THIS WEEK'S TOPIC: What are the quintessential attributes of a highly competitive economy?
Philip Yuen
CEO, Deloitte Southeast Asia and Chairman
Deloitte Singapore
What makes a country competitive is its ability to maintain and increase productivity for economic growth and prosperity in the midst of volatile market forces in the world today. A key attribute that would enable a country to do so is the presence of a stable and trusted government that instills confidence in the business marketplace and in the communities.
Having an infrastructure that allows for agility is also important - the ability to react quickly to the changes as a result of internal and external factors such as an ageing population, climate change and global trade policies. This nimbleness is required for innovation to tackle the challenges, and if done well will attract world-class businesses and talent to the country.
Andrew Sotiropoulos
Vice-President, Asia
Pure Storage
There are many factors that contribute to a high-performing economy and as Singapore has shown, size and lack of natural resources are no barrier to success. In today's ultra-competitive global environment however, two of the top attributes that will provide an edge are a highly skilled and diversified talent pool, and a keen embrace of game-changing technologies. Talent forms the foundation of any economy and it is essential for them to have all the requisite skills but equally important is diversity. Studies have shown that the most successful organisations benefit from having a diverse pool of talent that provide varied experiences and perspectives. This encourages open- mindedness, resilience, receptiveness to change and of course, engenders a sense of belonging. The second important attribute is the ability to first recognise the most promising technologies and then to adopt them. Technologies such as data analytics, AI, machine-learning, 5G and IoT not only provide new tools to improve the way we work, live, play and learn but also lead to new disruptive business models that push the economy forward.
Victor Mills
Chief Executive
Singapore International Chamber of Commerce
Openness, a collaborative approach to innovation and good governance are all hallmarks of a highly competitive economy. Consistent openness to new ideas and talent from everywhere is a precondition. Collaborative innovation is the fastest way for any company and country to innovate and grow. Part of this is a willingness to keep experimenting and learning from successes and failures. Good governance means the rule of law, intellectual property protection, and progressive taxation. It also means employers sustaining purpose-driven, positive workplaces where all employees feel included and developed. That's how human capital is best harnessed and a truly competitive economy achieved.
Teo Lay Lim
Senior MD, ASEAN and Country MD
Accenture Singapore
Companies are adding US$1.16 trillion to the GDP in Asia-Pacific and boosting its annual growth rates by 0.8 per cent by transforming themselves digitally. A competitive economy is dependent on how receptive organisations are in embracing innovation and digital transformation, as it allows businesses across all industries to drive growth, enter new markets and create new ones. Building a digital-ready workforce is also equally essential as technology reshapes the nature of work. Having the right talent and skillsets to navigate this change is imperative.
Malina Platon
Managing Director, ASEAN
UiPath
One of the most important attributes is an openness to change. Unlike tax rates or infrastructure this is much harder to measure but economies that are more open to change tend to grow faster and be more successful. For Singapore, this means embracing worklife reform and allowing technology to take on much of the work that we currently do, allowing us to both do higher-value work and spend more time doing things outside of work. A happy and engaged workforce is a more productive workforce but we do need to make changes to get there.
Partially linked to the above is welcoming the age of automation and artificial intelligence (AI). Embracing these technologies will allow us to do amazing things; already robotic process automation (RPA) and AI have ''teamed up'' to help keep government costs low in Copenhagen, helped major banks such as Federal Bank US stay compliant, reduced fraud, waste and abuse in insurance companies and helped startups such as Norway-based Cutters boost accuracy and efficiency all over the world. Bringing these technologies into Singapore will lead to more innovation and knock-on benefits.
Alice Bentinck
Co-Founder
Entrepreneur First
Building a vibrant entrepreneurship ecosystem is critical for a competitive economy. The most talented and ambitious founders strive to create something that will fundamentally change the way whole industries work and leave an impact on the world, and increasingly more individuals in Singapore are ready to join this group. A recent study, Entrepreneur First found that over half of young adults in Singapore said they were likely to set up their own company, ahead of their peers in the UK, France and Germany. To nurture such ambition, we need to continue to invest in aspiring entrepreneurs, and as a result contribute to a sustainable and competitive economy.
