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It is heartening that Singapore will minimise red tape and regulatory burden to stay competitive by helping businesses to innovate and manage costs ( August 18). This is timely as a regulatory environment burdened by a stifling patchwork of complex processes and slow approvals for a myriad of licences and permits will only frustrate and drive businesses out of Singapore. For instance, in the Australian state of Victoria where I lived and worked while in Melbourne for more than half a decade, a highly regarded National Australia Bank survey found that more companies are preparing to leave the state as they struggle with onerous regulatory processes and red tape. A robust regulatory environment must be smart, competitive and enable business growth in order to retain businesses. After losing the top spot for three years, Singapore regained the position in the International Institute for Management Development’s World Competitiveness Ranking (S’pore reclaims top spot in world competitiveness ranking after three years, June 18). To remain on this trajectory, it is paramount that we keep pace with the rest of the world by recalibrating policies to reduce regulatory burden and business costs, and continue with the astute management of innovation, enterprise and our limited resources in Singapore.