• Singapore must “change gears” and it is no longer about drawing down past reserves to keep its economy afloat during the pandemic, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said
• Instead, it needs to focus on generating growth, jobs and prosperity 
• To sustain long-term growth, the country needs to preserve its business hub status, draw more foreign investments and help Singapore businesses grow

SINGAPORE — With the Covid-19 situation here now under control, Singapore must “change gears”, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said.

It is no longer about drawing down its past reserves to keep the economy and its people going. 

Instead, there is a need to focus on generating new growth, jobs and prosperity for the future, Mr Lee said on Sunday (Aug 29) during his National Day Rally speech held on the grounds of national media network Mediacorp.

In the last two financial years, the Government announced an expected draw on the country’s past reserves of S$53.7 billion to combat the effects of the pandemic on the economy and society. 

The National Day Rally speech, which was called off last year owing to the pandemic, is widely seen as the most important political speech of the year. This year’s event was held in a hybrid format for the first time, with some members of the audience on site and others joining via video conferencing.

Mr Lee said that around the world, Covid-19 has claimed millions of lives, sickened many more, and disrupted countless jobs and businesses.

And in Singapore, each time the country appeared to have turned the corner in beating the coronavirus, it “breaks through in a different place and forces us to tighten up again”. 

Singapore, however, has done better at containing Covid-19 than many other countries, he added.

He thanked and paid homage to Singaporeans and non-Singaporeans working on the front lines of the pandemic, including contact tracers as well as workers running quarantine facilities and vaccination centres. 

Turning to Singapore’s vaccination programme, Mr Lee said that it has been “very successful”, with eight in 10 residents now immunised. 

While vaccination has slowed Covid-19’s spread, Mr Lee said that the highly transmissible Delta variant meant that it was no longer possible to eliminate the coronavirus, even if the authorities impose lengthy lockdowns. 

“Therefore, we must prepare for Covid-19 to become endemic, like the flu or chickenpox. Fortunately, with vaccination and added precautions, we can live with the virus and become ‘Covid-resilient’,” he said. 

In the next phase, Singapore will move step by step, not in one “big bang” as some countries have but cautiously and progressively, Mr Lee said. 

“We may have to tap the brakes from time to time, but we want to avoid having to slam on the brakes hard.” 

Even though Covid-19 cases here have risen over the past week, Mr Lee said that the number of patients who are seriously ill has been stable. 

“It is important to maintain this, so that we can continue to ease up, especially to reconnect Singapore with the rest of the world.” 

A day earlier, the Ministry of Health said that the number of new Covid-19 cases in the community had climbed to 551 in the past week from 260 the week before. 

Six patients were under intensive care on Saturday, unchanged from Friday, while 16 people were in serious condition and needed oxygen support, up slightly from 13 the day before.

With the coronavirus becoming endemic, Mr Lee said that everyone would “meet the virus” sooner or later, and that the non-vaccinated would “almost certainly get infected” and could fall very ill. 

He added that every effort was being made to reach out to those who have not received their vaccine shots. 

REFOCUSING ON THE FUTURE

Mr Lee said that Singapore must now refocus on the future, after the country survived its worst economic crisis since independence. 

The Government projects that Singapore’s economy would expand between 6 and 7 per cent this year, up from the previous estimate of between 4 and 6 per cent. 

Mr Lee said that the Government’s confidence came from a pick-up in the global economy, with the economies of the United States and China growing strongly and Europe’s economy recovering. 

However, to sustain growth over the longer term, Mr Lee said that Singapore would need to:

• Preserve its business hub status

• Draw more foreign investments

• Grow Singapore companies and entrepreneurs

To preserve Singapore’s position as a business hub, reopening the country’s borders soon is key because this would allow more people to travel in and out of Singapore safely.

“Many MNCs (multinational corporations) use Singapore as their regional base. Their staff, both local and foreign, need to fly in and out of Singapore to visit operations in other countries. So, too, do our own businessmen. 

“If our borders stay closed for too long, MNCs will find us less useful. Singaporean businesses also will suffer and our economy will be permanently damaged,” Mr Lee said. 

During the pandemic, the Economic Development Board (EDB) has continued to persuade major companies to invest here.

Mr Lee cited the example of BioNTech, the German firm that teamed up with American pharmaceutical firm Pfizer on a Covid-19 vaccine, which will be setting up its regional headquarters here.

Semiconductor manufacturer GlobalFoundries will be opening its sixth wafer fabrication facility here, while video-conferencing firm Zoom has started a research-and-development centre in Singapore, its first in Southeast Asia. 

“EDB has more projects in its pipeline. All these investments will create many good jobs for Singaporeans,” Mr Lee said. 

Then there are Singapore companies that have established themselves beyond the country's borders, such as online marketplace Carousell and gaming-chair maker SecretLab. 

He said that trade agency Enterprise Singapore would support more entrepreneurs in seizing opportunities internationally and expanding their businesses. 

Mr Lee also singled out Ms Yvon Bock, founder of Hegen, which sells baby-feeding bottles and equipment. She shifted her marketing efforts online when many of her physical retail channels shut down because of the pandemic. 

He said that the Government would create the conditions for entrepreneurs to start and grow their companies, but subsidies and grants can only go so far. 

“Ultimately, it is their own resolve and resourcefulness which will secure their success.”