Trade, manufacturing, services and financing are the four fundamental components of the Australian economy; it is dominated by the services sector (70% of GDP), although the agricultural and mining sectors account for 57% of the country's exports and be considered the 'driving force', despite the mining sector's slow decline. Figure 1 shows Australia's top 10 exports of 2013; Metals, such as iron-ore and gold, account for 41%, coal for 21%, aluminium ores and copper ores count for 6% and wool for 4%4, and thus supports the aforementioned claim that the agricultural and mining sectors' contribution to driving the economy renders significantly greater than other industries. Australia's abundance of natural resources and extensive reserves of coal, iron, copper, gold, natural gas, uranium, and renewable energy sources, make it a major exporter of commodities; which, alongside with rising global commodity prices and the rapid increase of demand for resources and energy from Asia, China in particular, attracts foreign investment. Australia's economic success via primary industry exports act as a tell-tale of the nation's course to becoming a major regional financial centre.
Unlike Australia, Singapore functions independently from the agriculture, forestry and fishing sector, in fact only 0.1% of its labour force is agriculturally based. Due to its unfavourably small surface area, Singapore lacks arable land and natural resources, like fuels, metals, or minerals. Instead, the nation has employed a comprehensive program of industrialization, with a focus on labour-intensive industries. The economy is driven by exports in electronics, manufacturing and machinery, financial services, tourism, and the world's largest cargo seaport. As shown in Figure 2, Singapore's geographic location proves to be advantageous- the island state lies along major sea lanes, making the Port of Singapore the world's busiest transhipment port, surpassing Hong Kong and Rotterdam.
