Govt to help 3 industries in need of revamp

Singapore needs to revamp three industries to ensure they move up the productivity ladder and grow, and on Tuesday, the Government pledged to help them in their climb.

The three laggards are: retail, logistics and construction.

Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam, in identifying them, also said that Singapore will be "as aggressive as it takes" to transform them into not only leaner players but also bigger earners.

Their success, he added, would further fuel Singapore's humming economy.

Mr Tharman, who is also the Finance Minister, was speaking at the opening of a key biennial meeting of union leaders, who will spend the next two days outlining the goals of the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) for the next two years.

Using a chart, he showed that the changes in store are grounded in a strong foundation.

Singapore's job and income growth in recent years has defied the trend of high unemployment and falling income levels seen in major economies such as the United States and Japan.

In the last five years, Singapore's cumulative real median household income grew by 17.7 per cent while its jobless rate this year is 3 per cent.

In contrast, the US unemployment rate is 7.6 per cent and real median income fell 8.3 per cent.

Singapore, however, cannot rest on its laurels. It needs to continue to grow and ensure that the expansion benefits all Singaporeans. Amid the changes, it also has to maintain social cohesion.

Hence the need to improve productivity, Mr Tharman said as he sketched the improvements lying ahead for the three industries.

The logistics sector is dominated by small players and requires "systemic changes" to raise productivity.

"The use of IT and technologies is an important part of our strategy to raise productivity across the supply chain of logistics, all the way from the front end to the export and import from abroad," said Mr Tharman.

In construction, productivity can be improved through better- designed buildings, he said.

This is being done in other developed countries where construction companies work closely with architects to design buildings that need fewer workers to erect.

Singapore is looking to do the same, with the Building and Construction Authority considering changes to require developers to design buildings which can be constructed with fewer workers and efficient technologies and materials.

In retail, the Government is helping retailers to not only improve their bricks-and-mortar shopfronts but also develop online stores to sell to customers here as well as overseas.

Details on the changes in store for the three sectors will be announced later.

Union leaders at the NTUC Ordinary Delegates Conference said workers must be assured that they will benefit from the productivity drive. To do this, employers must protect jobs and raise workers' pay when they upgrade their skills and embrace technology.

Said National Transport Workers' Union president Rosmani Juraini: "Some lower-wage logistics workers hesitate in using technology as they fear their jobs will soon be redundant.

"Employers must convince them this will not happen."

ameltan@sph.com.sg

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