A6 TOPOF THENEWS | THE STRAITS TIMES | SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 29, 2020 | Budget debate BAND TOGETHER TO REAP GAINS DPM to businesses: Even as businesses compete with one another and seek to differentiate themselves, cooperation Be creative and can help them do better, such as by forming alliances to capture opportunities overseas seize opportunities or collaborating to test-bed sector-wide solutions. economic success and resilience. Having ecosystems for innovation and strong Singapore has expanded its local capabilities is key to Singapore’s success research and development invest- DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER ments into new areas and techno- Singapore Poultry Hub chief executive Joseph Heng (front, right) with the hub’s ’’HENG SWEE KEAT logies, enabling it to transform its five shareholders. With them is Mr Eric Tham (front, left) from United Overseas Choo Yun Ting Last year, 51 per cent of full-time manufacturing and services sec- Bank, which furnished a $40 million loan for the smart factory. PHOTO: UOB employed local workers earned a tors, as well as create new growth gross monthly income of at least clusters in areas such as urban solu- Businesses must be willing to bear $4,000, excluding employer Cen- tions and sustainability, and agri- Enterprise Singapore (ESG) to ration between businesses reaped Development Board attracting the transitional pains, to be tral Provident Fund contributions. food technology. support the ELT programme, and gains. “By working together, these $15.2 billion of investment commit- creative and resourceful, and to This compares with 37 per cent of The Government is mobilising ESG will bring more partners on poultry producers were able to ments last year, and local employ- seize opportunities where others local workers who earned at least and partnering industries and firms board the programme in the achieve the scale needed to trans- ment has also grown in the last 10 see challenges, Deputy Prime Min- $4,000 in 2010, in today’s dollars to take ownership of their eco- coming months, he said. form a labour-intensive process.” years, he noted. ister Heng Swee Keat told Parlia- after adjusting for inflation. nomic transformation, Mr Heng He pointed out that partnership The hub’s smart factory will har- He said: “At its heart, economic ment yesterday. Mr Heng, who is also Finance added. “Business leaders must have among businesses at an industry ness emerging technologies to raise transformation involves the He said Singapore must move fast Minister, pointed out that Singa- the mental agility and dynamism to level is also important. “Even as productivity by 26 per cent and courage to brave transitional pains to secure growth and jobs in the pore is acting swiftly to secure its experiment, and the resourceful- businesses compete with one production capacity by 70 per cent. as we change the way we do things. new economic landscape or face external economic space, to create ness to overcome constraints,” he another and seek to differentiate Mr Heng said the economic trans- “If we can all move forward with irrelevance as the global economy new opportunities and room for said, noting that these leaders will themselves, cooperation can help formation efforts have begun to the can-do spirit of initiative and undergoes major changes, noting manoeuvre in an increasingly frag- receive support from the Govern- them do better, such as by forming bear fruit. Besides more and better partnership that we have shown in that the Republic’s journey of eco- mented economic order. It is also ment from the Enterprise Leader- alliances to capture opportunities jobs being created, productivity has the past weeks, I am confident we nomic transformation began four boosting the innovation, growth ship for Transformation (ELT) overseas or collaborating to test- also grown in the last three years, will build strong firms that can years ago when the Committee on and transformation capacity of its Programme, which was announced bed sector-wide solutions.” and Singapore’s enterprises are grow and compete in the global the Future Economy was formed. enterprises and industries, he said. in this year’s Budget. He cited the Singapore Poultry entering new markets. arena, and create good jobs for all These efforts have boosted pro- Building up strong local capabili- Institutes of higher learning, such Hub – a joint venture among five The nation has continued to at- Singaporeans.” ductivity and created more and ties and ecosystems for innovation, as the Singapore Management poultry producers and processors – tract investment despite economic better jobs for locals, he added. he added, is critical to the nation’s University, have also linked up with as another example of how collabo- headwinds, with the Economic [email protected] Strengthen social compact to ensure Tackling climate everyone benefits from S’pore’s growth change to secure S’pore’s future Sue-Ann Tan Danson Cheong As Singapore