The pandemic has caused great disruption and decimation to businesses and the economy. Governments across the world in varying degrees have unveiled and implemented a slew of support measures and assistance packages to sustain their economies including Singapore. Nonetheless, the additional government spending has eroded public budgetary savings to the point of having a need to tap into financial reserves and force the issuance of public debt. In this regard, governments, including Singapore, would need to taper down their assistance and target the most “critical” sectors. In Singapore, the most impacted industries such as aviation, F&B, retail and tourism were among those that had received the most assistance. Going forward, the government will focus more on high-impact industries such as healthcare, biomedical and AI.
In this context, the pandemic provides a timely opportunity for restructuring and rebuilding the Singapore economic model. For example, the procurement strategy by government could be a key lever for SMEs to step up to enhance their capabilities and grow in order to take more complex and challenging projects. As seen in other economies, the government has started to allocate certain projects for SMEs to bid.
The tapering of support and assistance for businesses towards a more targeted approach has started in Budget 2021. Nonetheless, the government has to maintain the core and strategic capabilities of the economy. The aim of this roundtable is to re-examine the Singapore economy and the policy measures to develop a more resilient, adaptable and vibrant economy.
The roundtable will focus on key introspective concerns, and some that are worth re- examining and rethinking are:
i. Core Strength — What are the critical core strengths of Singapore?ii. Strategic Capabilities — What are the strategic capabilities of Singapore’s industries and sectors?iii High-Impact Sectors — Should only “high-impact” sectors receive assistance?Click here for the programme.Downloads