has called on Singaporeans to welcome foreign talent with “an
open heart”.
In his televised National Day
message on Sunday evening, the eve of Singapore’s 45th
birthday, PM Lee acknowledged Singaporeans’ concerns about taking
in foreign workers and immigrants.
However, he stressed the critical need to reinforce the
Singaporean team with talent and numbers from abroad and added that
the government will control the inflow, “to ensure that it is not
too fast, and not too large”.
According to reports, over 150,000 foreign workers have entered
Singapore per year since 2007, and they now make up about a third
of the island’s 3 million work force and about a fourth of the
total population of 5 million, up from 10 percent in 1990.
“We will only bring in people who can contribute to Singapore,
and work harder to integrate them into our society. And we will
make clear that citizens come first. After all, we are doing this
for the sake of Singaporeans,” PM Lee said.
“Other countries are not only much larger than us, but have far
deeper pools of talent than we have. We must make up for the
shortage of Singaporean workers in our economy and the shortfall of
babies in our population,” he added.
Delivering his address from the [email protected], PM Lee said the
government’s goal is to ensure all Singaporeans enjoy the fruits of
growth.
He went on to reveal that Singapore’s
economy grew 17.9 per cent in the first half of 2010
from a year earlier and the government is forecasting full-year
growth of between 13 and 15 per cent.
He said workers can look forward to better wages, more overtime
and higher bonuses this year but he cautioned that the exceptional
growth this year may not be repeated year after year, even as the
government continues to continue to grow the economy with sustained
effort.
“Let us not get carried away. Risks remain in the world economy,
especially in Europe and the US. The global financial system is not
fully mended. Singapore is small and open. If the world economy
turns bad, we will be buffeted. We need to stay vigilant and
watch the developments worldwide,” he said.