Chuah Seng Heng
VP & GM, Asia & Japan
Country President, Motorola Solutions Singapore
In today's era of AI and digital disruption, a highly competitive economy is one that drives innovation from the grassroots. It takes a long-term view about where society is headed, avoids seasonal traps and places large bets on where its unique strengths best enable it to thrive.
It also has a mature outlook on important issues - believing talent development should not be restrained by borders, keeping entrepreneurship open and enabling innovation to take on many forms.
Singapore has made great progress by recasting its primary innovation drivers across the public and private sectors. Now it has the rare opportunity to incubate and scale across domestic and global markets.
With its WEF ranking now franked, Singapore must build on its solid momentum with a renewed sense of urgency and purpose.
Max Loh
Managing Partner, Singapore and Brunei
Ernst & Young LLP
A highly competitive economy is one that is sustainably productive. Talent and technology are two key drivers of productivity. The ability to achieve optimal leverage between technological and intellectual capital determines how competitive businesses and economies can be. Technology can accelerate productivity by creating efficiency, helping us to work smarter and releasing resources for higher order and value-creating tasks. This must be paired with a robust talent pool wherein the workforce is diverse, well-educated and highly skilled with a propensity for continuous learning and development. Bringing talent and technology together in an enabling ecosystem will require co-participation by all stakeholders. True competitiveness must centre on sustainable growth and development - not just economically but also environmentally and socially.
Vishal Doshi
CEO
AUM Biosciences
The age of the entrepreneur is not over. Now more than ever, key features of entrepreneurship matter to our economic health - especially diversified thinking and approaches, coupled with the agility to scale according to need. Entrepreneurship isn't just about disruption in current products and services - it's also about disrupting our behavioural and cultural norms. To ensure that an economy continues to be highly competitive, we need to encourage an environment that lessens the fear of innovation failure, a fear that is still prevalent in this region - culturally but also from a policy perspective. Only then can our economy be truly future-proofed in its quest to remain competitive.
Dirk-Peter van Leeuwen
SVP & GM, Asia Pacific and Japan
Red Hat
A nation's competitiveness depends on its ability to innovate, and to create the right culture - one that promotes entrepreneurship and encourages open collaboration.
I have seen organisations across Asia Pacific increasingly recognise the need to embed innovation into their corporate DNA. In Singapore, OCBC Bank and Singtel, recently crowned winners of the Red Hat APAC Innovation Awards, are exemplars in the fields of banking and telecommunications respectively. Companies like these are harnessing the right culture and open source technology. These help boost efficiency, productivity and agility - all of which enable continuous innovation.
These measures lead to enhanced competitiveness for businesses and the wider economy.
Soong Chuan Sheng
General Manager
Klook Southeast Asia
Two quintessential attributes that must not be overlooked are continuous innovation and talent development. It is crucial to find a balance between both attributes because they are inherently intertwined. Countries must be ready to set aside the time and resources for the development of new ideas and technologies. While advanced and fast-growing markets are embracing new technologies, talent development is essential to bridge the skills gap and maximise its potential. Only through proper education and training can the workforce become agents of change driving and utilising technology effectively, resulting in higher productivity and growth.
Leon Perera
CEO
Spire Research and Consulting
As economies become more developed, the low-hanging fruit of economic development all get picked. For example, many countries can hire MNCs to build world-class physical infrastructure. Growth then depends on nurturing complex ecosystems that can generate productivity growth and innovation, the drivers of long-term real GDP growth per capita. For such developed countries, there are two key competitive success factors. One is the entrepreneurship and innovation quotient in the economy (and the two are linked). For that, we need a culture that supports rational risk-taking and creative, unorthodox thinking. Next is the quality of the education system - specifically its ability to nurture thinkers, inventors, designers and leaders who can deliver the needed entrepreneurship and innovation.
