Welcome foreign talent with 'an open heart': PM Lee

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[TD="width: 550, colspan: 2"] Welcome foreign talent with 'an open heart': PM Lee [/TD]

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<tbody> [TD="class: content_subtitle, align: left"]Sun, Aug 08, 2010 AsiaOne

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[TD="class: bodytext_10pt, colspan: 3"]These are the key highlights of Prime Minister Lee's National Day Message to the nation on the eve of National Day:

• Singapore's economy has rebounded

GDP grew 17.9% Y-on-Y in the first half of this year. Growth is likely to moderate in the second half. MTI forecasts growth for the year to be between 13 and 15% as Singapore was able to take full advantage of improved global conditions.
Risks remain in the world economy. The global financial system is not fully mended. Singaporeans need to stay vigilant and watch the developments worldwide.

Singaporeans also need to continue to grow our economy with sustained effort. PM Lee said: "We cannot expect to repeat this year's sterling performance year after year. We must invest in our people, upgrade our infrastructure and improve our productivity."

• First class education system

PM Lee said the government will continue to improve our education system by recruiting and training more teachers and creating new peaks of excellence in ITEs, polytechnics and universities, to stretch our students. He also asked parents and students to cooperate to give our youth the best start in life.
Beyond schools, PM Lee also said it is important to build up Continuing Education and Training. The Government will invest $5.5 billion over 5 years to do this. Two CET campuses in the East and West of Singapore will be built.

• Invest in Singaporeans and reinforce with foreign talent

PM Lee said Singapore needs to be reinforced with talent from abroad.
"We will develop and invest in our people, but we also need to reinforce the Singapore team with talent and numbers from abroad. This is critical to us. Other countries are not only much larger than us, but have far deeper pools of talent than we have. We must make up for the shortage of Singaporean workers in our economy and the shortfall of babies in our population. Without an inflow, over time our economy and society will lose vibrancy, our citizens will enjoy fewer opportunities, and our shining red dot will grow dimmer."
The Prime Minister also addressed concerns about taking in foreign workers and immigrants. He said: "These are valid concerns which we must address. We will control the inflow, to ensure that it is not too fast, and not too large. We will only bring in people who can contribute to Singapore, and work harder to integrate them into our society."

• Welcome foreigners with an "open heart"

Acknowledging that Singapore cannot do without a proportion of foreign workers, PM Lee urged Singaporeans to welcome foreigners into our society.
He said: "Let us welcome them with an open heart, help them to fit in and encourage those who will become citizens to strike roots here. If we do this well, by the next generation, their children will be native Singaporeans. Remember, we ourselves are descendants of immigrants too. With new arrivals living and working harmoniously with those born here, we will keep Singapore dynamic, cosmopolitan, and successful."

• Show the world the Singapore spirit at YOG

At the first Youth Olympic Games, PM Lee told Singaporeans to show the world what Singapore can do.
He said: "Our athletes have been training hard. Our volunteers, 20,000 strong, stand ready to welcome our guests. Thousands of participants and guests will be arriving soon. I hope all Singaporeans will work together to put up a good show, and make the games memorable for all our visitors." Read more...

• Celebrate Singapore's achievements

"On our 45th National Day, let us celebrate our achievements as one united people. We can be proud of what we have attained, but we must keep learning from others, improve in every area and strive hard to achieve our future goals. Tomorrow's Singapore must be better than today's. I wish all Singaporeans a Happy National Day," said PM Lee.
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