Small is beautiful: A precision playbook for Singapore’s next lap

THE 2026 Economic Strategy Review (ESR) gets the big picture right. It recognises that we are entering a more volatile world, and that growth alone will no longer automatically deliver good jobs or lasting security. It calls for new engines of growth, stronger support for workers and continued openness to the world.

My aim here is not to challenge the ESR, but to offer a complementary lens: how our small city-state can leverage its size as a strategic advantage through more precise policies and actions.

Smallness becomes a strength with well-designed policies for workers, businesses and our social compact. A small, tightly run system can set clearer rules, move faster and target support more accurately than larger economies. Our ultimate brand is simple: anything made, managed or stored in Singapore can be trusted.