SINGAPORE – Business leaders seeking growth can find opportunities even in an increasingly uncertain world, if they spread their eggs and avoid excessive pessimism or overly optimistic views of the global markets, including China.

Speaking on Feb 10 at the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s (SCCCI) Chinese New Year celebrations, President Tharman Shanmugaratnam said the international market will be the main source of growth for businesses in Singapore, and a source of prosperity for the country.

However, businesses need to avoid looking at the world in black-and-white terms as they navigate a more uncertain and unpredictable climate.

Citing China as an example, Mr Tharman noted that there have been bold narratives that focus either on its vulnerabilities or its strengths, but he said they are missing the whole picture – the challenges and strengths can both be true at the same time, and will both likely be true for some time to come.

China, he noted, is facing challenges in its property market, and challenges with excessive debts accumulated by its local governments, and with weak consumer sentiment and an undeveloped pension and social security system. He said these challenges are being addressed by the government in China, and will take some time to overcome.

Mr Tharman said what is also indisputable is that China has fundamental strengths, which are in several areas now growing and being fortified.

“It has a deep manufacturing ecosystem – no longer reliant on cheap labour – in many areas. Not just EVs (electric vehicles), which we read a lot about, but the entire automobile sector, industrial robots, and several other areas.”

He said this “deep and formidable ecosystem... together with an infrastructure and logistics system that is now one of the most advanced in the world, creates a very competitive export economy”.

China also has a huge talent pool, he noted.

“Its overall labour force is no longer growing, but its talent pool is growing – engineers, scientists and an increasingly skilled workforce, which gives China a formidable advantage,” said Mr Tharman.

At the event held at the SCCCI building in Hill Street, which SCCCI members, business leaders, ambassadors and several ministers attended, Mr Tharman said Asia, which has also been viewed in either overly bullish or overly pessimistic terms, is a region full of opportunity.

Singapore, he added, is lucky to be in Asia.

“We are a small nation with no lack of opportunities around us. If we look at China alone, by the International Monetary Fund’s assessments and reasonably conservative assessments, China will account for about one-fifth of total global growth over the next five years.

“And if you add India and South-east Asia, the region we are in will account for well over one-third of global growth. So it’s a region that’s growing.

“Unpredictable, with many risks, but it is a region full of opportunity,” said Mr Tharman.

He added that business leaders should look for opportunities in specific areas of growing demand, specific technologies, and areas with upside, but avoid concentrating their bets.

“And importantly, when we look at countries like China and India, which are effectively continental-scale economies, we have to also look at local opportunities at the provincial or state level – the Chinese provinces and Indian states.

“These are themselves economies that are often larger than many industrial economies.

“They are hungry, in some ways even more capitalistic, and looking for many ways in which they can grow and thrive,” said Mr Tharman, who also commended SCCCI and Business China for helping businesses navigate the changing regulatory climate and opportunities in the world.

He noted the business chamber’s 100-year tradition of meeting on the first day of the Chinese New Year, and lauded its efforts in building social cohesion.

In 2023, SCCCI and its partners among the other major business chambers raised $10 million within one month to support scholarships, bursaries and leadership development opportunities through the Lee Kuan Yew Centennial Fund.

The business chamber also supports students and works together with community self-help group Mendaki and the Singapore Indian Development Association (Sinda) to ensure an inclusive approach in developing talent and skills of the next generation of Singaporeans.