The economic development sector comprises the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI), the Ministry of Transport (MOT) and the Ministry of Manpower (MOM), along with parts of other agencies that have a role in promoting Singapore’s economic growth. The Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts (MICA) also plays a major role in promoting the growth of the creative industries and the infocomm sector.

The Government aims to develop Singapore as a vibrant global city that is a centre of knowledge, talent and enterprise. Besides pressing on with economic restructuring, strengthening existing economic sectors and nurturing new growth sectors, the government will continue to invest in research and development, manpower and infrastructure to strengthen our long-term competitiveness. This sector accounts for $6.04 billion or 16.14% of estimated government expenditure in FY2008.

The Government aims to achieve the following outcomes:

• A centre of knowledge
• A centre for talent
• A centre for enterprise
• Excellent economic infrastructure

A centre of knowledge

We will build Singapore into a knowledge hub.

• The Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) will have a budget $912.5 million to develop R&D capabilities in FY2008. A*STAR will work closely with Ministry of Health and the National Medical Research Council to integrate basic, translational and clinical research for the biomedical sciences. A*STAR will continue to leverage on multi-disciplinary capabilities of Science and Engineering Research Council’s (SERC) Research Institutes to catalyse greater commercialisation of technologies.

A centre for talent

We will create globally competitive workforce and great workplaces.

• MOM will spend $252 million to build a globally competitive workforce. MOM and WDA will embark on a Continuing Education and Training (CET) 10-year Masterplan, in part by setting up new CET institutes in key economic sectors to deliver high-quality training for workers. To support the Masterplan, MOF will also top up the Lifelong Learning Endowment Fund by $800 million in FY08.
• MOM will be budgeting $68 million towards building Workplaces for Optimal Performance. Out of the $68 million budget, $44 million has been set aside to protect the safety and health of our workers. MOM will also continue to work closely with our tripartite partners to strengthen the tripartite relationship to ensure continued industrial harmony and tackle common challenges.

A centre for enterprise

We will grow the manufacturing, services and SME sectors.

• The Economic Development Board (EDB) will have an operating budget of $129.8 million to attract $17.0 to $19.0 billion of Fixed Asset Investment (FAI) commitments, and $7.5 to $8.0 billion of Total Business Spending (TBS) commitments from manufacturing and services projects.
• The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) will have a budget allocation of $166.37 million to attract new investments into key tourism precincts. STB will be placing more emphasis on BTMICE (Business Travel and Meetings, Incentives, Conventions, Exhibitions) in the key markets to accelerate the growth towards Tourism 2015 targets.
• MTI will continue to help upgrade the capabilities of SMEs and raise their productivity. The Standards, Productivity and Innovation Board (SPRING) and International Enterprise (IE) Singapore will continue to partner financial institutions to increase local enterprises’ access to financing. A total of $669.6 million (comprising loan capital and grants) has been set aside to support the various financing schemes.
• MICA will be setting aside $33 million for various initiatives under the Creative Industries Development Strategy. Initiatives include the Media 21 plan, the DesignSingapore initiative and the Creative Community Singapore initiative.
• MICA will be allocating $148 million to implement the Intelligent Nation (iN2015) Masterplan, which aims to transform Singapore into an intelligent nation, and global city powered by infocomm.

Excellent economic infrastructure

We will develop an excellent infrastructure.

• The Land Transport Authority (LTA) will spend $1,831 million on rail projects. The on-going projects include the 3.8-km Boon Lay Extension, the 33.3-km Circle Line, and the 40-km Downtown Line.
• LTA will spend $403 million to expand our road network. The major projects include the 12-km-long Kallang-Paya Lebar Expressway, the 5-km-long Marina Coastal Expressway, the widening of Central Expressway, the extension of Bartley road to Tampines Avenue 10, and the upgrading of the Woodsville Interchange.
• MOT will budget $632 million to expand Pasir Panjang Terminal to provide capacity for the future growth of our port with the objective of maintaining our position as the world’s largest trans-shipment hub.
• The Jurong Town Corporation (JTC) will allocate $162 million for the development of industrial infrastructure, including the infrastructural works for the Jurong Rock Cavern, an underground oil storage complex, and the development of one-north, a 200-ha work-live-play-learn ecosystem for the biomedical science, info-comm technology and media industries.
• JTC will set aside $1.1 billion for land-related expenditure to create new industrial space to support the long term growth of Singapore’s manufacturing sector.