The Workers' Party is committed to an economic growth whereby each citizen can contribute to the best of his ability and live a dignified life. Strategically located in South-East Asia, Singapore is well poised to be a centre of finance, logistics, communications, business rescue, back up and emergency operations.

Competition is intense and neighbouring countries are all competing to acquire a "Hub" status. The fragility of being a hub is its interdependent nature that can be undermined easily by new facilities of neighbouring countries due to cost and service factors.

Globalisation and advances in technology suddenly diminish our comparative advantage of being cheaper, faster and better as profit margins decline under fierce competition.

Globalisation also quickens the evolution of the economy from a "knowledge economy" to a "creative economy". WP believes that in empowering the individual and not the state, we will have a creative economy that will propel us forward in our next stage of economic development.

WP recognises that the consequential effect of a free market economy is income disparity and the better educated, skilled and younger members of our society will have more bargaining power in the policy formulation process than those who are less so.

The subtle manifestation of this trend can be seen from government tax measures. The Goods & Services Tax (GST), a regressive tax, has been increased from 3% to 5% and correspondingly as announced in the 2005 Annual Budget, the income tax rate for the higher income bracket was reduced by 1%.

Economic growth is meaningful only if the fruit of growth is not spread too thin for those who are less successful or we will risk being a society clearly divided along the lines of income, economic benefit and political influence. While each person's contribution is different in the material economic sense, the role each one plays is as valuable.

Our Beliefs

1. Social Mobility should not be disrupted and taken over by the "free market" based on the fInancial might of the individual.

2. There should be a re-distribution of wealth through fiscal and tax measures and social policy to ensure that the fruits of the economy are shared equitable.

3. Independent thinking, self-reliance, courage to fIght for one's rights and being prepared to pay a price are necessary ingredients of entrepreneurship. We must cultivate resilience through the spirit of risk taking and a 'not afraid to fail' attitude.

4. There must be more support for Small & Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and Start-ups.

5. Singapore Government Investment Corporation (SGIC) and Government Linked Corporations (GLCs) can playing positive role to strengthen the economic position of Singapore.

6. Companies should be encouraged to exercise corporate social responsibility and get involved in the building and developing of the community they are benefiting from. In the long run, it will benefIt their businesses too.

7. We need to strengthen our fInancial sector to anchor our position as one of the key global financial centres.

8. Land cost is an important factor in economic competitiveness in land scarce Singapore.

Our Proposals
A. SMEs and Local Businesses:

1. There is a lack of focus in developing local SMEs and new start-ups. Various programmes to assist and develop the SMEs are separately managed by Spring Singapore, IE Singapore & the Economic Development Board (EDB). Instead, we should have a one-stop centre to better focus and promote the development of the SMEs.

2. Instead of crowding out local business with its government linked status and fInancial muscle, GLCs should instead invest in SMEs to propel their growth and development.

3. All government and related entities can invest public money into viable businesses but this investment cannot be a controlling stake in the businesses.

4. High rentals and land costs will affect the costs of businesses. Effective measures to curb property and land speculation should be in place to maintain the cost competitiveness of SMEs.

5. There should be an incentive scheme to attract international talents to Singapore who are able to create or entrench a specifIc business / sector /industry.

B. Potential Sectors of Growth:

1. The experience of the Singapore Technology (ST) group of companies in building military capability and the experience of the local precision engineering industry make it possible for us to develop our own robotic industry. It is a sector that could yield potential growth.

2. There is a worldwide shortage of water and energy and we should develop our Utilities Resource industry. Further refInement and research into membrane technology could yield results and research into solar cells could also have potential in developing the use of solar energy.

3. Areas such as derivatives markets, pension fund management and financial management of "high net worth individuals" should be developed to enhance our position as a fInancial centre.

4. To secure our future position in shipping and port operations, we should develop a strategic shipping line with PSA to make Singapore a choice port of call and strengthen Singapore as an international shipping business hub.

C. Others:

1. The mind-set and complacency that Singapore has the best infrastructure in this region, is more efficient and hence should command a premium price must be changed. The loss of two international shipping lines to Tanjong Pelepas is a lesson to learn.

2. There should be a waiver of Goods and Services Tax (GST) on basic necessities. Although GST is a consumption tax, it should be the consumption of luxury goods that should be taxed. Basic necessities such as rice should not be taxed at all.

3. We can leverage on the huge reserves and existing business network that the GLCs and SGIC have built up over the years to strengthen the position of Singapore and re-invest locally to create new sectors of growth.

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Source: WP website