Singapore (VNA) – Singapore is stepping up efforts to secure its economic future as global challenges intensify, Singaporean Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade and Industry Gan Kim Yong said at the Parliament on September 22.
According to him, the recent surge in protectionism, trade tensions and tariff measures is not a passing storm, but a sign of a changed world that is more fragmented and competitive.
To adapt, the government has formed the Singapore Economic Resilience Taskforce (SERT) to help firms and workers respond to global uncertainties, while preparing a refreshed Economic Strategy Review (ESR) to be released early next year.
Gan outlined a three-pronged approach that will anchor Singapore’s new blueprint. First, the country will strengthen its position in existing growth areas such as advanced manufacturing, aerospace and financial services, while moving early into new sectors including artificial intelligence, precision medicine, green technologies and autonomous vehicles.
Second, Singapore aims to reinforce its role as a hub for global firms, supporting multinational corporations as well as local champions to expand high value-added activities. Third, more targeted support will be given to startups and entrepreneurs, including better access to capital, infrastructure and international partnerships.
Besides, Singapore aims to strengthen the fundamentals to maintain competitiveness, such as the ability to deploy and disseminate new technologies, ensure a skilled workforce, and strengthen its role as a global hub with prudent, long-term plans, such as an infrastructure upgrade strategy, and an efficient energy transition with emerging low-carbon alternatives such as hydrogen and nuclear power.
Expanding cooperation both inside and outside the region to increase the resilience of the economy as well as solve emerging problems is also the goal of the Singapore government.
To secure its future in a changed world, Singapore must stay globally competitive, by building strong industries, grow its enterprises, strengthening its capacity to embrace technology, investing in its workforce and finding ways to overcome the country’s resource constraints.
Singapore must also continue to expand its international economic space, by strengthening its networks of trade and investment, reinforcing a rules-based global trading system, and positioning Singapore as a trusted hub in a more uncertain and turbulent world, he said./.
