Ray Dalio wrote a paper on how the economic engine works back in 2008 and his website is at http://www.economicprinciples.org/. And it got converted into a video.
I recall, as a kid, growing in Singapore, the geography textbooks of that time would say that the factors contributing to Modern Singapore were primarily the Port and the People.
We did a little of muddling and 'monkeying' around, riding the still ascendant Asian wave before crashing against the rocks in 1997 and were nowhere really, until the effects of the late nineties industries consolidation and late 2000s infrastructure boom culminated in a more dynamic and diverse racial landscape.
The need for FDI draws backward chains into the need forculturaldraws and it couldn't have come in a better time with the economic turmoil and political standoff about.
You could say that the real draw of the country .. nay .. city is really the governance, infrastructure and operational culture (honed hammered through the decades through tripartism 'soft' influence).
In fact, this is probably the ONLY factor keeping us relevant.