GEIS-新闻详情

S’pore pursues growth to improve citizens’ lives as ‘no one will come to our rescue’: DPM Wong

2024-02-28 00:00:00.0 海峡时报-新加坡原网页

SINGAPORE – Singapore needs to keep its economy growing so that it can make a living and take care of its people, at a time when the world is becoming more dangerous and unpredictable, Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said on Feb 28.

As he laid out the Government’s plans to achieve between 2 per cent and 3 per cent growth annually over the next decade, DPM Wong said: “The reality is that Singapore will always be a little red dot – we have no hinterland, we have no natural resources, unlike resource-rich countries like Qatar or the UAE (United Arab Emirates).

“If we falter, no one will come to our rescue.”

DPM Wong noted that the Government has quadrupled social spending over the last 20 years.

Sustaining growth is therefore the way to help Singaporeans secure a better future, he said, as he detailed how Budget 2024 builds on deliberate moves in recent decades to strengthen social support.

He was speaking at the end of three days of debate in Parliament on his $131.4 billion government spending plan that saw 61 MPs from across the aisle airing their views.

In his hour-long, round-up speech, DPM Wong said increasing value-add is how Singapore can command better prices in world markets, which in turn benefits workers here with higher wages.

Get a round-up of the top stories to start your day

Thank you!

By signing up, I accept SPH Media's Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy as amended from time to time.

Yes, I would also like to receive SPH Media Group's SPH Media Limited, its related corporations and affiliates as well as their agents and authorised service providers.

marketing and promotions.

He cited the example of German multinational enterprise Siemens, which came to Singapore in 1908 and grew over time from a small sales office to providing technologies across sectors such as transport, water treatment and medical diagnostics.

As businesses have options on where they want to invest or site their operations, Singapore has to maintain its competitiveness to justify the premium firms pay to be here, he said.

Key to this is productivity improvement, which the Government targets to account for 1 per cent to 2 per cent of economic growth in the coming decade.

This is an ambitious goal, given Singapore’s stage of development, and will require a continual transformation of the economy, with workers embracing new skills and technologies, said DPM Wong.

Staying attractive to high-quality investments will be essential, as such investments typically involve innovative activities that push the productivity frontier.

The remaining 1 per cent of growth has to come through increases in the workforce, he said.

Remote video URL

With resident workforce growth slowing and insufficient to meet the demands of the economy, DPM Wong said Singapore has to stay open to foreign talent.

This includes work-permit holders, who comprise about two-thirds of the total foreign workforce, mostly doing jobs that Singaporeans do not want to do.

At the upper end, this means workers able to take on jobs in new growth areas such as the digital economy, where there is a global shortage of skilled talent.

Remote video URL

DPM Wong said Singapore has a comprehensive system of controls to regulate the quality and number of work-pass holders across every level of the workforce.

To keep pace with wage growth here, the minimum qualifying salary for employment pass applicants will be increased, he said.

“Why are we doing all this? It is not to chase after a target. It is not to grow for the sake of growth. It is to secure better outcomes for Singapore and Singaporeans,” he added.

This is why the Government is also making several other moves in tandem, such as enacting workplace fairness laws, enhancements to SkillsFuture, and new support for segments that face more challenges, such as Institute of Technical Education graduates, he said.

Following DPM Wong’s speech, Leader of the Opposition Pritam Singh said that while growth is important, what is more key is that such growth is sustainable. He cited how the Government said about a decade ago that the country needed to slow growth down as the situation had changed dramatically.

In response, DPM Wong agreed that growth has to be sustainable. The issue then was about infrastructure, and the Government had since updated its planning processes. For instance, it has ramped up the building of public housing and worker dormitories.