YEREVAN (Armenia): Shortly after Sir Stamford Raffles founded Singapore in 1819, Armenian merchants made their way to its shores, seeing business opportunities at South-east Asia's newest port.

They went on eventually to make significant contributions to the young city, setting up businesses, including the iconic Raffles Hotel, and adding to its economic, social and physical landscape.

Fast-forward to the present, the people of Armenia are once again seeing opportunities in Singapore, but of a different sort: They want to learn how it achieved its economic success, and how to apply it in their country.

Their interest was reflected in the range of questions directed at Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew on Friday.

The first Singapore leader to visit Armenia, MM Lee arrived in the capital Yerevan this week on the second leg of a three-country visit. He started off in Britain on Sept 13, flew here on Sept 17, and leaves for Russia on Saturday.

The Armenian media have credited the Minister Mentor for Singapore's economic miracle. At Friday's meetings with the country's leaders and businessmen, the question of how Singapore had achieved its strong economic growth came up repeatedly.

'What are the key economic, political and social fundamentals, as well as cultural driving forces, that Armenia needs to achieve similar success to that which East Asia has experienced?' asked one businessman. 'What is the role of the government in achieving progress? Should it just be setting policies, or taking an active role?' asked another.

They likely saw similarities between the two countries. Armenia, a landlocked country in Caucasus, has a small population of about three million.
MM Lee posed a question in reply. 'Where is your wider hinterland? Is it your neighbours? Is it the CIS states of the former Soviet Union? Or is it... Europe, America and other developed countries?'

'I would believe that your best growth prospects would come from leapfrogging the region... make your connections with Western Europe, America and I would say East Asia, because that is the growth region for the 21st century.'