princess_morbucks
29-10-13, 15:19
http://www.todayonline.com/business/singapore-needs-new-strategies-stay-ahead-tharman
SINGAPORE — The Republic needs to develop new strategies to ensure a bright future for all Singaporeans, particularly those in the lower-income bracket, Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam said today (Oct 29).
Delivering the keynote address at the Ordinary Delegates Conference of the NTUC today, Mr Tharman outlined three strategies to achieve this.
Firstly, Singapore has to ensure that the nation’s economy remains competitive and continues to thrive, attracting investments that are of high quality and which create better jobs.
“We can’t just sit and wait for the opportunities to come, we have to go out and look for them,” said Mr Tharman, who is also the Finance Minister.
“Our businesses, government working together with businesses, unions working together with businesses to ensure we can take these opportunities. So a growth strategy which remains relevant, staying competitive and taking opportunities, that’s the first plank.”
The next strategy is to ensure there is quality growth and one that is based on productivity improvements and not just expanding the workforce.
And, thirdly, the government must ensure that, through social policies, the country remains an inclusive society.
Mr Tharman also spoke at length about measures being taken in Singapore to address the concerns of low-wage workers, older workers and the challenges being faced by the PMEs.
“You will always have gaps between those on the top, those in the middle and those lower down in the wage ladder,” he said. “We want to provide support for those who are lower down in the wage ladder to basically feel that they too are part of improving prosperity, that’s why we have Workfare which is a major intervention.
“And that’s why we are actually spending a very significant amount now on social spending to support families at the lower end of the income ladder. It’s not just ComCare and the schemes of that nature.
“If you add up what we spend, through Workfare, through our housing grants, through our healthcare subsidies as well as ComCare and the other schemes, we spend S$1.3 billion of our Budget each year ... on just the bottom 20 per cent of households.”
He says the government will be as aggressive as it takes to help low-wage workers improve their lot. One way is through Continuing Education and Training with more job relevant training programmes now being developed.
Low-wage workers in Singapore have done better than those in many other countries, the Deputy Prime Minister noted.
Over the last twenty years, the low-wage household in Singapore has seen its income improve by 60 per cent as wages in many jobs have risen, and there have also been opportunities for them to move up the ladder. CHANNEL NEWSASIA
SINGAPORE — The Republic needs to develop new strategies to ensure a bright future for all Singaporeans, particularly those in the lower-income bracket, Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam said today (Oct 29).
Delivering the keynote address at the Ordinary Delegates Conference of the NTUC today, Mr Tharman outlined three strategies to achieve this.
Firstly, Singapore has to ensure that the nation’s economy remains competitive and continues to thrive, attracting investments that are of high quality and which create better jobs.
“We can’t just sit and wait for the opportunities to come, we have to go out and look for them,” said Mr Tharman, who is also the Finance Minister.
“Our businesses, government working together with businesses, unions working together with businesses to ensure we can take these opportunities. So a growth strategy which remains relevant, staying competitive and taking opportunities, that’s the first plank.”
The next strategy is to ensure there is quality growth and one that is based on productivity improvements and not just expanding the workforce.
And, thirdly, the government must ensure that, through social policies, the country remains an inclusive society.
Mr Tharman also spoke at length about measures being taken in Singapore to address the concerns of low-wage workers, older workers and the challenges being faced by the PMEs.
“You will always have gaps between those on the top, those in the middle and those lower down in the wage ladder,” he said. “We want to provide support for those who are lower down in the wage ladder to basically feel that they too are part of improving prosperity, that’s why we have Workfare which is a major intervention.
“And that’s why we are actually spending a very significant amount now on social spending to support families at the lower end of the income ladder. It’s not just ComCare and the schemes of that nature.
“If you add up what we spend, through Workfare, through our housing grants, through our healthcare subsidies as well as ComCare and the other schemes, we spend S$1.3 billion of our Budget each year ... on just the bottom 20 per cent of households.”
He says the government will be as aggressive as it takes to help low-wage workers improve their lot. One way is through Continuing Education and Training with more job relevant training programmes now being developed.
Low-wage workers in Singapore have done better than those in many other countries, the Deputy Prime Minister noted.
Over the last twenty years, the low-wage household in Singapore has seen its income improve by 60 per cent as wages in many jobs have risen, and there have also been opportunities for them to move up the ladder. CHANNEL NEWSASIA