Economic strategies panel is unveiled

25 members will look at future growth areas and optimal resource use
Chuang Peck Ming, Business Times 26 Jun 09;

(SINGAPORE) The Ministry of Finance yesterday unveiled the members of the Economic Strategies Committee (ESC) and spelt out its mission to develop strategies to keep the economy growing - and spread the gains to Singaporeans.

The 25 members, headed by Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam, include 14 from the private sector, with representatives drawn from the manufacturing and services sectors, foreign and local enterprises and academia.

Private sector members include Gautam Banerjee, executive chairman, PricewaterhouseCoopers Singapore; Tony Chew, chairman, Singapore Business Federation; Viswanathan Shankar, chairman (principal finance and private banking), Standard Chartered Bank; and Ricky Souw, CEO, Sanwa Group, and president, Singapore Precision Engineering and Tools Association.

The nine government representatives include Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong, Education Minister Ng Eng Hen, Second Finance and Transport Minister Lim Hwee Hua and Monetary Authority of Singapore managing director Heng Swee Kiat.

NTUC secretary-general Lim Swee Say and assistant secretary-general Josephine Teo are the two representatives from the labour movement.

The ESC, the ministry said, will study and make recommendations to seize growth opportunities; build corporate resilience; grow human and knowledge capital; foster inclusive growth; and maximise value from scarce resources.

It will identify strategies to capitalise on future growth areas in developed and developing markets, leveraging on Singapore's strengths.

It will also make recommendations to diversify and deepen Singapore's corporate capabilities, including rooting foreign companies in Singapore and supporting the growth of globally competitive local companies.

And it will propose ways to make Singapore a vibrant global city with a diverse and deep pool of talent - and strong links between research and development and enterprise.

It will see to it that good jobs are created and Singaporeans are equipped with the skills and capabilities to enable broad-based income growth.

And the ESC will help develop strategies to conserve and diversify energy and optimise the use of land.

Diverse line-up for growth ideas
Panel to review strategies includes business leaders from a range of industries
Fiona Chan, Straits Times 26 Jun 09;

SEVERAL Cabinet ministers and a diverse group of business leaders have been named to a high-powered committee that will spend the next six months identifying fresh ways to grow the Singapore economy.

The members of the 25-member Economic Strategies Committee (ESC) were announced by the Ministry of Finance yesterday. It will be chaired by Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam.

The list of committee members shows that the net has been cast wide.

They include nine ministers and the chief of Singapore's central bank.

Both foreign and local corporate leaders from large and small companies have been co-opted, and they come from the whole spectrum of industry.

In total, there are five women on the committee and several foreigners.

The local manufacturing industry will have its say for example, via the president of Singapore Precision Engineering and Tools Association, Dr Ricky Souw.

MNCs are represented, for example, by the Asia group president of consumer goods giant Procter & Gamble, Ms Deborah Henretta, and the Asean chief executive of engineering conglomerate Siemens, Mr Lothar Herrmann.

And two members of the committee have in-depth knowledge of the all-important Chinese economy.

Mr Jason Jiang from Focus Media is a leading Chinese entreprenuer, while CapitaLand China's Lim Ming Yan is widely credited with having grown the firm's operations in China.

The union movement and academia are also represented.

Outlining the ESC's job ahead, MOF announced that it will make key recommendations in five key areas:

# leverage on Singapore's strengths to develop new strategies for growth,

# diversify and deepen the corporate sector by rooting MNCs in Singapore and developing local companies,

# grow human and knowledge capital,

# create good jobs and equip Singaporeans with skills to enable broad-based growth, and

# develop strategies to conserve and diversify energy, and optimise the use of land.

Sub-committees will be formed to undertake an in-depth review of the various issues, said MOF. There will be representatives from both the public and private sectors.

Key recommendations will be unveiled in January next year and the full report out by the middle of the year.

Economic watchers said the Government appears to be broadening its sights to try to garner ideas on how Singapore should expand its economy for the future.

'We're not seeing the usual Temasek-linked companies up there,' said Credit Suisse economist Joseph Tan.

He said the spread in terms of industries and sectors, as well as across different company sizes, showed the Government is 'sticking the thermometer in different parts of the water bath so as to get a good read of the various areas of the economy'.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced the formation of the committee last month, saying that it will look at new ways to grow the economy over the long-term.

Amid a backdrop of the severest recession in years, questions have been raised, not just in Singapore but also in other Asian economies, about the export-oriented growth models that are over-reliant on Western markets like the United States and Europe.

Some economists have also questioned the continued dominance of foreign multinational corporations in Singapore's manufacturing sector.

A panel with a mission
Esther Fung, Today Online 26 Jun 09;

THE mission of reviewing the Singapore economy and crafting ways to help it thrive has fallen on 25 individuals, half of whom are from the private sector.

Releasing the names yesterday, the Ministry of Finance said the make-up would enable the Economic Strategies Committee (ESC) to draw on "a wide range of views and fresh ideas". It will present a full report by the middle of next year.

But some voiced disappointment that the list was skewed towards executives from multinational corporations (MNCs).

Of the 14 private-sector members, only one is an academic. Eight are from MNCs and locally-listed companies. They include CapitaLand China chief executive Lim Ming Yan and Ms Deborah Henretta of Procter and Gamble and named one of the "Top 50 Women to Watch" by The Wall Street Journal in 2006.

Veteran Member of Parliament Charles Chong felt the list lacked more "unconventional types who can think out of the box, like people from start-ups".

Two who fit that category are Mr Jiang Nan Chun, Jason of Focus Media Holding and Ms Shirlene Noordin, director of Phish Communications. She plans to focus on developing the creative sector, "not only to make it more creatively diverse, but also economically viable".

MP Inderjit Singh said that the private sector list resembles "a list in the Economic Development Board", and lacks representation from the local small businesses.

After all, the ESC's job is to recommend ways to "support the growth of globally-competitive local companies" and not only to "root foreign companies in Singapore", according to yesterday's statement. It is also tasked with developing strategies to capitalise on future growth areas, deepen and diversify the talent pool here including establishing strong links between research and enterprise, create good jobs for broad-based income growth, and develop strategies to conserve and diversify energy.

Still, Mr Singh said SME executives might join in via the sub-committees, which will be formed to conduct in-depth reviews of various issues.

Another issue highlighted by observers was the inclusion of several younger or junior ministers: Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry S Iswaran, Senior Minister of State for National Development Grace Fu, Acting Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts RAdm (NS) Lui Tuck Yew and Minister for Manpower Gan Kim Yong.

Transport Minister Raymond Lim, Education Minister Ng Eng Hen and Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam are the only three who served on a similar taskforce in 2001.

Two names representing the labour movement are NTUC secretary-general Lim Swee Say and Mrs Josephine Teo, the assistant secretary-general and MP.