While Singapore, as a country, is relatively young, it has displayed a phenomenal pace of development. Within a single generation, Singapore went from a third-world country into one of the highest GDP per capita countries in the world.
This progress is also true of many of its companies, many of which are now household names in Singapore, the region and beyond.
So, with Singapore set to celebrate “SG60” in August 2025, it’s worth taking stock of the homegrown companies that the Lion City has produced and how they’ve evolved alongside Singapore itself.
Here are 5 Singapore born-and-bred companies that have stood the test of time.
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#1 Singapore Airlines (SGX: C6L)
Talking about Singaporean companies (and brands) wouldn’t be complete without mentioning the iconic Singapore Airlines (SIA). Known for its world-class service and impeccable attention to detail, Singapore Airlines has garnered a reputation as one of the world’s best airlines.
Singapore Airlines actually started life as the Malayan Airways Limited (MAL) back in 1947 when it started regular weekly flights from Singapore Kallang Airport to Kuala Lumpur, Ipoh, and Penang.
Of course, when the Federation of Malaysia was formed in 1963, the airline became Malaysian Airways Limited and then later changed its name to Malaysia-Singapore Airlines (MSA) in 1966. It was only in 1972 that Singapore Airlines became what it’s known as today.
That’s because in that year, MSA separated into two separate airlines; Malaysian Airline System and Singapore Airlines (as we know it today).
In the 1970s and 1980s, Singapore Airlines began to make a name for itself and in 1977 it became the first airline in the world to start a non-stop trans-Pacific service – between Singapore and San Francisco via Hong Kong.
In the 2000s, Singapore Airlines again marked a “first” by becoming the world’s first airline to fly the landmark Airbus A380 plane. In 2022, it marked its 50th anniversary as standalone airline and it now regularly tops global rankings of airlines for service excellence and comfort.
#2 DBS Group Holdings (SGX: D05)
In the world of finance, no other organisation is as closely associated with Singapore than banking heavyweight DBS Group Holdings.
DBS was actually founded after Singapore’s own creation, being set up as The Development Bank of Singapore Limited by the Singapore Government in 1968. Its purpose was to support Singapore’s industrialisation as an independent nation and aid economic growth by financing major infrastructure and industry initiatives.
In those early years, DBS helped fund some landmark national projects like shipyards, telecoms, and real estate – literally helping to build the foundation of today’s Singapore.
In the early 1970s, it expanded into retail banking and also launched its securities trading arm in 1975. Fast forward 20 years or so, and in 1997 DBS acquired Post Office Savings Bank (POSB) – that was Singapore’s largest retail bank at the time.
In the 2000s and 2010s, DBS continued to expand its footprint regionally with businesses in China, India, Indonesia, and Taiwan. Today, it’s seen as a “digital first” bank, after just-departed CEO Piyush Gupta adopted a start-up culture to try and foster more innovation in the bank. For DBS, 2018 marked its 50th anniversary and it continues to go from strength to strength.
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#3 ComfortDelGro Corporation (SGX: C52)
Singapore’s recognisable blue and yellow taxis are from none other than ComfortDelGro (CDG) and the taxi, bus, and train operator now has operations just beyond Singapore.
Today’s CDG was originally founded in 1970 as the Comfort Transportation Co-operative Limited, with a mission to help Singaporean taxi drivers own their vehicles and improve working conditions.
In essence, it was founded as taxi co-operative by the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) and was mainly created to address the issue of unlicensed taxi drivers. In 1973 it registered as Comfort Group Limited and transitioned to a corporate entity.
Meanwhile, DelGro Corporation was separately formed in 1987 and grew rapidly as key transport operator in Singapore. It was only in 2003 that the merger of Comfort Group and DelGro Corporation formed today’s CDG. The logic behind it was to achieve economies of scale and expand overseas in both the public and private transport sectors.
For the remainder of the 2000s, that’s exactly what CDG did as it expanded to the UK, Australia, China, Vietnam, and Malaysia. Both the rise of ride-hailing apps (such as Grab) and the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic deeply impacted CDG’s core businesses but it has continued to adapt and remains a key brand and iconic company of Singapore.
#4 Keppel Corporation (SGX: BN4)
Keppel Corporation’s place as a large conglomerate in Singapore’s economy is not exactly contested but the giant firm actually had humble beginnings.
It was established as Keppel Shipyard in 1968 and was originally founded as a subsidiary of the Harbour Board of Singapore, which was there to help modernise Singapore’s maritime ship repair industry and support the country’s industrialisation push.
In 1975, Keppel Shipyard listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange and this helped raise funds as it moved from a state sector player into a private enterprise. In the following decades, Keppel expanded into offshore marine and engineering as well as property development (via Keppel Land) as well as financial services – with the setting up of Keppel Bank.
Fast forward to 1999 and Keppel restructured itself into Keppel Corp, a listed conglomerate that could hold all the various interests in businesses across industries. In the 2000s, Keppel sold Keppel Bank to OCBC and focused on its offshore & marine, infrastructure and property businesses.
More recently, Keppel has merged Keppel Offshore & Marine with Sembcorp Marine to form locally-listed Seatrium. Keppel remains a huge global asset manager and infrastructure operator with various interests in property, sustainable infrastructure, and urban development projects.
#5 SATS Ltd (SGX: S58)
Unsurprisingly, for an airport services firm, SATS Ltd actually started out life in 1972 as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Singapore Airlines (SIA). At its core, SATS was born to provide ground handling and in-flight catering services at Singapore’s airport while also supporting the expansion of the Lion City’s aviation sector.
In the 1980s and 1990s, when Singapore’s Changi Airport grew into a global aviation hub, SATS modernised its systems by – for example – introducing automated baggage handling, building advanced in-flight catering centres (to support dozens of airlines), and eventually building a reputation for efficiency and quality.
The merging of SATS’ cargo and ground handling operations into SATS Airport Services occurred in 1992 and SATS went on to list on the Singapore Exchange (SGX) in 2000, giving it greater autonomy as a publicly-listed firm.
In 2009, SATS became a fully-independent entity after it broke away from SIA and in the 2010s, the company expanded into Asia and the Middle East by forming local joint ventures in areas such as catering, cargo handling, and airport services.
Obviously, the Covid-19 pandemic severely impacted the firm but it managed to pivot by providing food manufacturing and delivery services during the worst of the lockdown period. SATS also helped the national response by providing key food distribution capabilities and quarantine facilities.
In 2023, SATS completed a major acquisition as it bought Worldwide Flight Services (WFS), a leading global air cargo handler, for just over S$1.8 billion. This created the largest air cargo handling company in the world and helped elevate SATS as a global logistics and food solutions heavyweight.
Today, SATS has two core businesses; food solutions (such as in-flight catering) and gateway services (such as ground handling and air cargo). Its presence is felt through its operations in over 210 airport locations in over 20 countries.
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