The number of Employment Pass (EP) holders in Singapore increased from 65,000 in 2005 to 177,000 last year.

This translates to an annual growth rate of just under 7 per cent and an increase of 112,000. In comparison, the number of local professionals, managers and executives (PMEs) grew by more than 380,000 in the same period.

Disclosing these statistics in a ministerial statement yesterday, Health Minister Ong Ye Kung acknowledged that there are trade-offs that come with having an open economy, such as greater competition from foreign PMEs.

But the numbers underline an important point - that competition between foreign and local PMEs is not a zero-sum game, he said.

"In fact, the converse is often true. By combining and complementing local and foreign expertise, we can attract more investments and create many more good jobs and career choices for Singaporeans," he said.

"There is a trade-off at play here: many jobs, strong competition, or few jobs, no competition. We need to find the right balance where there are more jobs, some competition."

Mr Ong said the best way to advance the interests of Singaporeans is not to swing to an extreme position, but to strike a careful balance and make adjustments if this balance becomes skewed.

He cautioned against mistakenly blaming free trade agreements (FTAs) and the India-Singapore Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (Ceca) for the difficulties faced by local PMEs.

He said that this is something the Progress Singapore Party (PSP) has done, by saying that Ceca and FTAs have taken jobs away from Singaporeans.

"Unfortunately, they have politicised FTAs, and they have turned FTAs into weapons to attack the Government. Their claims are totally incorrect," he said.

These claims have stoked xenophobic sentiments among Singaporeans and could end up hurting the economy, he added.

"If someone promises you more jobs, no competition from foreigners, he is selling you snake oil. It is not possible. It cannot be on any government's policy menu."

Responding to questions from MPs, Mr Ong said foreign PMEs help cushion the impact on the local workforce when times are bad, noting that foreigners bear the brunt of job losses in a downturn.

From April last year to April this year, the number of EP holders dropped by about 21,600, while the figure for S Pass holders fell by about 26,800.

Meanwhile, local employment has been stable. The unemployment rate for local PMEs in June last year was 2.9 per cent, said Mr Ong, even though this was immediately after the circuit breaker period.

"Without the foreign buffer, when our economy ran into trouble, the situation would have been much worse. Singaporeans would have lost many more jobs," he said, adding that Singaporeans enjoy greater security of employment compared with EP and S Pass holders, with help from measures like the Jobs Support Scheme.

On the concern over foreign PMEs from certain countries being concentrated in particular sectors, Mr Ong said more PMEs have entered Singapore as EP holders as the country's digital economy and need for technology talent grew.

"And when the concentration happens in areas like Changi Business Park, some may feel that we have lost a part of Singapore," he said, noting that MPs have raised this concern. "We are taking this seriously and studying what we can do to lessen the problem."

Dealing with excessive concentration has to be part of a careful balancing act, he said, stressing that the solution is not a "straightforward matter of chopping up the operations of a company here".

"We don't want to unintentionally cause the whole investment to move elsewhere. This will hurt even more Singaporeans," he said.

On unfair hiring practices, he said these may be taking place at the company level, with department heads preferring to hire foreign PMEs - even PMEs from certain countries.

"This is not right. Whatever system we set up, there will be some abuses. We must tackle the abuses when they occur, as swiftly as possible, while continuing to adopt sensible economic policies that are good for Singapore and Singaporeans."

The Ministry of Manpower takes a strong stance against such discriminatory practices and has been taking enforcement action against errant employers, together with tripartite partners, Mr Ong said.

Yuen Sin