Turning the economic strategy vision into reality will be key challenge for 4G leadership

SINGAPORE - After nine months of meetings and extensive consultations, the high-powered panel tasked to take a fresh look at Singapore’s economy has wrapped up its work and submitted its Economic Strategy Review (ESR) report to the Government.

On May 13, it unveiled 32 recommendations grouped under eight focus areas.

Among the proposals are to position Singapore as a trusted hub for artificial intelligence solutions, expand into trust-based services like cybersecurity and AI governance, and develop Jurong Island as a premier test bed for low-carbon technologies.

These moves would help Singapore secure growth and create jobs in a more fragmented and contested landscape, said the ESR in an executive summary.

They are the latest set of plans to “build a better ship” that will take Singapore through the increasingly turbulent weather, said Acting Minister for Transport and Senior Minister of State for Finance Jeffrey Siow at the Future Economy Conference organised by the Singapore Business Federation on May 13.

He was one of 10 newer political leaders who co-chaired the review’s five committees, which had also roped in 45 prominent leaders from the private sector, trade unions and academia.

By tapping their collective wisdom – and engaging with 7,700 others, including unionists and workers – the 4G leaders have demonstrated their willingness to forge consensus, in line with the more consultative approach to governance promised in the ForwardSG exercise.

Indeed, beyond economics and growth, the ESR carries profound political significance.

It provides an opportunity for the new leadership to articulate how they will safeguard Singapore’s economic exceptionalism, upon which the Government’s political legitimacy and public trust have long been based.

For decades, Singapore had benefited from the era of rules-based globalisation that enabled the country to attract investments, build globally competitive industries, foster entrepreneurship and create good jobs.

Now that the environment is irrevocably changed, delivering the prosperity and progress that people have become used to since independence will become more challenging.

At a time when businesses and workers are understandably anxious about trade and technological disruptions, the existence of a long-term plan offers a measure of reassurance.

It signals that the Government is not merely reacting to immediate crises, but thinking ahead for the future.

Its plan for the country to survive and thrive through a chaotic global landscape identifies three strategic priorities: Singapore must sharpen its value proposition, focusing on where it has an edge; institutions, firms and workers have to become more agile and adaptable; and the country must build resilience alongside efficiency.

Based on these priorities, the ESR also proposed focusing on eight areas, ranging from building global leadership in areas of strength and taking bold bets for future growth, to fostering a more dynamic enterprise ecosystem, creating a broader range of good jobs and strengthening support for workers through transitions.

Some have argued that the plan is long on vision but short on policy details.

While the report outlines the strategic directions Singapore must take, it does not delve into exactly how these recommendations will be achieved.

As the ESR acknowledged in its executive summary, the task ahead is to translate these directions into action.

Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong, who announced the outcomes of the review, said the ESR is meant to take a longer-term view to position the economy.

Now that there is a broad vision, translating it into reality will require rigorous policymaking.

Singapore’s businesses and workforce must also be equal to the challenge, whether it is integrating AI to transform their daily operations or repeatedly adapting to seize new opportunities.

This would require a “close partnership between Government, businesses, unions and workers”, said the ESR in its executive summary.

The ESR’s bold visions, such as pushing less-competitive firms to pivot or exit, and helping workers navigate increasingly frequent career transitions, will also require buy-in from the public.

As Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on April 21 at the Administrative Service Dinner, good policy is not a subjective matter of opinion, and can be established through careful study of logical analysis, real-life experience and sound judgment.

Yet, good policy alone is insufficient, and the Government must be able to win political support to implement policies.

Otherwise, “even the most brilliant policy ideas remain just ideas, and simply cannot be carried out”, he had said.

While the ESR provides the plan for economic growth, its success will hinge on the ability of the 4G team to rally people when the inevitable pain of economic restructuring hits.

Compared with 2017, when the Committee on the Future Economy (CFE) was convened, Singapore is operating in a vastly different environment. At that time, the review addressed slow global growth and digital disruption, while also identifying protectionism and technological disruption as emerging risks on the horizon.

When the ESR was first convened in August 2025, the primary concern was the fallout from the US Liberation Day tariffs. Singapore was hit with a baseline rate of 10 per cent, and there were significant uncertainties about what this would mean for trade flows and the economy.

Since then, the global environment has become even more fraught, with the outbreak of war in Iran and the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz – a critical maritime chokepoint – triggering a global energy crisis.

Alongside these disruptions, rapid advances in artificial intelligence continue to reshape industries and jobs.

At home, demographic ageing is also constraining workforce growth and adding strain to social support systems.

As Mr Siow noted, nine years on from the CFE, the risks are “the weather that we are facing now”.

The ESR report gives a clear indication of what this portends for the labour market, with a substantial portion of its recommendations focused on providing support for workers.

Acknowledging that the same level of economic growth will no longer automatically generate the same number of jobs, the ESR prepares for a reality where career transitions become much more frequent across all levels of the workforce.

Here lies the challenge for the 4G leadership, who will have to convince Singaporeans that while the times ahead are highly uncertain and less-competitive firms might have to pivot or exit to free up resources, this blueprint is the right survival strategy for Singapore.