PUBLISHED ONMay 13, 2026 4:00 AMBYDana LeongSingapore needs to create new opportunities for itself while leveraging on existing strengths to build resilience amid an increasingly fragmented world, said Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong.
Speaking at the Singapore Business Federation's Future Economy Conference on Wednesday (May 13), DPM Gan highlighted several ways that Singapore can sustain economic growth and stay globally competitive over the longer term, in line with the release of the Economic Strategy Review's (ESR) final recommendations today.
The ESR's final recommendations build on their mid-term update in January and are a culmination of engagements by five committees — targeting global competitiveness, technology and innovation, entrepreneurship, human capital and managing the impact of restructuring — which began in August last year.
In particular, the ESR was convened to replace the third workstream of the Singapore Economic Resilience Taskforce (SERT), aimed at developing longer-term strategies and responses to transform businesses and support the workforce.
The ESR's work is increasingly important as the conditions that shaped Singapore's success have shifted, DPM Gan said, highlighting geopolitical tensions, the rise of AI, and the ongoing energy crisis as some major disruptions to the rules-based international order.
"These are not passing headwinds. They are structural shifts in the global operating environment," he said, adding that such disruptions are not "distant events", but volatility that Singapore is exposed to.
As such, the ESR's recommendations are grounded by three imperatives — sharpening Singapore's value proposition, enhancing our agility and adaptability and building resilience alongside efficiency.
These aim to help Singapore chart a forward-looking blueprint to secure quality opportunities for local businesses and workers in a drastically changed environment.
The ESR recommends that Singapore sharpens its value proposition by building hard-to-replicate advantages in existing areas of expertise.
"We do not have a large domestic market, abundant land or natural resources. We cannot try to do everything," DPM Gan, who is the Minister for Trade and Industry and the chairman of SERT said, explaining that the focus should be on developing differentiated capabilities instead.
Advanced manufacturing, modern services, logistics, finance and technology are examples of sectors where Singapore already has strong foundations in, and it is essential to build on the momentum by attracting high-quality investments and frontier activities.
Singapore cannot only focus on current strengths however, and must take "calculated bets" in emerging areas to break new ground and grow new industries. This includes new areas such as quantum technologies and space.
@asiaone In his keynote address at the SBF Future Economy Conference on Wednesday (May 13), DPM Gan Kim Yong set out how the three strategic imperatives in the Economic Strategy Review (ESR) will help keep Singapore competitive, so that it can create good jobs and remain relevant. #sgnews #Singapore #Economy #Strategy ♬ original sound - AsiaOne
Singapore also needs to strengthen its adaptability, especially as global uncertainty and developments in technology continue to disrupt the conditions underpinning Singapore's economic success.
"In a world of rapid change, competitiveness will depend not only on the strengths we have today, but on how quickly we can respond, renew and redeploy," DPM Gan said, adding that helping local enterprises with internationalisation is essential to growing their economies of scale.
Zooming in on employment, DPM Gan said that the range of "good jobs" also needs to be broadened.
He highlighted roles in domestic-facing and essential sectors – including healthcare, early childhood education, social services and skilled trades – which cannot be easily replaced by AI.
Providing workers with effective career guidance, skills assessment, training and job-matching support will also be key in an era where job demands are constantly changing.
Likewise, DPM Gan, also said that the nation needs to build resilience alongside efficiency as global shocks become more frequent.
He said: "Resilience cannot mean turning inwards. Our resilience must come from being competitive and connected, but connected in a more trusted, reliable and diversified way."
This means strengthening local sea and air hubs, reinforcing Singapore’s role as a reliable energy hub, and becoming a trusted financial hub where capital is raised, structured, deployed and managed across the region and beyond.
The three imperatives serve as guiding principles for eight thrusts that will drive the next bound of economic growth and workforce transformation as identified by the ESR:
"We must keep renewing our economy," DPM Gan said, reiterating that Singapore must build its capabilities and strengthen trusted connections to secure its position in a more contested, fragmented and fast-changing world.
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