Future-proofing Singapore

 
What would be most essential for ensuring that the Singapore economy remains vibrant amid slowing global growth?
How should Mr Heng Swee Keat’s new economic committee position Singapore for the future?

While the situation is not dire, it is clear that Singapore has been progressively losing its competitive edge to its regional neighbours in recent years.

We really need to be more agile in anticipating and developing strategies to address the future economic and other challenges that Singapore may face.

If more advanced planning had been done during the boom years, we could have perhaps avoided the painful economic restructuring of the pas few years. Or at the very least, mitigated its impact.

I believe we are now on the right track in terms of shifting gears to move our economy up the value chain as well as all the assistance programmes for businesses, which include providing support for local companies to venture overseas in view of Singapore’s challenging business environment.

But more can always be done to enhance the assistance schemes, and have them rolled out at a faster pace. The time taken from conducting economic and policy reviews to implementing the necessary framework should not take too long as businesses need timely assistance right now.

Ronald Lee
Managing Director
PrimeStaff Management Services Pte Ltd