Praba Thiagarajah
Founder & Group CEO
Basis Bay
The most competitive economies in the world are similar in not just their productivity but also in their commitment to driving sustainable growth and systems. A key attribute of a highly competitive economy lies in the workforce, with the skills to be innovative and the ability to adapt to change. There is also a need for a more collaborative and non-discriminatory culture amongst the private sector, universities and governments. For this to work, there needs to be strong government support, and policymakers must ensure equal opportunity while encouraging social openness across all sectors.
Ronak Shah
Chief Executive Officer
QBE Insurance (Singapore) Pte Ltd | Asia
Singapore's economy is characterised by its business dynamism and the quality of its financial system. Along with a strong rule of law and an ability to attract the best talent, these are the cornerstones of Singapore's long-term economic success. The government's continued support for local enterprises has contributed to a dynamic economy that produces new ideas and good levels of competition across all sectors. In addition, the presence of a stable regulatory regime means financial institutions can operate freely and with confidence. Singapore's financial system remains resilient with the right protections in place, even as tighter conditions and trade tensions begin to characterise the global economy. By continuing to solidify these strengths, Singapore will continue to serve as an important financial and business hub for years to come.
Tony Lombardo
Chief Executive Officer, Asia
Lendlease
Singapore's strong financial infrastructure, market efficiency and macroeconomic stability are key contributing factors behind Singapore's well-earned place as the world's most competitive economy. This gives rise to corporate confidence, which is critical for international businesses like Lendlease to make investment decisions. For example, Singapore thinks about real estate and urban regeneration with a long-term vision, and delivers on it consistently. The speed at which our recently unveiled S$3.7 billion Paya Lebar Quarter mixed-use development was completed is due in large part to stable and supportive governance. In addition, Singapore takes on a whole-of-government approach to supporting innovation and upskilling of talent through various grants and schemes, which makes it an attractive place to do business.
Dileep Nair
Independent Director
Thakral Corporation Limited
Being competitive has been an article of faith for Singapore. Not endowed with hinterland nor natural resources, necessity has forced us to raise our competitiveness in order to promote our well-being. Our bedrock attributes for doing so have been the strong work ethic of our people, the near absence of corruption, an emphasis on skills and education, and our tripartite compact between labour, employers and the government. Indeed, it is this unique compact that has allowed our industries to explore ways of raising their productivity and transforming themselves. To retain our competitive edge in today's fast changing world, we need to hold fast to these core values and also, crucially, to remain being open to enlarging our talent pool.
Eugene Fitzgerald
CEO and Director
Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART)
Highly competitive economies, in the long run, have both innovation capacity and innovation efficiency, since competitive economies rely on innovation-related productivity for most of growth. Innovation efficiency means more economic impact for a given innovation capacity. It is the harder of the two to realise, as it depends on many long-term symbiotic relationships between organisations in the economy. Working in collaboration with partners who have strengths and competences in different aspects of the innovation process will not only create innovations faster but can have a positive impact on innovation efficiency. At SMART, MIT's research enterprise in Singapore, we enable collaborative research and innovation processes between institutions in Singapore to create new enterprises or innovations, increasing innovation efficiency in Singapore and enhancing the country's competitiveness over the long run.
Derek Wang
General Manager
Alibaba Cloud in Singapore
Singapore's spot as the world's most competitive economy can be attributed to the quality of talent and access to world-leading educational and research institutions here. This was one reason why we chose to set up our international headquarters and three Alibaba Cloud data centres in Singapore. Nurturing current and future talents is crucial to sustaining competitiveness, and this is one of the areas we are very aligned with the Singapore government on, by working closely with leading universities here to create local talent programmes on key emerging technologies. Economic competitiveness is not a zero sum game. As a beneficiary of Singapore's excellent digital infrastructure, Alibaba Cloud is focused on harnessing Singapore's position as an innovation hub to help catalyse digital transformation across the region and cement our position as the top public cloud platform in Asia-Pacific.
