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Singapore is redoubling its efforts to build a more connected, innovative, and resilient economy
How the gov’t plans to make Singapore ‘fairer and greener’
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inance Minister Lawrence Wong gave opening remarks during the Singapore Regional Business Forum on 22 March. He discussed several imperatives that aimed to make the country “fairer, greener, and more inclusive.” Connectivity, innovation Wong said Singapore is redoubling its efforts to build a more connected, innovative, and resilient economy. He enumerated several long-term projects that will contribute to these objectives,
such as enhancing physical infrastructure like Tuas Mega Port and Changi Airport Terminal 5, as well as digital infrastructures like the broadband network and new technologies like 6G. Wong added their strong connectivity made the country a hub for business, finance, trade, and even data flows. He also mentioned strengthening the support for small to medium enterprises (SMEs) by allocating some of the 2022 Budget for their innovation. He noted this will create more opportunities for SMEs to partner with research centres.
Resilience Wong gave his suggestions to make the country’s economy more resilient: • Ensure sound and stable finances. He said Singapore was fortunate to have accumulated reserves due to their “forefathers upholding the attitude of fiscal discipline.” Today, he said the reserves were being used as a steady source of annual government income, as well as a critical buffer, as seen during the COVID-19 crisis which they have already drawn $40b for. • Invest in people. Wong said the government has been heavily investing in education with projects like the KidSTART and SkillsFuture, which is part of the $1b yearly allocations for education. He added that working with businesses and employers are also important. • Strengthen social impact. The finance minister highlighted initiatives tackling workplace inequality and uplifting lowwage workers. Wong concluded that the country has successfully tackled multiple crises in previous years and decades, especially during the pandemic of the past two years, and have been achieving good results. In the process, he said the finance sector has built strong partnerships between the government, trade associations and chambers, businesses and unions.
7 in 10 businesses mull creating more green jobs in the next 12 months
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he majority of businesses in Singapore plan to create more green jobs in the next 12 months in support of the government’s efforts to grow its green economy, a survey by Schneider Electric showed. These green jobs would likely be in industries such as energy, construction and buildings, manufacturing, and transportation, according to the “Singapore Green Pulse” survey. Apart from creating green jobs, 80% of businesses surveyed are also showing support towards green finance, another enabler for the green economy, with 73% even saying their companies are already well-placed to attract green finance investment. Another measure businesses showed favour for was the increasing of carbon taxes in Singapore to fund
decarbonisation efforts locally, with eight in 10 expressing support. Overall, the majority of business leaders—nine in 10—are supportive of the government’s plans to advance the green transition. “The findings indicate strong support for Singapore’s green ambitions and increasing momentum among local companies to advance their sustainability agendas,” said Yoon Young Kim, cluster president of Schneider Electric Singapore. The strong support for the green transition from businesses could be because 78% of them believe that they can benefit from the growth of the green economy in Singapore. Many businesses (81%) also believe a strong ESG and sustainability strategy offers competitive advantages, whilst 73% see money being spent on such efforts as an investment in future growth.
The risk of outdoor transmission is significantly lower, but indoors mask wearing is still mandatory
SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEW | Q2 2022
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