\n<\/p>\n
SINGAPORE \u2013 Singapore needs to redouble the resources it is putting into reskilling efforts to ensure that workers are able to adapt quickly to a changing economy, said Transport Minister Jeffrey Siow.<\/p>\n
This is how the country can turn its smaller population from a constraint into an asset, said Siow at a dialogue on Aug 3.<\/p>\n
A smaller Singaporean population base means there are more resources available to invest in each person, said Siow, who is also Second Minister for Finance.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can invest more per person, train them more, train them more intensively and build a structure to enable them to get access to reskilling resources more quickly,\u201d he said at the dialogue titled Keeping Singapore Competitive in a Disrupted World.<\/p>\n
It was held at the Parkroyal Collection Marina Bay and organised by the Singapore Institute of International Affairs (SIIA).<\/p>\n
Singapore already has a head start on reskilling through SkillsFuture, said Siow, speaking to moderator and SIIA chairman Simon Tay and an audience of about 300, including policymakers, academics and business leaders.<\/p>\n
The Government started SkillsFuture Singapore, a statutory board administrating upskilling and reskilling, in 2016.<\/p>\n
On July 1, it merged with Workforce Singapore to form a new statutory board \u2013 the Skills and Workforce Development Agency<\/span><\/a> \u2013 to create a more integrated ecosystem for jobs and skills.<\/p>\n Siow said: \u201cIf we can do more in that respect, we can help overcome that constraint.\u201d<\/p>\n He was responding to a question from the audience on the trade-offs Singapore has to make as it moves to transform its economy for the future.<\/p>\n Singapore faces several constraints including an ageing population and an \u201cabysmal\u201d total fertility rate, and needs to do better on integrating newcomers to the country, said Siow.<\/p>\n But its biggest constraint is energy, he said.<\/p>\n It faces challenges generating renewable energy, and traditional energy sources have also been disrupted due to conflict in the Middle East, he said.<\/p>\n The city-state must diversify and look for new energy sources, including studying the feasibility of nuclear energy<\/span><\/a>, he added.<\/p>\n This, as well as reskilling, is what the country needs to focus its attention on, he said.<\/p>\n Singapore has not been standing still as the global system of free trade breaks down, said Siow, in response to a question on how the country is dealing with changes to the world economy.<\/p>\n Trade today is not just about moving physical goods around, but also about being at the centre of data flows, said Siow. It is also about being able to control where these goods and services go.<\/p>\n He raised the example of how port operator PSA has a large network of ports around the world \u2013 allowing it to orchestrate the movement of ships and containers to other ports when some face disruption.<\/p>\n PSA operates 70 deep-sea, rail and inland terminals in more than 180 locations.<\/p>\n \u201cWe want to do more of that. I\u2019m encouraging them to do it,\u201d Siow said. There is also opportunity for Singapore to do the same with air cargo, he added.<\/p>\n This is one of the key recommendations from a review of Singapore\u2019s economic strategy<\/span><\/a> which he co-chaired, he said.<\/p>\n