CFE unveils 7 strategies to help Singapore reach annual 2-3% growth target

AFTER more than a year of consulting over 9,000 stakeholders, the high-powered Committee on the Future Economy (CFE) unveiled on Thursday its recommendations on how Singapore's economy can be reshaped and remain relevant to the world.

Grouped into seven wide-ranging, "mutually-reinforcing" strategies, the recommendations should help the economy, now in an advanced stage of development, grow by 2 to 3 per cent per year on average, a "respectable number" when compared to other developed economies, said the committee's chairman Heng Swee Keat at a press conference held at PSA Building. Mr Heng is also Singapore's Finance Minister.

"Together, we can build a value-creating economy that is open and connected to the world, offering a multitude of opportunities, with sustainable wage growth and meaningful careers for all Singaporeans," said the 30-member CFE.

The CFE's formation was announced by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in October 2015.

It is not the first panel tasked with drafting a blueprint for Singapore's economic restructuring. However, its establishment comes at a watershed phase in Singapore's development where it is now a mature economy.

Therefore, changes are needed as Singapore's domestic and external environments are undergoing major structural changes, the report noted.

This is so that the economy remains globally relevant, and be a value-creating and inventive one, said Mr Heng.

To achieve this vision, the seven strategies urged that all individuals, companies and government agencies must collaborate and help one another.

All must also continue to embody the pioneering spirit that led Singapore to its developed status today, the report noted.

"Our vision is for us to be the pioneers of the next generation," wrote the report. "In the future economy, our people should have deep skills and be inspired to learn throughout their lives; our businesses should be innovative and nimble; our city vibrant, connected to the world, and continually renewing itself; our government coordinated, inclusive and responsive."

The government will respond to the CFE report in Feb 20's Budget 2017 speech by Mr Heng, and also in the Committee of Supply debates thereafter.

The full CFE report is available at www.futureeconomy.sg.