Address at South China Morning Post Hong Kong-ASEAN Summit 2023

Minister for Manpower Dr Tan See Leng, Conrad Hong Kong

The Honourable John Lee, Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region

Ms. Catherine So, Chief Executive Officer, South China Morning Post

Mr. Daryl Ng Win-Kong, Chairman, Hong-Kong ASEAN Foundation

Ladies and Gentlemen

1. I am delighted to join you at the Hong-Kong ASEAN Summit virtually, to have the opportunity to share my thoughts on harnessing talent.

2. This Summit is an affirmation of our collective sense of optimism and determination as we continue to collaborate as a region. With the resumption of economic activities around the world, many businesses are looking forward for new opportunities to invest and grow.

3. We are now in an era where businesses follow talent, as much as talent follows businesses. Many countries are vying for talent. There are often narratives about the global competition for talent. However, growth is not a zero-sum game. In fact, healthy competition makes us stronger, and creates more vibrant and dynamic cities. We all stand to benefit if we invest in human capital, remain open to the flow of talent, and encourage the exchange of people and ideas. I will share examples of what Singapore has done to play our part.

Investing in our people

4. First, we have always invested and will continue to invest in our people, providing them opportunities to achieve their full potential. This begins with a solid foundation through education. And when our people enter the workforce, we invest heavily in training and reskilling efforts so that our workers remain competitive throughout their careers.

5. At an economy wide level, through our Industry Transformation Maps (ITMs), we have outlined growth plans for 23 sectors across the economy, identified in-demand jobs and developed jobs and skills strategies to build up the local talent pipeline. We have also launched Jobs Transformation Maps (JTMs) in 16 sectors, to provide job-level insights on the impact of technology on the industry and workforce.

6. We also encourage our people to explore the region and beyond. This will enable them to take their talents abroad, create new synergies, and bring back new skills. Our Ministry of Education works with Institutes of Higher Learning to enhance students’ overseas exposure, through overseas internships and educational exchanges. Various Government agencies also offer programmes like the International Postings Programme (iPOST), to support our companies to deploy our people overseas to gain professional experience and exposure.

7. Building on our warm relationships with Hong Kong and ASEAN, we continue to welcome the exchange of insights on training and reskilling our workforces. This will help us to collectively uplift the competitiveness of our workforces.

Enabling talent mobility

8. Second, Singapore has always been open to talent and our frameworks facilitate talent mobility in the region. Post-COVID, we have worked doubly hard to assure the world that we wish to attract talent to Singapore. We see great value in building regional links for people-to-people exchanges to enable talent to learn and grow.

9. Singapore continues to welcome international companies and professionals who bring networks, skills and expertise. The recent updates to our work pass framework are geared towards these objectives. For Employment Pass (EP) holders, the clear benchmarking of the qualifying salary, as well as the introduction of the Complementarity Assessment Framework (COMPASS) to holistically evaluate EP applications, will provide our businesses with a predictable and transparent system to hire complementary foreign professionals. Some of these professionals may return home eventually, bringing new skills and expertise. We have also introduced the Overseas Networks & Expertise Pass, which is a personalised pass for top talent with a longer duration of stay.

Strengthening Collaboration

10. We can leverage the strengths of our cities and our interconnectedness to work together. Hong Kong is in a prime position to be a springboard for talent growth, with its strong links to the Chinese hinterland and its central location in the Greater Bay Area, which has a GDP of about US$2 trillion. Likewise, Singapore can be a springboard for talent growth into Southeast Asia, ASEAN, and beyond. Pre-COVID, Singapore’s natural hinterland was Southeast Asia. Post-COVID, we have emerged stronger, and the world at large sees Singapore as a hub to invest, live and work in.

11. It is the skills, knowledge and ingenuity of our people that will spur economic prosperity. Nurturing our people and enabling talent mobility are important pillars to enable this.

12. Please allow me to say a few words in Cantonese. 香港的朋友，大家好！期望新加坡和香港可以一直人脉相同，携手合作，为亚洲共创高峰！(Hello friends from Hong Kong! I hope that Singapore and Hong Kong will maintain our interconnectedness and work together to bring Asia to new heights!) I wish you a successful Summit. Thank you.