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SINGAPORE – Even as the Covid-19 situation in Singapore stabilizes and the country shifts its focus towards economic recovery, it must remain open and connected to the world, Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat said on Thursday (October 15).
Managing the country’s dual identity as a city and a nation is critical to Singapore’s success, he added.
As a city, you must remain open to new and exciting ideas. As a nation, it must stand together and defend its independence.
“These seemingly conflicting objectives are not options, but necessities for us,” Heng said, rounding off two days of debate on the Third Bill on Budget Adjustments and Supplementary Supply, during which 33 deputies spoke. “And they will always define us as a country and guide how we manage our economy and society.”
As a city, Singapore’s global competition includes cities such as London, New York, Shanghai and Mumbai, said Heng, who is also the Coordinating Minister for Economic Policy and Minister of Finance.
All of these cities have their own interiors and can attract talent from large local talent pools.
But Singapore, with its small national population of four million, has to put together the “best possible team” to remain useful and relevant to the world.
“We want to make sure we have the best players on our team, building on each other’s strengths, working together as a team,” Heng said. “That is why we must remain open to the best talents from around the world. So that we can present the best team and go on the world stage.”
Giving examples of how the openness has benefited Singapore, he noted that global companies have established operations here, bringing their knowledge and networks, creating a vibrant ecosystem for local businesses and startups and enabling them to be part of a global value chain. .
Top talent have also chosen to call Singapore home and have allowed locals to collaborate with the best. For example, leading researchers Professor Sir David Lane and Professor Birgitte Lane have provided thought leadership that has spurred Singapore’s advancements in the biomedical sciences, he said.
The country sends its leading minds abroad to learn from others, through scholarship programs like the one offered by the Agency for Science, Technology and Research.
At the same time, Singapore is doing everything it can to help its workers improve and retrain, Heng said in his speech, outlining plans to rejuvenate the economy and strengthen the resilience of workers and businesses as that the country emerges from the pandemic.
The future of work can be very different in a post-coronavirus world, he said, and increasing digitization and the gig economy will make the job market more volatile.
“The new economy will require workers who are versatile and know how to leverage existing skills, embrace lifelong learning and be able to move between adjacent industry clusters,” he added, and asked companies to play their role in developing training programs. for workers. .
These efforts to improve the skills of Singapore’s workforce, along with its openness to ideas, innovations and innovators, will help ensure a better future for this country, Heng said.
“As a global city that competes and collaborates with other global cities, it is crucial that we remain open and, at the same time, invest in our people,” he added. “In that way, we remain relevant to the world.”
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