Future-proofing Singapore: the endeavour continues

'THE future depends on what you do today," said Mahatma Gandhi. In this year's Budget announcement, the government pressed on with a consistent purpose: the economic transformation that Singapore embarked on several years ago must continue relentlessly so as to future-proof the country for a better tomorrow.

To secure a distinctive place in the global economy means we must deepen our skills and capabilities, make innovation pervasive, and strengthen the economic and social infrastructure of the country.

It has not been easy - and it will not be. Singapore's quest for productivity growth, underpinned by many broadbased measures in recent years, has not yielded significant results overall. This signals that measures with good intent and purpose must be changed if they do not deliver the desired outcome. This Budget seeks to do just that: the schemes (both existing and new ones) are more targeted, and there is a conscious effort to make them more accessible.