Restructuring Singapore’s economy is going to be inevitable, and avoiding it will only cause problems in the long run for companies and workers. The country needs to push ahead with its productivity efforts or risk losing its competitiveness which will affect wages and jobs, said NTUC Secretary-General Lim Swee Say in an unscheduled speech on Day 2 of the Budget debate yesterday.
“In this world, if we don’t change, we will die. If we don’t have the means to transform the economy and lose our competitiveness, then we cannot keep our current investments. At the same time, we cannot attract more and better investment projects. Then, Singapore’s economy will go into a downturn,” said SG Lim.
Urging Singaporeans to stay united during the economic restructuring process, he added: "Certainly there will be pain with change. But there will be bigger and longer pain without change. So let us try not to hope for a painless process. It won't happen. Let us go through the pain together… so that at the end of the day, there’s a gain for us to share together.”
SG Lim also highlighted that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) must be included in the restructuring, as they are the largest employer in Singapore.
"For the SMEs out there, we realise, we know that life is tough for them especially at the pace of rapid restructuring. However, we want to assure them, it is important for the tripartite partners to assure them, that we will not neglect them, in this economic restructuring.
"We are going to go the extra mile to support them and reach out to them. Why? Because their interests are also the interests of the Labour Movement, they are the largest employers in Singapore as a group,” he said.
SG Lim also brought up the point that local and foreign manpower should both be included in the restructuring process.
