\n<\/p>\n
On the domestic front, Singapore will maintain its approach of combining strict market discipline with an activist state, said Mr Lee.<\/p>\n
Singapore has long relied on market forces to make its firms and economy efficient and competitive, he said.<\/p>\n
“Wherever possible, we have achieved social and political objectives not by imposing administrative requirements, but by harnessing market forces and aligning economic incentives,” he added.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“The free-market economy incentivises our people to work hard and to do well. It is the impetus for wealth creation and progress.”<\/p>\n
Mr Lee said the government plays an active role in creating the conditions for businesses to thrive. It has invested in infrastructure and skills,<\/a> promoted new economic activities, developed capabilities, opened up new markets overseas, and overcome market failures and coordination problems.<\/p>\n While industrial policy has come in and out of fashion in other developed economies, Singapore has consistently practised this approach for decades, he said.<\/p>\n Mr Lee also said Singapore would have to “remake” its economy repeatedly, including helping businesses adopt artificial intelligence and supporting workers through continuing education and training as jobs evolve.<\/p>\n Singapore must also continue investing in and deepening capabilities in areas where it is strong, like its air hub, container port and financial sector, said Mr Lee.<\/p>\n “We will also foster a dynamic enterprise ecosystem, and help Singapore-based companies succeed globally.\u00a0<\/p>\n “MNCs remain important to us, but they need to be complemented by successful companies with Singaporean roots,” said Mr Lee.<\/p>\n In these areas, the government “can and will play an enabling role”.<\/p>\n Most critically, Singaporeans must stay united, he said.<\/p>\n “Our society must not be split by racial or religious differences, frictions between old and new citizens, or divides between rich and poor.”<\/p>\n Singapore is a multi-racial society that also depends heavily on immigrants and foreign workers to top up and complement its population, Mr Lee said.<\/p>\n “As our society matures, social mobility will tend to diminish. Hence, we must be especially watchful of these fault lines.”<\/p>\n He said that for Singapore to stay united, growth needs to be inclusive and benefit everyone.<\/p>\n “The fruits of growth must be shared broadly and equitably. No one should be left behind.”<\/p>\n This underscores the importance of strong and effective social policies, like public housing, public healthcare and public education, said Mr Lee.<\/p>\n He added that Singapore\u2019s economic success has always been underpinned by social and political cohesion.<\/p>\n “The government has been able to pursue sound policies and make tough trade-offs in the country\u2019s long-term interest because Singapore\u2019s politics has worked,” he said.<\/p>\n “We are thankful to have kept this up now for over six decades, and the present generation is doing its best to sustain this virtuous cycle of good politics and good policies into the future.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n On the domestic front, Singapore will maintain its approach of combining strict market discipline with an activist state, said Mr Lee. Singapore has long relied…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":80025,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2611],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-80024","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-buzz-headlines","wpcat-2611-id"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80024","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=80024"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80024\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/80025"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=80024"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=80024"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=80024"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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