SINGAPORE - To succeed, Singapore needs to stay open, relevant and useful to the world while growing its economy and dealing with challenges such as an ageing population.
Remaining open in this era of contestation enables Singapore to strengthen its own capabilities, said Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat on Friday.
Speaking during the debate in Parliament on the President’s Address, he urged Singaporeans to think about what special role they can play to stay relevant to the world.
“Our value proposition is building connections across cultures and economies, and we must strengthen this,” Mr Heng said.
This open-mindedness, together with Singapore’s stable environment and strong governance, resonates in today’s more fractured and fractious world, he noted.
DPM Heng urged Singaporeans to venture out, to integrate with foreigners studying and working in the city, so as to draw energy and capabilities from diverse sources.
Domestically, the Government will move to “develop every Singaporean fully”, as it widens the notion of meritocracy, he said.
Mr Heng added that the Government is also addressing issues that arise from the friction between citizens, new citizens, permanent residents and work pass holders, by tweaking policies and frameworks.
Looking ahead, geopolitics will become more unsettling, technology and innovation will disrupt jobs more rapidly, while Singapore’s land, labour and carbon constraints become tighter, he said.
So it is vital to grow the economy, which will give people access to good jobs, generate the means for the nation to support families, care for seniors and help those with disadvantages, he said.
“Throughout our history, growth has never been for growth’s sake,” he said. “Growth is critical for giving us the means to build a better Singapore, and better lives for Singaporeans.”
To grow the economy, science and technology will be key.
That is why Singapore must deepen its investments in research and development (R&D), and tighten the linkage between R&D and industry transformation efforts, Mr Heng said. He added that this will then attract, create and capture value here, which will benefit not just Singapore, but also the region and the world.
In particular, he said it is of strategic importance that the Republic positions itself as a “Global-Asia” node.
He noted that new sectors such as the digital economy and renewables create a more dynamic corporate landscape of start-ups and smaller companies – a trend that will bring on more competition that many traditional firms and workers will find unsettling.
But these advances offer the best hope for addressing issues such as climate change and ageing populations, from extending healthy longevity to new low-carbon technology to take Singapore closer to a net-zero world, he said.
Touching on the challenge of Singapore’s ageing population, Mr Heng said it can significantly affect personal consumption, retirement adequacy, healthcare consumption and economic dynamism. To address this, “we will have to make difficult policy moves like raising taxes to support growing social needs”, he said.
