SINGAPORE: The Singapore government will be committing
S$1.1 billion a year over the next five years to support the
national bid to raise productivity.
This will be in the form of tax benefits, grants and
training subsidies to support the national bid to raise
productivity.
To oversee that, a new high-level National Productivity and
Continuing Education Council, to be chaired by Deputy Prime
Minister Teo Chee Hean, will be set up.
The council will also include members from the government, business
community and labour movement.
Besides galvanizing the major national effort required to boost
skills and enterprise productivity, the council will develop a
comprehensive system for Continuing Education and Training
(CET).
It will also oversee the work of the different government agencies
and promote close collaboration amongst the business sector,
workers and unions, and the public sector.
Announcing this in Parliament on Monday, Finance Minister Tharman
Shanmugaratnam explained that the easy gains in productivity are
over, following major strides in productivity growth in the past
decades.
He added that making the next leap in productivity will involve
transformations at three levels.
Firstly, Singapore will have to restructure its overall economy
towards higher-value activities and exit from less efficient
ones.
Mr Tharman said this broad economic restructuring is how major
improvements in productivity have been achieved in many of the
advanced economies.
As for which enterprises should succeed or phase out, the finance
minister said it is for the market and not the government to
decide.
Secondly, Mr Tharman said there is a need to upgrade individual
industries and enterprises.
He said the Budget will extend strong support for them to do so, in
every sector.
For instance, the government will give significant tax reliefs to
businesses that invest in skills and innovation.
It will also provide grants for customized, industry-based
initiatives.
Thirdly, the finance minister said Singapore must raise the skills
and creative potential of every worker.
To do so, he said the government will progressively build up a
first-class system for Continuing Education and Training (CET) over
the next decade.
Mr Tharman said: "This will be a major investment in our people, up
and down the skills ladder. However, we can only make our next leap
in productivity and incomes if every individual takes the
initiative to develop his skills and expertise, and accomplish more
in his job and career. Our employers must also empower their people
to find new ways to add value and help unlock every worker's
potential."
To complement investments in productivity, Mr Tharman said
Singapore must also manage the supply of foreign workers. The best
way to do so, he said, is through the price mechanism. That is, by
raising foreign worker levies rather than through imposing
numerical limits.
Mr Tharman said: "This allows the foreign workforce to fluctuate
across the economic cycle, and enables employers who are doing well
and need more foreign workers to continue to hire them rather than
be constrained by fixed quotas."
The finance minister said Singapore will phase in higher levies
gradually over the next three years so that companies know well in
advance what will happen and have time to adjust.
Summing up, Mr Tharman said that the various initiatives to boost
productivity will transform Singapore into an advanced economy with
superior skills,
quality jobs and higher incomes for citizens.
- CNA/ir
