Tapping Global Market for Specialist Skills for Digitalisation and Innovation Growth Strategies
Ministry of ManpowerSpeakers
Summary
This question concerns Ms Foo Mee Har’s inquiry on whether tightened work visa schemes globally present Singapore with more opportunities to attract specialist talent for digitalization and innovation growth strategies. Minister for Manpower Lim Swee Say responded that Singapore must tap global expertise to stay competitive in emerging growth areas like digital technology while simultaneously strengthening the Singaporean Core. He emphasized that foreign experts help upgrade local skills through mentorship and training, citing Panasonic’s use of Japanese experts to transform its Singapore plant into a smart factory. This strategy enables local workers to gain expertise in robotics and advanced manufacturing processes, ensuring that the domestic workforce remains at the heart of a vibrant economy. By remaining open to global talent, the government aims to continually upgrade the Singaporean workforce and maintain a strong position in the global market.
Transcript
40 Ms Foo Mee Har asked the Minister for Manpower whether countries which have tightened their work visa schemes have presented Singapore with more opportunities to tap the global market for talent, particularly specialist skills to jumpstart our digitalisation and innovation growth strategies.
Mr Lim Swee Say: No country, no matter how large its domestic talent pool, can rely on local expertise and experience alone to stay at the forefront of technology and innovation. This is true even for leading economies, such as the United States, and Singapore is no exception. We need to tap on global expertise to strengthen our competitive position in emerging growth areas, such as digital technology. However, in doing so, we must ensure that this will strengthen our Singaporean Core over time, rather than weaken it.
Panasonic is an example of a company that has done this well. It has just moved the global headquarters for its refrigeration compressor business from Japan to Singapore. At the same time, Panasonic is upgrading its Singapore research and development centre and has embarked on a multi-year effort to transform the Singapore manufacturing plant into a digitally-enabled Smart Factory that enables more manpower-lean and efficient manufacturing processes.
To support the transformation, Panasonic is creating training opportunities to build local expertise and strengthen Singaporeans' skillsets. These include mentorship by experienced seniors, on-the-job training and robotics courses. Panasonic plans to bring in smart manufacturing experts from Japan to help in the transformation of the Singapore plant so that, in time to come, we will have stronger local expertise in smart manufacturing.
In summary, we must continually upgrade the local workforce, even as we remain open to global expertise, so that we will have a strong Singaporean Core at the heart of a vibrant economy.