MTI's addendum to President's Address 2023

1 Even as Singapore’s economy emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic, new challenges have surfaced. In the near-term, persistent global inflation and a weak global demand outlook will weigh on Singapore’s growth. We will also need to respond to major structural shifts, including an increasingly fragmented geopolitical landscape, accelerating disruptions from emerging technologies, and the global momentum on climate change. Domestically, we will need to pursue economic growth amidst tighter manpower, land, and carbon constraints.

2 The Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) will step up efforts to grow Singapore’s economy, create good jobs, and support businesses and workers in seizing new opportunities.

Strong Foundations Position Us for Growth

3 We can turn the challenges ahead into opportunities. Through the way we managed the pandemic, we have proven to businesses and investors that we are reliable partners. The Government will continue to build on our strong fundamentals of efficient infrastructure, extensive connectivity, a highly skilled workforce, and an enabling policy environment, to capture growth opportunities.

4 MTI will press on with our journey towards the Singapore Economy 2030 vision to achieve longer-term, sustainable growth, by expanding our trade, capturing opportunities in the manufacturing and services sectors, and uplifting our enterprises and workers. We will also implement the plans under the Industry Transformation Maps 2025 to strengthen our industries and workforce capabilities.

Strengthening our Economic Connectivity and Resilience

5 Singapore must continue to remain open, expand our economic space and stay connected to global growth opportunities. Even as other countries adopt more protectionist measures, Singapore will expand and diversify our trading activities and markets, capture more re-exports and transhipments, and embed Singapore deeper into global supply chains. This strengthens our relevance as a global business hub and anchors high-value economic activities and good jobs here. We will also strengthen our international partnerships to capture new opportunities, arising from Asia’s growth and global trends in digital trade and sustainability.

6 Our growth strategies must be coupled with efforts to secure economic resilience amid heightened risk of global supply chain disruptions. MTI will coordinate supply chain resilience efforts across government to secure critical supplies for Singapore.

Driving Industry Transformation to Remain Competitive

7 MTI will help our industries capture opportunities in growth areas and support them in their transformation journey to become more productive and competitive.

8 We will build a strong base of advanced manufacturing industries, including by leveraging technologies such as biotechnology and robotics. Capitalising on global sustainability and digitalisation trends, we will strengthen Singapore’s position as a leading international green hub and seize opportunities in the digital economy. We will also strengthen the nexus between research, innovation, and commercialisation to enhance Singapore’s competitive advantage.

9 At the same time, we will address our carbon, land, and manpower resource constraints. We will secure alternative forms of low-carbon energy and support enterprises to improve energy efficiency and reduce their carbon footprint. We will maximise the economic value from the use of industrial land and continue to attract global talent and rainmakers with skills that are complementary to our workforce.

Equipping Enterprises and Workers to Seize Opportunities

10 Thriving enterprises and an agile workforce are crucial to our next phase of growth. MTI will work closely with industry stakeholders to empower businesses to transform and workers to upskill to seize opportunities.

11 We will deepen enterprises’ research and development capabilities and capacity for market-oriented innovation so they can respond more effectively to the changing operating context. We will lower barriers to entry by streamlining regulations and improving service delivery. We will, through a bespoke approach, help promising enterprises internationalise and grow into future Singapore Global Enterprises. Enterprises will also receive support to develop capabilities in sustainability.

12 Our people are the core of our economy. MTI will work with the Ministry of Manpower and Ministry of Education to equip our people with industry-relevant skillsets and ensure better alignment of training to industry needs.

Forging Ahead on the Next Bound of Economic Growth

13 MTI will focus our efforts to drive economic growth and create good jobs. We will work with stakeholders to uplift enterprises and workers to capture opportunities and chart the path towards a prosperous and vibrant Singapore.