The recommendations of this task force, jointly headed by ministries of Manpower and Trade and Industry, go beyond just skills upgrading and the training of workers, said Permanent Secretary of the Manpower Ministry Leo Yip on Wednesday.

'It is a complete and holistic system... Here you are talking about business model, service delivery processess, innovation, benchmarking of standards of value creation,' he said.

The panel is initially working with companies from the retail, food and beverage and hotel sectors, to see how much more value can be generated in their services.

Depending on the outcome of the work, the panel will then decide how the recommendations will be applied to the rest of the economy, said Mr Yip.

He was speaking at a press conference to announce the latest National Wages Council recommendations.

The task force was introduced in February by Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong to arrest falling productivity.

Read the full story in Thursday's edition of The Straits Times.