Ms Low Yen Ling at the 56th APO Workshop Meeting for Heads of National Productivity Organisations

​Speech by Ms Low Yen Ling, Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Trade and Industry and Ministry of Education, at the 56th Session of the Asian Productivity Organisation (APO) Workshop Meeting of Heads of National Productivity Organisations (NPO), at Conrad Centennial Singapore, on 20 October 2015, 9.00am

Chair of Asian Productivity Organisation Governing Body, Mr Muhammed Arif Azim,

Secretary-General of Asian Productivity Organisation, Mr Mari Amano,

Heads of National Productivity Organisations and Delegates,

Distinguished Guests,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Good morning.

1.            A very warm welcome to Singapore.

2.            It is an honour and privilege for Singapore to host the 56th APO Workshop Meeting for Heads of National Productivity Organisations.

3.            We last hosted some of you in 2012 for the 54th APO Governing Body Meeting and are pleased to welcome you again.

Importance of Productivity and Productivity Trends

4.            Productivity growth is critical in sustaining a country’s economic growth. It enables an economy to produce more value, while using its resources more effectively, thus increasing its competitiveness. It is also a means for an economy to provide sustainable wage growth for its citizens.

5.            Globally, productivity performance has been weak. In advanced economies like the US, labour productivity growth has slowed since the early 2000s. While labour productivity in Asian economies grew more than the advanced economics, the level of labour productivity in many Asian economies remains only a fraction of the US. Thus, there is scope for us to accelerate productivity growth.

Singapore’s Productivity Drive

6.            In Singapore, one key challenge we face is a tightening labour market. Hence, it is imperative that we shift away from labour force-driven growth towards productivity-driven growth, in order to sustain long-term economic growth.

7.            To make this shift, the National Productivity Council[1] or NPC was set up in 2010 with the aim to achieve national productivity growth of two to three per cent per annum from 2010 to 2019[2]. The NPC adopts a two-pronged approach. The first prong is to develop sector-specific productivity improvement strategies (i.e. verticals), which takes into account different operating conditions and unique challenges of each sector. The second prong is to develop supporting capabilities and programmes (i.e. horizontals) which enhance productivity across-the-board.

8.            Thus far, we have achieved a productivity growth of 2.5 per cent[3], but most of the gains were made in 2010 after the rebound from the Global Financial Crisis. We are not letting up in our efforts to raise productivity. Our priorities over the next 5 years would be to upgrade our low productivity domestic sectors such as food services and construction.

9.            At the same time, we are deepening the available expertise on productivity to guide companies on their journey. We have set up 3 special productivity centres dedicated to the services, manufacturing and construction sectors. These centres are one-stop competence centres to help our Small and Medium Enterprises or SMEs, raise their productivity. The SMEs will receive help in diagnosing the areas for improvement and support for implementing productivity solutions.

Singapore’s Partnership with APO

10.         Through its programmes and networks, the APO has supported Singapore’s productivity drive since we became an APO member country in 1969.

11.         Over the last five years, APO programmes assisted close to 240 private and public sector participants from Singapore in developing productivity competencies. One such programme is APO’s Bilateral Cooperation between National Productivity Organisation (NPO) or the BCBN programme. Under the BCBN programme, our productivity centres, the Singapore Productivity Centre, and the Singapore Innovation and Productivity Institute, has a partnership with the Japan Productivity Centre or JPC for building our centres’ capabilities. These capabilities include deep sector-specific productivity knowledge and skills within the centres’ consultants that enable them to provide better and more relevant advice to companies.

12.         Through its programmes, APO also assisted Singapore in identifying 60 regional productivity and industry experts. From 2011, these experts have trained our SME Centre[4] business advisors in providing broad-based productivity advisory services to SMEs. I am pleased to share that about 36,000 SMEs have been helped per year by our SME Centres.

13.         The APO has also leveraged its extensive networks to create collaboration opportunities between Singapore and fellow APO member countries. For instance, through an APO link-up, the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce & Industry and the Restaurant Association of Singapore invited an expert from the China Productivity Centre to conduct a workshop and in-depth diagnostic consultation for food companies. This expert guided more than 30 food companies on how to grow their enterprises through various strategies such as internationalisation, innovation, service differentiation and workflow redesign.

14.         Singapore is also committed in supporting APO’s work. SPRING Singapore received the honour of being appointed as APO’s first Centre of Excellence for Business Excellence. Since then, APO member countries have shown keen interest in leveraging on SPRING Singapore’s Business Excellence framework to drive quality and productivity in their respective countries, as well as share knowledge and best practices with other NPOs. We hope this has benefitted APO member countries, and look forward to contributing further.

APO’s Future Direction

15.         APO’s 2020 vision is to transform into a leading international organisation for productivity enhancement and to enable member economies become more productive and competitive. This mission will benefit APO members tremendously, especially those of developing countries.

16.         However, as APO member countries have increasingly diverse needs, it would mean that customised programmes for each country would better meet their needs. I am glad that APO is already looking to refine its pipeline of programmes for 2017 and 2018, to cater to the varying needs of its members.

17.         As a regional body, the APO is well positioned to help member countries gain better access to global productivity expertise, best practices, resources and networks. This will enable APO members to learn from global forerunners. With APO’s support, we have arranged for an expert from the American Productivity and Quality Centre to conduct a Master Class for NPOs and delegates here.

Conclusion

18.         This week’s APO Workshop Meeting will convene a wealth of experience and expertise in the productivity, economic development, and policy-making. We look forward to greater collaboration with the APO and APO members in driving productivity in our respective countries and across the Asia Pacific region.

19.         I wish all of you many productive and fruitful discussions, and a pleasant stay in Singapore.

20.         Thank you.

[1] The National Productivity Council (NPC) was formerly known as the National Productivity and Continuing Education Council (NPCEC). With the formation of the SkillsFuture Council in Sep 2014, oversight of continuing education and training (CET) to support our productivity efforts was taken over by the SkillsFuture Council. Hence, NPCEC was renamed the NPC to reflect its redefined focus.

[2] 2009 is used as the base year to calculate productivity growth.

[3] CAGR growth is calculated from 2009 to 2014.

[4] SME Centres were formally known as the Enterprise Development Centres (EDCs).