presses on with efforts to transform the economy The efforts made to tackle climate change are long-term and develop workers, it also has investments that represent the Government’s commit- to strengthen its social compact ment to coming generations of Singaporeans, said to ensure that the benefits of Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat. growth reach everyone, including This is an existential battle that Singapore, as a small, low-wage workers, middle-in- low-lying island state, is waging, and one that will take come families and retirees, place over the long haul, he said yesterday in a speech to Deputy Prime Minister Heng round up the debate on the Budget statement. Swee Keat said yesterday. Fighting climate change was a major limb of this year’s Mr Heng, who is also Finance Budget. Mr Heng, who is also Finance Minister, had an- Minister, said the Budget this year nounced fresh measures to tackle this global problem, in- provides further support for those cluding phasing out petrol and diesel vehicles by 2040, who may face greater pressures. expanding charging infrastructure for electric vehicles “Some face difficulties with em- (EVs) and injecting $5 billion into a new coastal and ployment and ensuring that flood protection fund. growth in their income keeps pace “I could have chosen instead to spend it on more hong- with inflation, despite their best bao, or red packets, to make myself more popular,” said efforts,” he noted. Mr Heng, referring to the fund. Businesses and the community “But by making the commitment today, these re- have a role to play as well, he sources will go towards pumps, tidal gates and infrastruc- added, noting that more organisa- ture that will keep our children, and their children, safe tions and groups have stepped from rising sea levels in decades to come.” forward in this regard. Singapore, he said, has always risen to the challenge in Nominated MP Walter The- the face of adversity and turned its “constraints into op- seira, Mr Zainal Sapari (Pasir Ris- portunities and strengths”, as it has done in dealing with Punggol GRC) and Mr Png Eng its limited water, land and manpower. Huat (Hougang) had spoken on The country has an ambitious plan to meet the chal- the vulnerabilities of low-wage lenge of climate change, he added. “We are not only se- workers during the Budget debate curing our coasts, but also transforming our sources of this week. food and water, and remaking our entire economy and Mr Heng said the Care and city for a green and sustainable future,” he said. Support Package, which includes The National Climate Change Secretariat is coordinat- grocery vouchers to help with payouts by 20 per cent. can face. Mr Heng said: “Support- He noted that in 2018, individu- An elderly ing this inter-agency effort, he noted. daily necessities, will support Middle-class families, who have ing and strengthening families will als collectively donated $2.1 billion cleaner washing During the debate, MPs had asked about the Govern- these workers and their families. to care for both their children always be a priority for us, and we through registered organisations, a rubbish ment’s bet on electric vehicles (EVs), pointing out that a These initiatives come on the and elderly parents, also get sup- will continue to look at how to do more than double the $960 million collection area rebate it would offer on the Additional Registration Fee back of efforts such as enhancing port, with more GST Voucher U- so effectively. donated in 2008. in Toa Payoh. for such vehicles seemed insufficient. Workfare for low-income workers, Save rebates for larger house- “Overall, the measures we have Around one in two businesses Deputy Prime Responding, Mr Heng said he expects the cost differen- the Progressive Wage Model, holds and Passion Card top-ups put in place over the past decade to here also gives back to the wider Minister Heng tial between EVs and conventional vehicles to drop as which provides a structure for for their parents. provide good jobs for our people, community through philanthropy Swee Keat said technology improves, but added that “a car-lite vision workers in some sectors to earn Each parent with young or develop them at all stages of life and volunteering. the Budget continues to be the main focus” of Singapore’s transport more through skills upgrading, schoolgoing children will also get and support the vulnerable have He also lauded the Nominated provides further policy. “While we want to encourage drivers to replace and ComCare, a fund that provides an extra $100 cash payout. made a decisive impact in narrow- MPs for their work in various ar- support for their internal combustion engine vehicles with EVs, we social assistance. These measures are in addition ing the income gap.” eas, from mental health to champi- those who may should bear in mind that the cleanest and most efficient He noted that mayors and the to extensive subsidies in education, The Gini co-efficient, which oning the arts.