To make sure Singapore remains open to top-tier talent and entrepreneurs, the country has to control the overall numbers of foreigners relative to locals, Senior Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam said on Monday, Sep. 14.

In addition, the country has to make sure that the broad middle in society and those in the lower income level have "opportunity and face fair competition", the Coordinating Minister for Social Policies said.

Singapore has to remain open to maximise opportunities for locals

This is part of the minister's overarching message at the annual Singapore Summit -- a forum that brings together thought leaders to discuss global trends -- that Singapore has to maintain its openness to maximise opportunities for locals.

The forum, supported by the Singapore Economic Development Board, the Monetary Authority of Singapore, sovereign wealth fund GIC and state investor Temasek, is held virtually this year from Sep. 14 to 17 in light of the ongoing pandemic.

Tharman was responding to a question by moderator Ho Kwon Ping -- executive chairman of Banyan Tree Holdings -- on the changing role of Singapore as a hub.

He explained that remaining open is not for the sake of "growth per se", adding that maximising opportunities for locals can only be done if Singapore is "successful and competitive as a global hub".

He also said that Singapore's openness cannot be sustained socially or politically if the country does not provide enough opportunities for its own people:

"We have to work at openness and connectivity, and staying open to flows of people, but we have to manage it.

We have to ensure that there are real opportunities for Singaporeans."

How to manage openness?

Tharman continued to say that "no society can be blindly open", and explained that managing openness is "more of an art, rather than a mechanical task".

To do this, there are four other criteria that Singapore can fulfil, in addition to the control of the number of foreigners in the workforce as compared to locals.

1. Skilling up the workforce

First, the country has to develop Singaporeans at every skill level so they can have "greater mastery" of their skills or move on to adjacent skills, which might require them to switch sectors, Tharman said.

2. Be a hub for international businesses

Singapore also has to get regional and global businesses to set up shop in the country and remain here, he said, adding that this means having the best international teams that consist of both foreigners and Singaporeans.

Singapore's future rests on being a hub in manufacturing, finance logistics, data and R&D, rather than "a middling business centre", Tharman said.

This will mean Singaporeans have the best opportunities to improve their lives and have a good quality of life, he added.

3. Ensure fair hiring and promotion practices

Singapore also has to make sure hiring and promotion practices in companies are fair. The country has to take it even more seriously now as it is in a downturn and a period of slower growth, Tharman said.

He added that the government is going to hold firms accountable for this.

4. Strive for diversity of nationalities

In addition, Singapore has to be mindful about achieving an adequate diversity of nationalities among its foreign workers here.

"Avoid significant concentrations of one nationality," he said, adding that it is something that the government is talking to firms about.

Here are some other points that Tharman touched on.

SMEs are at risk

While tech firms are doing well now due to the pandemic, which has accelerated the digital revolution, a significant portion of SMEs are at risk in the current economic climate, and are not going to survive the next few years, Tharman said.

This will pose a risk to society as well as SMEs employ people, and constitute a part of the local economy.

To avoid this, Singapore is looking at its fiscal strategies, its industry upgrading strategies and its industry transformation maps, he aded.

Unlikely that Covid-19 vaccines will be accessible to most of the world's population

On the Covid-19 pandemic, Tharman said while he does not think Covid-19 will not be over, "cheap, quick and non-invasive testing", as well as "isolation and social distancing" will mitigate transmission.

He also said even if an effective Covid-19 vaccine is developed and approved, it is unlikely that it will be accessible to a large part of the world's population.

This is because manufacturing and distributing the vaccines at scale is going to be "a huge challenge", he explained.

He cautioned that vaccines should not be thought of as "a silver bullet".

To deal with the pandemic, countries should rely on cheap and quick testing, as well as a series of social protocols such as social distancing and the wearing of masks.

These are "the responsible thing to do", he said.

U.S.-China tensions likely to get worse before it gets better

On rapidly deteriorating relations between China and the United States, Tharman opined that "things will get worse before they get better".

He said: "I think there is enough space for the rest of us to continue to find ways of having win-win partnerships, including with China and with the U.S."

Also, while he noted that multilateralism today is at greater risk than one or two years ago, he said there is still plenty that countries in Southeast Asia can do, such as striking alliances.

This will help ensure that countries remain open, he said.

Tharman also raised examples of Singapore's efforts in striking new partnerships in digital connectivity with countries such as New Zealand, Australia, Japan and Chile.

Through such cooperation, Singapore is taking the lead internationally to try to reduce friction when it comes to data in digital connectivity, which has always existed even before U.S.-China tensions escalated he said.

Addressing Ho's point on the acceleration of a decoupling between the U.S. and China, he added that he finds it hard to imagine global businesses retreating from China as it is a "very large market" with significant growth.

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Top image via Singapore Summit 2020