Singapore’s Trade and Industry Minister, Gan Kim Yong, has unveiled a new plan to boost local businesses in various sectors, with the aim of dramatically increasing the city-state’s trade volumes by 2030.
Speaking in parliament late last week, Gan said the Singapore Economy 2030 plan will aim to boost exports by at least S$1 trillion (US$733 billion) from by 2030, up from S$805 billion in 2020, while offshore trade doubles to US$2. billions of dollars over the same period.
Offshore trading generally refers to services associated with the trading of goods that are bought from one party and then sold to others without the goods moving in and out of the country.
Gan said the plan will be guided by distinct strategies that will provide direction and coordinate actions on the four key pillars of the economy – services, manufacturing, trade and enterprise.
“Together, these efforts will put our industries, businesses and workers on a stronger footing for long-term sustainable growth,” he said.
The Trade 2030 strategy will aim to increase trade volumes by expanding the types of business that take place in Singapore and with other parts of the world, he said.
Singapore will redouble its efforts to attract leading global traders, who will also serve as platforms to help local businesses break into overseas markets.
Enterprise Singapore will leverage its full suite of offerings, such as Scale-up SG and the Enterprise Leadership for Transformation (ELT) program, to develop a strong core of local merchants who dominate the global scale and are highly innovative.
To highlight the potential of local businesses, Gan gave the example of Fish International Sourcing House (Fish), which is a seafood trader and graduate of the ELT program.
He said Fish has established a presence in over 90 markets and plans to invest over S$20 million to establish a 240,000 square foot (22,297 m²) seafood processing and innovation center. in Singapore. Fish also intends to almost triple its workforce.
“Growing our trading volume will create good jobs for our employees. The commerce sector is one of Singapore’s largest employers with over 300,000 employees in 2020, the majority of whom are locals and almost 70% are PMETs [professional, manager, executive and technician] jobs,” Gan said.
The Enterprise 2030 strategy will seek to foster a vibrant ecosystem of Singaporean businesses that are future-ready, globally competitive and have deep innovation capabilities, he said.
To make it easier for local businesses to access finance throughout their various stages of growth, programs such as the Temporary Bridge Loan Program, the Enterprise Finance Program (EFS) – Trade Loan and EFS – Merger and Acquisition will also be extended and strengthened.
Gan said sustainability and digitalization will drive the next phase of growth in the service sector, which accounts for 70% of Singapore’s economy in sectors such as finance and insurance, information and communications, professional services and logistics.
“Digitalization is a secular trend that will disrupt all of our industries. Technologies such as blockchain, artificial intelligence and machine learning, as well as augmented and virtual reality, have the potential to fundamentally transform the way we interact with the world around us.
He said digitalization can also be a powerful transformational tool to help consumer-facing businesses improve productivity and attract new customers.
He said Singapore’s economy 2030 vision will continue to build on the Manufacturing 2030 plan launched last year, with the aim of increasing the value added of manufacturing by 50% within 10 years.
“To build further momentum towards our 2030 manufacturing ambitions, Singapore will redouble its efforts to develop a vibrant core of Singaporean global manufacturers who are deeply innovative and can deliver distinctive offerings to their customers,” he said.
Furthermore, to ensure that Singaporeans can access good employment opportunities in the manufacturing sector, the M2030 Careers initiative will be launched.
Under this initiative, the government will work with industry and target graduates of polytechnics and the Institute of Technical Education, who have been trained with industry-relevant skills.
To enhance the industry’s talent development capabilities, the Singapore Precision Engineering and Technology Association will work with industry partners such as the Singapore Semiconductor Industry Association and institutes of higher learning to develop an Employer Handbook Manufacturing.
“The handbook will provide a range of human capital best practices and resources to help companies develop structured career progression paths for their employees,” Gan said.
THE STRAITS TIMES (SINGAPORE)/ASIA NEWS NETWORK