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"We must never let anti-foreigner sentiments take root here or give the impression that we are becoming more inward looking."

This was what Finance Minister Lawrence Wong said in Parliament on Wednesday (March 2) in his round-up speech for Budget 2022.

"And I caution some in the House who have been shrill on this subject," he added.

Importance of staying open and connected

A critical aspect of strengthening and maintaining the competitiveness in Singapore's economy is by staying open and connected to the world, Wong said.

He then mentioned recent articles published by international media which questioned if Singapore is "closing itself" and if Singaporeans are "becoming less welcoming of foreigners".

"If global investors conclude that this is so, Singapore will become less attractive to them, and it will be ordinary Singaporeans who suffer the most," Wong added.

Adjusting foreign worker policies in Singapore

Wong also said that in this year's Budget, he had made adjustments to some aspects of Singapore's foreign worker policies.

"This is not a sudden change in policy," he emphasised, adding that the Government has made its intentions "very clear" in the Economic Strategies committee report in 2010.

"Since then, we have been making careful, calibrated adjustments to our foreign worker policies," Wong said.

He explained that tightening the policies too quickly will hurt Singapore's small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), but moving too slowly would then lessen the incentive for firms to upgrade.

"So it's really about maintaining that careful balance" explained Wong.

He stressed that the latest moves made in this year's Budget will help to ensure that foreign workers coming into Singapore are of the right calibre and can further strengthen complementarity of the country's local and foreign workforce.

Wong added:

"But I want to be very clear about one thing, we are not closing ourselves to the inflow of foreign workers and professionals. They are and will remain integral to our economy and our competitiveness. They are a valuable complement to our Singaporean core at all levels of the workforce.

So we continue to welcome all who contribute to us having the strongest teams here to give Singaporeans ourselves the best chance of success amidst intense global competition. And we welcome those with the capabilities and the commitment who share our values and our way of life. To stay on and help us build the next phase of our Singapore story."

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Top image via Gov.sg YouTube.