Transnational corporations and their networks play a significant role in the transformations that have been taking place within the global economy. The question arises why certain countries are more successful than others in advancing from a cheap labour-based economy towards an innovation-driven one. In this book, answers to the "why's and how's" are sought by analysing Singapore's economic and social development over the last three decades with an outlook on Southeast Asia as a whole, in order to explore lessons that can be drawn for other emerging regions. In 1991, the long-term strategy entitled "The Next Lap" for the first time highlighted education as a key area of Singapore's economic strategy, which was said to help the country exceed the GDP per capita (at current prices) of the United States by 2030. This goal had been accomplished within 16 years. The Global Competitiveness Report 2019 of the World Economic Forum ranked Singapore as the world's most competitive country, taking the lead from the USA. As global value chains of TNCs have entangled not only Southeast Asia but Central and Eastern Europe as well, this book touches on short case studies from Hungary, a country which ranks among the most globalized countries in the world.