innovation and inclusive policy.
Most advanced economies are expected to grow below 2% this year — a reminder that prosperity now belongs to builders, not extractors.
🇨🇦 Canada’s Builder’s Moment
Carney’s plan to double non-U.S. exports by 2035 signals a pivot from comfort to competitiveness.
With new agreements across the UAE (AI & infrastructure), EU (defense & trade), and Germany (critical minerals) — and ongoing Canada–ASEAN talks — Canada is re-anchoring itself in Asia’s growth arc.
Our challenge isn’t capacity — it’s coordination.
To match Singapore’s discipline in execution and make growth inclusive, intentional, and built to last.
👀 What I’m Watching
🇸🇬 Singapore’s steady compounding through smart policy.
Governance as a growth engine — innovation woven into infrastructure and education for long-term resilience.
🇨🇦 Canada’s pivot from resources to design-led growth.
A shift from extraction to value creation, where clean energy, technology, and trust become our new exports.
⚖️ The gap between GDP and median wealth — the real test of prosperity.
It’s not how fast a nation grows, but how fairly that growth is shared.
💬 Beyond Growth Takeaway
Can Canada — blessed with abundance — learn from Singapore’s ability to do more with less?
Can we turn our wealth into resilience, our policies into purpose, and our progress into something truly inclusive?
Nations don’t rise on resources or machines — they rise on the resilience, foresight, and vision of its people.
it’s how well they evolve together.
💬 Your Take
Is this the dawn of an inclusive growth revolution — or just another chapter of uneven progress?
And if policies can shape prosperity, shouldn’t people decide what kind of progress they want next?
🤝 Let’s Collaborate
I’m a Canada-based entrepreneur and growth strategist working at the intersection of technology, trade, and transformation — helping organizations turn disruption into design, and uncertainty into opportunity.
My focus: guiding businesses to
🌍 diversify markets,
🧠 strengthen positioning, and
⚙️ build sustainable growth — whether through exports, digital platforms, or product innovation.
What I Help With
🌍 Trade & Market Diversification — unlocking new geographies, designing smarter trade routes, and reducing overdependence on single markets through adaptive growth strategy.
🛒 CPG Strategy & Consumer Insights — aligning product, pricing, and value with evolving global demand patterns to help brands scale sustainably across regions.
📺 Media & Digital Transformation — empowering content, FAST channels, and digital platforms to engage global audiences and monetize effectively across borders.
Across sectors — from manufacturing to entertainment — the real winners aren’t waiting for the next policy shift.
They’re designing optionality, blending innovation with intent, and shaping the future before it’s written for them.
🔔 Stay Connected
If this story of resilience, growth, and transformation resonates with you — let’s continue the conversation.
👉 Subscribe to my newsletter — Beyond Growth Playbook — for insights on strategy, trade, and transformation: iamgrt.kit.com
Disclaimer: Visual generated using AI and editing tools.