Transcription
I used to be in the private sector. We always talk about the sunset industries, and many of the sunset industries are still here today. The sun never sets. So I have learned that actually there are no sunset industries because there are no sunset businesses. You just need to continue to transform. And if you stay where you are, if you are doing the exactly the same thing 20 years ago, you're still doing the same thing today, you are vulnerable.
How can we transform our businesses so that we can respond to the new reality? Businesses can continue to survive, but they need to continue to transform. Some may go through merger and acquisition. Some may need to um um move to new business lines. Some may need to break up new uh businesses, new markets, and break into new markets. Some may need to think about how can I adopt a technology so that I become more competitive than my next competitor?
I want to give an example which I gave before, and this is the timber industry. The timber industry have decided that um they will come together to all move into a team. uh I think it's in crani uh this this way. Even without merger and acquisition, by coming together, they have scale. Many of the services can be shared, and some of the businesses are suppliers to another business altogether, so it's very efficient this way. They become more competitive, cost competitive, but at the same time, they also move up the product ladder to become more higher value added products, no longer just a run-of-the-mill timber, but they are going to furniture, they going to uh high uh spec classification uh specialized timber.
The world has changed. The conditions for our economic success over the past many 30 years have fundamentally changed, and we're not going back to that world. The ESR is recommending four key moves. First, double down on our strengths in growth sectors. Second, to push up our growth frontier. Third, to build up our AI capability. And then fourth, to deepen our connectivity with the world. If we are able to achieve this, when we are able to achieve this, Singapore will be in a better position for us to compete in a changed world.
I also shared earlier about how we are going to aggressively pursue new technologies. So I mentioned a few: quantum computing, I mentioned decarbonization technologies, I mentioned I think space. These are actually adjacent to some of our growth sectors. So they're not sort of out of the blue, but in fact, they're adjacent to our growth sectors, and these are I think new sectors where we may not have the right to win yet, but actually we need to win the right to play in the sector. Uh healthcare, obviously, is an existential problem for us because of our demographics, and here Microsoft Research Lab is working very closely uh with uh I believe um one either one of our healthcare institutions to develop uh solutions related to precision medicine, basically looking at uh customized uh data, maybe customized even to the individual, how you can then develop uh customized therapy, utics, or uh uh uh healthcare solutions.
When we talk about AI technology disruptions, what it means to the workers, the natural first step was uh everybody was a little bit pessimistic, maybe a little bit protective. But I think as we as the conversations go along, uh a lot of the both private sector as well as our union members felt that actually, if you honestly think about it, we're a small country. People is our most valuable resource. We can never have enough workers. The appearance of a technology that can actually increase multiple folds the productivity of each person should be great news to us. That means that every Singaporean now can do way more, and then perhaps our limitations around manpower and all that can all be overcome.
Uh I was just at uh w 163 of SGH uh two days ago, and you can see how their uh nurses are also using technology AI to help them take care of patients. So for example, previously um the the warders will have to go around patrolling to make sure that all the patients are comfortable, well settled, and all that. But uh today they can use uh a camera as well as a monitor to help them keep better track of patients, and then this is also where the data as well as the AI can help them uh pick up movements and see whether is a patient in distress, not in distress. But that way uh one ward nurse now can do way more than before.
We hope our businesses, our economy will embrace AI so that we are not just a user of AI, we are in fact become part of the developer of AI solutions and uh a site for these solutions to be tested, to be piloted, to be deployed, and eventually to scale. Some of the uh solutions that developed here may then be applied in all over the world. Right. Right. Some of the MNCs who develop solutions here are actually applying the same solution in other parts of the world where they have operations.
We can no longer assume that growth will automatically generate jobs. With automation, with AI, and with productivity, and as as all of us hope to achieve is to have higher value ad industries, business activities. That means with higher value add per worker, you may not need as many workers. So I think job creation will be another challenge.
We really need to broaden the range of good jobs available to Singaporeans, and it should reflect their aspirations as well as their talents and skills. And second is that uh with the new opportunities that will arise, we want to help Singaporeans gain new skills to be able to seize those opportunities and jobs that will come. It could be uh jobs in tradecraft, like uh you know uh in the electrician kind of a trade, right? But we are talking about not just the way we understand electricians today, but the whole electrification of the grid, EVs. Think that opens up a whole new possibility in terms of what kind of uh new okay uh jobs in the electrification sector that will come about. And when it comes to that uh we feel there's a role to look at how you can structure pathways, okay, structure uh skills, work with IHLS to provide some of new skills, new certification, upgrading pathways for Singaporeans to be able to do that so that they can gradually uplift themselves, and then that whole uh idea of what is an electrician actually changes quite significantly.
Actually, our local company focus is not just memes, but a whole range of local companies, big and small. And we do want to encourage them to go overseas if uh possible. And not all companies are able to go overseas, as you mentioned that, we accept that. But those we can, who are willing, we are happy to support them and to uh uh uh uh launch them. As Jeffrey said, we want to become a launch pad, not just a landing pad. I accept that it's not easy. It's an uphill task because it's always better to be within your operate within in your comfort zone that you're familiar with. Going out of Singapore is always there's always uncertainty. There's always a challenge, and that's why the government is prepared to find ways to help you and support you.
Singaporeans are the same. We encourage Singaporeans individuals uh to go overseas to have overseas exposure. This will allow them to have a broader perspective of what the whole world is about. But we want to anchor them back in Singapore. One day they will come back and contribute back to Singapore. Even if they don't physically come back, they will know that their homes are in Singapore. They may be working for Singapore companies that are stationed overseas, and that's fine, too. But their heart will always be rooted to Singapore. That's what Singaporeans is about.