Speech at Official Opening of Metro City Square

Mr Lee Yi Shyan, Minister of State , 180 Kitchener Road, City Square Mall

Mr Winston Choo, Chairman of Metro Holdings Ltd

Mr Jopie Ong, Group Managing Director of Metro Holdings Ltd

Mrs Wong Siow Hong, Managing Director, Metro (Private) Limited

I am happy to be here with you this afternoon at the official opening of Metro City Square.

Economic outlook – storm clouds have passed, uncertainty remains

2.   MTI has raised its full-year GDP forecast recently and now expects the economy to shrink by between 2% and 2.5%, which is a significant improvement from the previous forecast of a 4% to 6% contraction.

3.   The worst of the financial crisis is clearly behind us. However, the strength of the recovery remains to be seen. Economic activity will probably remain below pre-crisis levels because a sustained recovery in private consumption and investment in the developed economies is needed to support growth momentum into the second half of 2010.

4.   Singapore's economic prospects in 2010 would be closely tied to the conditions in the external environment. Our trade-dependent sectors are more likely to benefit from a gradual resumption in both global and regional trade flows next year. As a result, tourist arrivals are expected to rise. And donsumer confidence will improve further as our economy recovers. This will be good news for our retailers. Notwithstanding an improved business outlook, we should remain focused on our efforts to build Singapore's economic strength and competitiveness for the medium and long term.

5.   The challenge for Singapore is to look into innovative ways to improve productivity – a subject that the Economic Strategies Committee will look into and make recommendations early next year.

Productivity is the way forward

6.   Why productivity? It is integral to business success, especially for services sectors such as Retail. We need to re-establish productivity as a priority at the national level, and raise awareness among employers that high productivity is necessary for sustainable growth and profitability.

7.   I have spoken to many employers and workers about this – especially in the course of my work with the National Productivity Taskforce, which I chair. Many of them acknowledge that Singapore cannot continue to over-rely on labour, especially unskilled labour, to grow. Instead, we should invest in a combination of technology, process and human resource development to realise higher sales per staff and sales per floor area.

8.   Metro is an excellent example of one company that is doing its part to raise productivity in the retail sector. It recognises that one key to improving productivity lies in raising service standards. Metro's management is committed to service excellence and to date, the company has already embarked on and completed two phases of Customer Centric Initiative, or CCI. The first phase focused on staff training, whilst the second was on improving systems and processes to enhance service delivery.

9.   I understand that they are exploring a third phase to look into tapping new technological applications to raise service standards. All these efforts will eventually result in better profitability and higher productivity for Metro.

Training key to enhancing workforce productivity

10.   When it comes to raising service standards, training becomes indispensable. Whether our workers can master more advanced technology, tackle more complex problems and deliver service with sophistication depends to a large extent on how well they are trained for the job.

11.   This is why MOM and our enterprise partners emphasise so much on continuous education and skills upgrading. The Skills Programme for Upgrading and Resilience (SPUR) will continue to be relevant even as the economy picks up. MOM and WDA will continue to work closely with our tripartite partners to reach out to companies and workers to continue their efforts in upgrading and training of their workforce.

12.   As of end September 2009, 233,000 workers and 3,200 companies have committed to SPUR. Of these, 148,000 workers have been trained or have commenced training, with three quarter sent by their companies and a quarter self-initiated.

13.   Among the 233,000 workers are 75,000 PMETs who have signed up for PSP training and about 800 who had participated in career workshops organised by the career centres at the Community Development Councils.

14.   I am pleased to note that Metro has been an active supporter of Retail Workforce Skills Qualification, or WSQ, in short – a programme supported under SPUR. To date, 35 of Metro's supervisors and department managers have completed their full qualifications in Advanced Certificate in Retail Supervision and Diploma in Retail Management in at the Singapore Institute of Retail Studies.

Strong growth in retail sector drives job projection

15.   As the economy recovers, companies will start to re-hire workers. Due to expected expansion of the retail industry, WDA has projected 4,500 new retail positions for the next four years.

16.   The increased manpower demand in the retail industry means that companies will have to make greater efforts to retain workers and compete with other companies for manpower. Improving HR practices and workplace conditions will be crucial to help companies meet their manpower needs. Our retailers should aim to improve the attractiveness of the retailing jobs while raising productivity. They are mutually supportive.

Programmes to help retailers emerge stronger

17.   WDA has implemented various programmes to assist retailers during the downturn. These include initiatives to help them with their recruitment and training in preparation for the upturn such as SPUR-JOBS, career facilitation programmes, and various competency courses. Many retailers like Metro has benefited from such programmes.

18.   Metro, being one of the council members in the Retail Industry and Skills Training Council, has contributed greatly and help champion some of these programmes, including the enhancement to the Retail WSQ framework. Many of these programmes remain available after the downturn and companies should continue to tap on them to meet their manpower needs.

Conclusion

19.   Congratulations to Metro for the opening of your fourth store. Happy shopping to everyone. Thank you.