S’pore pursues growth to improve lives of citizens, says DPM Wong

No one will come to our rescue if we falter, he says

- Goh Yan Han, Jean Iau

 

Singapore needs to keep its economy growing so that it can make a living and take care of its people, at a time when the world is becoming more dangerous and unpredictable, Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said on Feb 28.

As he laid out the Government's plans to achieve between 2 per cent and 3 per cent growth annually over the next decade, DPM Wong said: "The reality is that Singapore will always be a little red dot we have no hinterland, we have no natural resources, unlike resource-rich countries like Qatar or the UAE (United Arab Emirates).

"If we falter, no one will come to our rescue." DPM Wong noted that the Government has quadrupled social spending over the last 20 years.

Sustaining growth is therefore the way to help Singaporeans secure a better future, he said, as he detailed how Budget 2024 builds on deliberate moves in recent decades to strengthen social support.

He was speaking at the end of three days of debate in Parliament on his $131.4 billion government spending plan that saw 61 MPS from across the aisle airing their views.

In his hour-long, round-up speech, DPM Wong said increasing value-add is how Singapore can command better prices in world markets, which in turn benefits workers here with higher wages.

He cited the example of German multinational enterprise Siemens, which came to Singapore in 1908 and grew over time from a small sales office to providing technologies across sectors such as transport, water treatment and medical diagnostics.

As businesses have options on where they want to invest or site their operations, Singapore has to maintain its competitiveness to justify the premium firms pay to be here, he said.

Key to this is productivity improvement, which the Government targets to account for 1 per cent to 2 pe cent of economic growth in the coming decade.