PM Lee hopes for broader economic growth, support for rail workers

SINGAPORE – On the back of an encouraging economic performance last year, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on Friday (Feb 16) that he hopes such results will spread out to other sectors.

He noted that, while the country’s economic growth has been “getting more broad-based”, it is still particularly concentrated in the manufacturing and export-driven industries.

Speaking to reporters after visiting workers from transport operators SBS Transit and SMRT on the first day of the Chinese New Year, Mr Lee said: “This year I hope we’ll have a good year in terms of growth and covering more of the economy.

“And I hope it won’t just be (an) expansion because of other economies that are growing, but (through) continuing upgrading and improving productivity, improving our companies and improving the skills of our workers.”

Last year, the Singapore’s economy grew by 3.6 per cent, while productivity surged by 4.5 per cent. This was in stark contrast to the 1.8 per cent productivity growth in 2016.

The Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) said on Wednesday that last year’s productivity growth was driven mainly by sectors such as manufacturing, wholesale and retail trade, as well as finance and insurance.

While productivity rose in other sectors, including construction, transportation and storage, it dipped in service-driven sectors such as information and communications, accommodation and food services, said MTI.

Expressing hope that the country will sustain the encouraging economic and productivity performance, Mr Lee pointed out that the United States, Europe, Japan and Southeast Asia are “growing in tandem”.

“This is quite a rare trend. If there are no problems, this should portend well for the next six or 12 months. So I hope our economy will do well,” he added.

With the Budget to be delivered by Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat on Monday afternoon (Feb 19), Mr Lee said the “main shape” of the speech has been finalised, with the Budget team just “fine tuning” it and working out the precise language.

On Friday, Mr Lee visited some 150 rail technicians, traffic controllers and rail engineers from SBS Transit and SMRT at the Gali Batu MRT Depot and the Tuas Depot, handing out goodie bags that each contained an EZ-link card, oranges and a hongbao.

Mr Lee said he chose to visit the transport workers to spread some festive cheer given that they have come under pressure of late, as train operations have been in the spotlight in the past year.

Rail reliability has come under scrutiny following two high-profile incidents late last year – an unprecedented tunnel flooding at Bishan and a train collision at Joo Koon.

According to the annual Public Transport Customer Satisfaction Survey results released on Tuesday, public satisfaction in MRT services fell last year – the first decline in three years. It dragged down the overall satisfaction levels for public transport in Singapore.

Mr Lee said the rail workers “have been working very hard and they have been making quiet progress” together with the transport operators, the Land Transport Authority as well as the Ministry of Transport.

“I look at the data every month to make sure the trends are in the right direction and you can see that there is progress. Steadily, gradually, we are getting the reliability up,” he said.

“And I hope that Singaporeans will support our transport team – particularly the workers in their very difficult job – and help them and work with them, so that we can continue to maintain a first-class operation.”