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MANAMA, Bahrain : Singapore's Senior Minister, Goh Chok Tong, said measures and incentives to help raise productivity will be announced during the Budget on February 22.
He was speaking to the Singapore media on the challenges facing the country's economy at the end of his visit to Oman and Bahrain.
Singapore has succeeded in broadening its economic space in non-traditional countries like the Middle East, said Mr Goh. He said he hopes to deepen Singapore's relations even further in the region.
"I see potential for Oman and Bahrain, both emerging economies, vibrant and like Singapore, looking for new strategies to grow. There is potential for Singapore companies to explore and invest in sectors that the two countries want to grow," said the senior minister.
One topic of discussion between Mr Goh and the leaders from Oman and Bahrain was the employment of foreign workers in the respective countries.
Mr Goh shared Singapore's experience in this area, and the topic of foreign workers and foreign workers levies has been very much in the spotlight back at home since the release of the Economic Strategies Committee report.
The senior minister said the government's views on slowing the intake of foreigners was not a sudden policy change.
Mr Goh said: "It is actually the overall question of permanent residents, whether you want to have more PRs or whether we can squeeze that. So the whole matter is being reviewed.
"We have a very huge PR population. So do you really want to have so many PRs or should some of them not be incentivised to covert their PRs to Singapore citizens."
Mr Goh noted that the Economic Strategies Committee had concluded that Singapore cannot just depend on the old model of economic growth, which meant importing more foreign workers or depending on the expatriate population.
"What pressure can we put on the domestic economy (and) on our companies to raise productivity? So the vehicle that we have this time is the foreign worker levy," he added.
"As we tweak the foreign worker levy, we have to do it gradually, carefully and not overdo it. Because if you overdo it - at too fast a pace for example - then too many companies cannot cope with the higher costs of production, you may end up with a mild recession. And if you are not careful, you will end up with a deep recession which is caused by your own policies," cautioned Mr Goh.
He added: "And this should focus not just on workers but also on management. I would say in terms of raising productivity, it is the management which is more important, because management would have to introduce new organisation processes, new tools, new equipment, reach their staff... so the burden would be on management."
Mr Goh said that the challenge now lies in implementing the recommendations of the Economic Strategies Committee, and the key to achieving this is to invest in people through education and training. - CNA/vm/ls
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