Table of Contents Social Development Ministry of Education Ministry of National Development Ministry of Health Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts Security and External Relations Ministry of Defence Ministry of Home Affairs Ministry of Foreign Affairs Economic Development Ministry of Transport Ministry of Trade and Industry Ministry of Manpower Government Administration Ministry of Finance Ministry of Law Organs of State Prime Minister's Office ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT Ministry of Transport Ministry of Trade and Industry Ministry of Manpower

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

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 and distinctive global city that is a centre of knowledge, talent and enterprise. To strengthen our long-term competitiveness, the Government will make a sustained push to raise productivity growth at all levels in FY10, by helping enterprises and workers deepen skills and expertise, and innovate to create more value. The economic development sector accounts for $9,776 million or 21.1% of estimated government expenditure in FY2010.

The Economic Development Sector aims to achieve the following outcomes for Singapore:

• Productivity and Innovation Driven Growth
• Best for Business and Entrepreneurship
• Globally Competitive Workforce
• Excellent Economic Infrastructure
  
  

Productivity and Innovation Driven Growth

We will sustain growth through productivity improvements in productivity and innovation.

• The Government will create a National Productivity Fund to provide funding for productivity initiatives which are customised to specific industries, clusters and enterprises. The Fund will provide grants to help enterprises in all sectors, with special emphasis initially on sectors where there is potential for larger gains in productivity. The Fund can also serve to develop centres of expertise for a range of industries, which will provide a knowledge base for enterprises to tap on to develop productivity solutions. The Government targets to put $2 billion into this new Fund. To start, $1 billion will be injected into the Fund in 2010.
• The Government will sustain our commitment to public sector basic- and mission-oriented research at 1% of GDP, and has thus far provided $2.2 billion to the National Research Fund. An additional $1.5 billion will be put into the Fund this year to support this continuous commitment.
• The Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) will have a development budget of $1.2 billion to strengthen R&D capabilities in FY2010. A*STAR will continue to intensify efforts to catalyse greater commercialisation of technologies, leveraging on the multi-disciplinary capabilities of Science and Engineering Research Council (SERC)’s Research Institutes. It will work closely with the Ministry of Health and the National Medical Research Council to integrate basic, translational and clinical research for the biomedical sciences.
  
  

Best for Business and Entrepreneurship

We will continue to develop the manufacturing and services sectors, and help small and medium enterprises (SMEs) grow.

• The Economic Development Board (EDB) will have a total budget of $632.9 million to attract $10-$12 billion of Fixed Asset Investment (FAI) commitments, and $7-$9 billion of Total Business Spending (TBS) commitments. It expects to create 14,000-17,000 skilled jobs for 2010 from these investments.
• The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) will have a total budget of $450.6 million to develop and invest in quality tourism projects. Alongside the global economic recovery and the opening of the two Integrated Resorts, tourism receipts in 2010 are expected to reach a record $15.9 billion. STB has been working with the industry to update Singapore’s approach to tourism which will be unveiled later this year.
• International Enterprise (IE) Singapore will be given a total budget of $120.2 million to help Singapore-based companies gain access to our key markets of China, India, Southeast Asia, emerging markets such as Middle East, Brazil and Russia, as well as frontier markets such as Africa. IE Singapore will also continue to encourage Singapore-based companies to build internationalisation capabilities and to conduct overseas business development.
• SPRING Singapore will continue to focus efforts to assist start-ups and SMEs through enterprise upgrading and growth (especially in the areas of productivity, technology innovation and service excellence), facilitating access to financing, and promoting a pro-enterprise culture. The new financing schemes such as Special Risk-Sharing Initiative introduced in 2009 and enhancements to existing financial schemes will be extended for another year at revised terms in tandem with economic recovery. The Government expects to support up to $8.4 billion of new loans till end-Jan 2011.
• The Energy Market Authority (EMA) will continue to promote a competitive electricity market, and ensure secure and resilient energy supply through diversification of our fuel mix as well as investments in new energy technologies. EMA has embarked on a $10 million, first-of-its-kind project in South-east Asia to develop an intelligent micro-grid infrastructure with clean and renewable energy technologies on Pulau Ubin. EMA will also be conducting an electric vehicle (EV) test-bedding programme starting Sep 2010 to evaluate the costs, benefits and feasibility of adopting EVs in Singapore.
• MICA will continue to promote the creative industries by setting aside $43 million for initiatives under the Creative Industries Development Strategy. The initiatives include the Singapore Media Fusion Plan, which aims to drive the development of the media sector and DesignSingapore Phase II, which aims to develop a vibrant, integrated and competitive design cluster.
• MICA will be allocating $453 million to establish Singapore’s Next Generation National Infocomm Infrastructure as well as encourage the creation of next generation services that utilise the Next Generation National Broadband Network.
  
  

Globally Competitive Workforce

We will create globally competitive workforce and great workplaces.

• MOM will spend $462.7 million to build a globally competitive workforce through: (a) skills upgrading; (b) improving the quality and sustainability of the Workforce Skills Qualifications (WSQ) system; (c) developing parallel pathways for skills training; and (iv) strengthening the Continuing Education and Training (CET) system to cater to professionals, managers, and executives (PMEs). In addition, MOM will work with MTI to raise enterprise productivity and drive productivity at the national level.
• $72.6 million will go towards building progressive workplaces. As part of the Workplace Safety and Health (WSH) 2018 strategy, MOM will continue its efforts of bringing down the workplace fatality rate to 1.8 fatalities per 100,000 workers. In addition, MOM will establish a Human Capital Leadership Institute (HCLI) for Asia in Singapore to develop Singapore as the Asian hub for human capital development and leadership excellence. MOM will also continue to implement measures to improve the wellbeing and employment standards of foreign workers, as well as step up enforcement efforts against abuses to the work pass framework.
  
  

Excellent Economic Infrastructure

We aim to develop an excellent infrastructure.

• The Land Transport Authority (LTA) will spend $2,869 million on rail projects. The key on-going projects include the Circle Line and the Downtown Line. A new platform and track will also be built at the Jurong East MRT station to serve the North-South Line. In addition, an additional 22 trains will be purchased for the NSEW Lines to increase capacity. To enhance commuters’ safety and reduce track intrusions, LTA will install platform screen doors at all above-ground MRT stations.
• LTA will invest $1,629 million to expand our road network. Major projects include the Marina Coastal Expressway, the widening of Central Expressway (CTE), the upgrading of the Woodsville Interchange and a road tunnel from Sentosa Gateway to Kampong Bahru Road/Keppel Road.
• MOT will spend $632 million to continue with the expansion of the Pasir Panjang Terminal to provide capacity for the future growth of our port and hence maintain our position as the world’s leading trans-shipment hub.
• The Jurong Town Corporation (JTC) will allocate $366.5 million to develop industrial infrastructure, including the infrastructural works for the Jurong Rock Cavern which is an underground oil storage complex; the upgrading of Seletar Airport to support an aerospace maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) hub; and the development of One-North, a 200-ha work-live-play-learn ecosystem for the biomedical science, infocomm and media industries.
• JTC will set aside $2.8 billion for land-related expenditure to create new industrial space to support the long term growth of Singapore’s economic activities. This includes reclamation and development of land in areas such as Tuas View Extension and Jurong Island, as well as excavation costs for creation of the underground caverns.