Swiss Standard of Living Part 2

sinren67

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You still believe?

Wooden, the then PM cited we can have nice breakfast with Ah Meng in Mandai. But Ah Meng already mati for so many years and many ppl still have to sell tissue, pick up cardboard and empty cans to earn a living. One shd be grateful if you can have PRC women makan with you at Geylang.

GE is coming, nearer

Jul 3, 2010
Goal 2020: higher income, better city
Finance Minister aims for median income of $3,100 in 10 years' time
By Cai Haoxiang
IF SINGAPORE gets it right, the income of the average Singaporean could rise by one-third in 10 years' time, and the country will also be one of the most liveable cities in the world, not just Asia.

That was the vision sketched by Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam yesterday at a dialogue with 600 bosses, finance and human resource managers organised by the Singapore Business Federation.

Putting it in dollars and cents, he said that the current median income in Singapore is $2,400 per month. That means that exactly half of income earners earn more than this, and the other half less than this.

But if Singapore succeeded in remaking the economy and seized opportunities that played to its strengths, the median income will rise to $3,100 in 10 years' time.

And after accounting for inflation, the figure will be around $3,800, Mr Tharman calculated.

'I think we've never had opportunities so good for Singapore as what we have seen now and what we are going to see in the next five to 10 years,' he said.

'A whole wave of opportunities is opening up for us, opportunities that play to Singapore's strengths and play to the strengths of Singapore companies.'

These included in areas such as dealing with urbanisation, water management and providing services to the region's growing middle-class in health, travel, education, entertainment and finance.

Mr Tharman was speaking at a panel discussion on the recommendations of the Economic Strategies Committee (ESC) that he had chaired.

The proposals, which were unveiled in February this year, recommended new and creative ways to grow the economy for the long term. One key thrust of the ESC's report was to boost productivity growth to 2 per cent to 3 per cent annually from the dismal 1 per cent in the last 10 years.

'It's useful to ask ourselves where we want to be in 10 years' time, what is the sort of Singapore we want to see? And I would just like to highlight three facets of Singapore that the ESC thought of as being desirable and essential,' he said.

First, he said, the ESC wanted to see an economy that has top quality skills to raise incomes for the average Singaporean by one-third in the next 10 years.

To do this, Singapore needs to become a leading hub in Asia for global businesses and high-value, complex manufacturing, and possess top-notch service standards, he said.

A second facet is a substantially deeper base of local companies that were internationally competitive.

And finally, Singapore - currently ranked the 28th most liveable city in the world by human resource consulting firm Mercer - must aim to get into the top 10 of that list, and join cities like Zurich, Vienna, Vancouver and Munich.

But Singapore must be attractive not only to internationally mobile and talented professionals, but also for the average citizen to live in, he added.

Other than Mr Tharman, three other ministers were on the panel: labour chief Lim Swee Say, who is also Minister in the Prime Minister's Office; Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong; and Minister in the Prime Minister's Office Lim Hwee Hua.

They answered a variety of questions ranging from tax deductions and productivity to the foreign worker levy.

Reacting to Mr Tharman's comments, economists said the median income target of $3,100 per month was broadly achievable.

'I don't think it's a stretch of imagination, assuming that inflation does not blow out of range,' said Barclays Capital economist Leong Wai Ho.

He also noted the significance of specifying a median income goal target, rather than just a gross domestic product growth goal.

'This implies that they will look at measures and policies that improve the trickle-down effect of economic growth,' said Mr Leong.

OCBC economist Selena Ling also welcomed the target, saying 'it's quite good to have a hard target for transparency and accountability'.

'From the Government's perspective, they must be fairly confident that they can deliver it,' she added.

But Mr Tharman also noted that outlining these goals was not the end of the process for the committee and Government.

'It's not about one report, one set of recommendations, one Budget or one set of measures,' he said.

'It's continuous work over the next 10 years: creative, energetic work across all sectors with a lot of interaction between Government and businesses.'

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