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SINGAPORE ELECTRONICS INDUSTRY DIRECTORY 2022/2023
25 January 2021, Mr Chan said the pandemic had underscored the importance of the sector to Singapore’s economy. “In a Covid and a post- Covid world, having a more diversified economy is important for us,” he said.
Mr Chan noted that the performance of the biomedical electronics and precision engineering sub-sectors were bright spots at the height of the pandemic due to increased demand for such products.
“It will also become increasingly important for Singapore to have unique capabilities and products that cannot be found elsewhere,” he added.
“In the fight against Covid-19, securing essential supplies sometimes became a barter trade, and may continue to be so as we see global supply chains continue to be disrupted,” he said.
Mr Chan noted the 2030 goal will require the sector to grow by around 50 percent in the next decade. This is at the same pace of growth as the last 10 years, an ambitious target, considering that it will become harder to use foreign labour to supplement the Singaporean workforce. The manufacturing workforce will continue to make up around 12 to 15 percent of the total Singapore workforce, but
with higher-skilled roles.
For the manufacturing sector to achieve the 2030 goal, it will have to develop its competitiveness through its ability to innovate quickly and produce higher-value products, and not through lowering the cost of
production or labour.
The Government outlined a three-pronged strategy:
First, Singapore will continue to attract the best global and local companies in niche areas that will help the nation remain a critical node in global value chains. Singapore is a key manufacturing location for some of the biggest semi-conductor companies globally, such as Micron and Infineon. Both examples have the most advanced factories in the world, and they’re found on Singapore soil. Mr Chan added that having two of them in Singapore is good news, but Singapore will aspire to do much better to put many more of its companies in the same league as these frontier companies.
Second, Singapore will ramp up its efforts to grow the size and capabilities of local
enterprises in advanced manufacturing to create better job opportunities for Singaporeans. Tailored support will be offered to promising enterprises through programmes such as Scale-Up SG, an 18-months programme that helps selected high-growth local companies expand. The programme aims to accelerate the companies’ growth so that they will be able to contribute significantly to Singapore’s economy and create good jobs for Singaporeans. Local companies will also be able to collaborate with leading manufacturing companies through the Global Innovation Alliance (GIA), a network of Singapore and overseas partners in major innovation hubs and key demand markets, with a focus on technology and innovation. The joint initiative between Enterprise Singapore and EDB, partners in-market players across GIA cities will run inbound and outbound GIA Acceleration Programmes to connect companies to overseas business and tech communities. The GIA Acceleration Programmes support Singapore startups and SMEs in venturing abroad. They also help International startups in scaling up in Asia through Singapore as a springboard.
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