{"id":52059,"date":"2026-05-13T17:20:36","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T09:20:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=52059"},"modified":"2026-05-13T17:20:36","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T09:20:36","slug":"spore-sets-out-economic-strategy-road-map-to-stay-competitive-create-good-jobs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=52059","title":{"rendered":"S\u2019pore sets out economic strategy road map to stay competitive, create good jobs"},"content":{"rendered":"


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SINGAPORE \u2013 Singapore has set out a strategic road map to position the country to stay competitive, create good jobs and remain relevant in the near and longer term, amid a turbulent global environment.<\/p>\n

The committee reviewing Singapore\u2019s economic strategies<\/span><\/a> has recommended that it sharpen its edge in areas that can create the most value for others, including establishing the country as a trusted hub where AI solutions are developed, tested and deployed.<\/p>\n

The country also needs to be more agile and adaptable to the rapid pace of change. This includes helping its workers transition to new jobs or reskill in their current ones.<\/p>\n

While doing these, Singapore also has to build resilience into its system and ensure that it has the links and capabilities to withstand shocks and bounce back.<\/p>\n

These are the three key guiding principles for Singapore to restructure its economy as set out by the Economic Strategy Review (ESR), which is led by a team of 10 political office-holders. They were tasked in August 2025 to chart a road map for the next five to 10 years amid a new global environment more uncertain and fragmented than before.<\/p>\n

The ESR is not just a response to immediate challenges, said Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong on May 13 as he outlined the committee\u2019s recommendations.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is about how Singapore positions itself for the longer term, to stay competitive, create good jobs and remain relevant in a more fragmented, contested and fast-changing world,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

DPM Gan noted that Singapore has thrived by making itself useful to others as a trusted, connected and reliable partner, but the conditions that have shaped this success have since shifted.<\/p>\n

He listed rising geopolitical tensions, rapid technological advancement, climate change and the changing nature of work.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can no longer assume that economic growth will naturally generate as many good jobs as before,\u201d said DPM Gan, who chairs an economic resilience task force that the review committee reports to.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese are not passing headwinds. They are structural shifts in the global operating environment.\u201d<\/p>\n

The developments of the past year \u2013 including the ongoing energy crisis \u2013 have reaffirmed and reinforced this reality, he said in a speech at the Future Economy Conference organised by the Singapore Business Federation, held at the Sands Expo and Convention Centre.<\/p>\n

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Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong during the Future Economy Conference at Sands Expo and Convention Centre on May 13.<\/p>\n

ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The ESR said in a statement on May 13 that the committee had submitted its recommendations to the Government after more than 80 consultation sessions. An executive summary of the ESR report has been published.<\/p>\n

The report sets out strategic shifts that the committee thinks are needed in a fundamentally transformed world, said Acting Transport Minister Jeffrey Siow, a member of the ESR committee and of the same task force as DPM Gan.<\/p>\n

It is not a prescriptive policy blueprint, though there are some policy ideas raised in the report, Mr Siow said during a dialogue at the conference on May 13.<\/p>\n

The committee expects the Government to use the report as the basis for policy changes or new projects over the next five to 10 years, he added.<\/p>\n

The ESR\u2019s five sub-committees, chaired by the office-holders, had gathered input from more than 7,700 stakeholders, including workers, unions, businesses, associations and chambers.<\/p>\n

The ESR said the Government would study the recommendations and work with the relevant partners to translate them into action.<\/p>\n

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Mr Siow said it took a whole-of-economy effort to put together the report, with business leaders, unions and workers involved. \u201cThe committee members were not just government representatives sitting in a room by ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

The report\u2019s recommendations work together as a coherent strategy, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery recommendation comes back to one vision: a Singapore that stays competitive and resilient in a changed world, and one that continues to create good jobs and opportunities for our people.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Acting Transport Minister Jeffrey Siow said it took a whole-of-economy effort to put together the report, with business leaders, unions and workers involved.\u00a0<\/p>\n

ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Singapore does not just want to be in a supply chain, but wants to be \u201cpart of the supply chain that nobody can afford to take out\u201d, said Mr Siow, who is also Senior Minister of State for Finance.<\/p>\n

The committee\u2019s final report builds upon its midterm update in January. Then, the ESR had identified seven key areas such as artificial intelligence and skills training that Singapore would have to adjust its strategies in.<\/p>\n

The latest version has expanded on these with a total of eight focus areas and 32 recommendations across all of them.<\/p>\n

One new area of focus is establishing a stronger support system for career transitions and worker support.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

DPM Gan said cultivating agility for workers must mean more than coping with disruption. It must mean access to better and broader opportunities.<\/p>\n

Good jobs will not emerge automatically \u2013 \u201cwe must design for them deliberately\u201d, he added.<\/p>\n