[[think from different angles..

Economic Strategies for Sustainable Growth

1. Moving Towards KBE
Reasons :
- Labour in Singapore became more expensive
- Competition from cheaper labour industrialising country
- Requires knowlegeable, creative, innovative workforce to compete
How to attain :
- Use of high technology
- Emphasized automation, mechanisation, computerisation
- Encourage upgrading of workers’ skills
How it sustains development :
- Reduced production costs
- Reduced labour shortage
- Reduced dependence on foreign labour
- Save money for development
- Upgraded workers increase productivity
- Workers convinced skills upgrading means job opp. → continuously upgrade
- Workforce skilled and innovative →Knowledge emphasised as an important source for creating wealth.

2. Improving workers’ employability
Reasons :
- Many had below secondary level education
- To ensure not left behind in KBE
How to attain :
- Various part-time courses on office, IT, industrial skills for workers
- Bukit Merah Skills & Development Centre set up to train adult workers
- MOM find companies willing to retrain low-skilled retrenched workers
- Govt. give employers grants to retrain workers
- NTUC pay 80% training costs for retrenched union members
How it sustains development :
- Skilled workers → higher efficiency
- ↑Employment rate means ↑Revenue for Singapore

3. Promoting Manufacturing & Services as Twin Engines of Growth
Reasons :
- Reduce dependency on one industry/market → Reduce vulnerability
- To help improve research & education institutes
- To compete with other countries
How to attain :
- Promote technology in Electronics, Chemicals, Engineering fields
- Attract MNCs to use Singapore as a business centre connected to the world
- Encourage R&D
- Develop various sectors of the economy
- Develop into regional service centre for world-class university education & training, and health-care services
- Build up world class companies internationally competitive
How it sustains development :
- Reduced vulnerability → stronger
- Able to compete with other countries, not left behind in KBE

4. Building an Information Technology (IT) infrastructure
Reasons :
- To link Singapore to the rest of the world
- Having good IT infrastructure encourage foreign countries to invest in Singapore
- Encourage foreign companies to use Singapore as a business and industrial centre
How to attain :
- Increase use of computers at work, school and for leisure
- Launch of ONE (One Network for Everyone)
How it sustains development :
- Greater IT fluency
- Helps support scientific research and other factors
- Encourages foreign investments → boost Singapore’s economy
- Increases efficiency and raises Singapore’s competitiveness

5. Going Regional and Global
Reasons :
- To further Singapore’s industrialisation programme
- To ensure a wide and even spread of investments
- Role of Economic Development Board and Trade Development Board
How to attain :
- Invest in nearby countries with abundant land, low labour costs and new market
- Provide infrastructure, expertise & money to develop industrial parks
- Provide assistance – EDB (help local companies & MNCs find business opportunities, provide tax incentive schemes, co-invest with private companies → + clout & $)
- Seek business opportunities from countries in various parts of the world
- Invest in new markets (Africa, Latin America, Central and Eastern Europe)
- Provide assistance – TDB (provide grants, help companies contact right authorities and business partners in other countries)
- Help from Singapore government leaders
How it sustains development :
- Helps further industrialisation programme (Limited land, labour resources)
- Promotes development in the region
- Ensures investments spread across the world → maintains economic growth

6. Developing Local Entrepreneurship and Technopreneurship
Reasons :
- To encourage entrepreneurs to use high-technology to improve their business
How to attain :
- Provide assistance in accounting, technical consultancy, business networking
- Provide grants to subsidise R&D and approved business expenses for 2 years
- Change rules → Entrepreneurs can re-try (bankrupt) or run businesses from homes
- Introduce courses to teach technopreneurial skills
- Provide resourses (financial help, manpower training, contacts to develop businesses)
How it sustains development :
- Continuous use of high-technology → Higher productivity → Increasing income

7. Promoting Research and Development
Reasons :
- Cannot depend entirely on imported technologies to power economy
- To develop own talent pool and technologies
- To create new and better products
How to attain :
- Encourage partnership btw local enterprises & Universities & national research institutions
- Encourage international partnerships to promote science and technology exchanges
(joint proj., international exchange of resources & info., science & tech. agreements)How it sustains development :
- Increased technology → Higher productivity → Increasing income

8. Attracting Foreign Talent
Reasons :
- To increase manpower needs (falling birth rates)
How to attain :
- Information centres have been established in many countries to provide information on working, studying and living in Singapore
- Foreign students offered places in local universities to raise competitive level of local students and contribute to the national talent pool
How it sustains development :
- Helps to build a network of talent from around the world
- Allows us to take advantage of overseas connections to create more jobs and business opportunities in Singapore
- Compels us to produce goods and services for world markets efficiently
- Important in high-tech economic activities like petrochemicals and water fabrication where not enough Singaporeans with requisite specialised skills.

Clout (n) - Power or Influence.
Compel (v) - To force.
Requisite (adj.) - Required or necessary.

The Law. ™ CopyRighted © Reserved ®