Minister for Trade and Industry (MTI) Chan Chun Sing said in the next phase of Singapore’s economic development, Singapore companies are encouraged to expand overseas to possess a more global market share. This is one strategy to aid in sustaining Singapore’s economic growth. 

Instead of focusing on our Gross Domestic Product (GDP) which encompasses only the value of goods and services produced in Singapore itself, we should shift our focus to building up our Gross National Product (GNP) which is the value of goods and services produced by Singapore residents worldwide, he added.

With the ongoing trade war and the global market looking gloomy, Singapore firms are beginning to look at intra-ASEAN business activities to counter the impacts and soften the blow. Not only are the larger firms looking to expand beyond our borders, SMEs are also looking to enter the ASEAN market in a bid to manage market uncertainty.

However, a setback that companies are facing is the shortage of skills and it is proving to hinder attempts at innovation. This gap could be met from either reallocating our current workforce or importing the skills, said Mr Alan Turner, head of Commercial Banking, HSBC Singapore. He also brought up that the Professional Conversion Programmes which are running, are effectively working towards the reallocation of our workforce. 

Nonetheless, while there seems to be other measures put in place to better equip its workers, Singapore businesses have a key role to play. How they choose to allocate investments in their people will determine the extent of our preparedness for the future.

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