THREE IMPERATIVES
The first imperative is for Singapore to sharpen its value proposition and focus on where it can create the most “hard-to-replicate” advantages.
“Our strategy has always been to focus on areas that matter and to do them well,” said Mr Gan.
Singapore should continue to attract high-quality investments and frontier activities in sectors where there are strong foundations, such as advanced manufacturing, modern services, logistics, finance and technology.
Second, Singapore should enhance its agility and adaptability as the pace of change accelerates. This will help the country reinvent itself.
“In a world of rapid change, competitiveness will depend not only on the strengths we have today, but on how quickly we can respond, renew and redeploy,” said Mr Gan.
Firms must be able to seize new opportunities, workers must be able to acquire new skills, and capital and talent must move to more productive areas, he added.
