In an interview with The Sunday Times and Lianhe Zaobao on Friday on Singapore's approach to strengthening its workforce, Trade and Industry Minister Chan Chun Sing summed up the Government's position on foreign manpower in three words: fairness, diversity, and localisation. Here's what two companies say:
Connectivity and a S'porean core matter
ExxonMobil has invested more than $25 billion in Singapore, and the majority of its employees here - 85 per cent - are Singaporeans and permanent residents.
The company also has more than 100 Singaporeans on overseas postings around the world.
ExxonMobil Asia-Pacific chairman and managing director Gan Seow Kee explains its approach to talent and its workforce: "As a global organisation, ExxonMobil seeks to attract, develop and retain a premier workforce from the broadest possible pool of talent to meet our business needs worldwide.
"Our philosophy is to hire locally and provide our people a broad range of experiences, through which our people can reach their full potential over their long-term careers. We are developing Singaporean talent to fill not only the senior positions in Singapore but also regionally and globally.
"Singapore's connectivity to the world, including an extensive network of FTAs (free trade agreements), has helped support our investment decisions and our growth here.
"From our manufacturing investment here, about 95 per cent of our manufacturing output of petrochemical, lubricant and fuel products, valued at more than $40 billion per year, are exported to the Asia-Pacific region and beyond."
Chilli crab approach to maximising talent
Medical devices company Advanced MedTech Holdings has been able to market its ventilators to the region without tariffs due to the Asean Free Trade Area.
Group chief executive Abel Ang explains the company's talent management approach and how it has benefited from Singapore's network of free trade pacts: "Even though Singapore is our global headquarters, less than 1 per cent of our global sales come from Singapore. That requires us to attract and retain great talent globally, in order to help us maintain our growth and innovation.
"We have a chilli crab approach to talent. Just because the crab comes from Sri Lanka does not make the crab dish any less Singaporean. We take the best talent from outside Singapore and combine it with the best talent in Singapore.
"In the last few months, Advanced MedTech has developed and manufactured the world's first telehealth ventilator here in Singapore.
"The Asean free trade area allows us to bring the ventilators into regional countries like Indonesia without tariffs. This will greatly help our ability to roll out the device into the region to support Singapore's regional neighbours, as they fight Covid-19 on their shores."