Wissam Khoury
SVP and General Manager, MEA and APAC
Finastra
While the majority of world economies have become less competitive, Singapore has bucked the trend by deepening its commitment to facilitating free and open trade. This tells us that an open and collaborative mindset is therefore critical for countries and businesses. This translates to one of the key drivers of today's advanced economies, technology. In particular, economies will be boosted by open technology - meaning open systems and software, open standards and open partner networks. Such technology will help foster healthy and active collaboration, whilst providing the agility and flexibility needed to remain competitive and be resilient to future shocks, ensuring sustainable growth that benefits all.
Carlos Haeuser
Chief Executive Officer
oCap Management
Highly competitive economies will need to have both excellent fundamentals for companies to flourish in, as well as unrivalled quality of living for its citizens. These fundamentals should include high-quality international talent pool, a competitive tax system, technological advances in various industries, strategic access to the region, as well as relatively seamless access to capital. This should be coupled with other parameters that can ensure high standards of living for residents, including a world-class education system, affordable access to quality healthcare, and political stability.
Above all, personal safety is the cornerstone of stability in any city, without which businesses and talents alike cannot thrive. Singapore has done a great job to tick all these boxes to ensure it is, and will continue to be, a highly competitive economy.
Mario Singh
CEO
Fullerton Markets
In his bestselling book Innovation Nation, author John Kao defined an ''innovation nation'' as a country that is constantly reinventing the nature of its innovative capabilities. He also highlighted the importance of making and recruiting talent while providing a nurturing environment where innovative individuals can achieve great things.
To maintain our reputation as a world-class innovation centre and our status as the world's most competitive economy, we would need to strengthen these two attributes:
- Education and upskilling
Government spending on continuous education (including the SkillsFuture initiative) is important to ensure that human capital always grows.
- Business-friendly environment
Having just retained second place on a World Bank ranking for the ease of doing business, it is important that we provide a vibrant environment for startups and enterprises.
Jim Li Hui Hong
CEO & Founder
JSB Tech Pte Ltd and Digipas Technologies Inc
Knowledge- and technology-intensive sectors are vital parts of a thriving economy. However, these sectors irrefutably demand world-class talents with deep specialised domain expertise to forge a leading edge position and sustain leadership as leaders in invested segments. Among others, companies operating within these sectors require a stable supply of specialist skills to constantly push technology boundaries. Tight labour policies would continue to pose huge challenges to both emerging startups and growing companies in these sectors. Prolonged tightening of labour supply would potentially weaken these companies' competitiveness and if sustained would damage the vitality of these sectors.
Edward Senju
Regional CEO
Sansan Global Pte Ltd
As a Japanese SaaS company looking to establish a global footprint, Singapore's open economy offers us a springboard to regional growth. As we expand, one consideration for us is ICT readiness and rising digital adoption in a country that can set us up for fast-paced growth. Another factor is the ease of starting new businesses that fosters a thriving SME community for us to support - these businesses enhance economic fundamentals like innovation capability, jobs, and healthy competition. In the future, being a data-driven economy will be a competitive advantage since it will drive an accelerated evolution of economic change, new value chains and ecosystems. However, regulations to enable free flow of data and the highest security standards are a must.
Leslie Ong
Country Manager, Southeast Asia
Tableau Software
Technology and innovation have played a key role in strengthening Singapore's economic competitiveness as we progress in the digital era. However, technology is just part of the formula for driving change. People are the most important assets any economy can have, as they are the change agents who leverage technology to drive innovation and the economy. For instance, just recently, a report by Tableau and IDC has found that people are at the heart of data-readiness, playing a critical role in helping organisations unlock the value of their data and reap business benefits.
It is therefore imperative for Singapore to continue investing in its biggest assets, its people, through various development initiatives. By collaborating closely, key stakeholders in the public and private sectors can ensure that Singaporeans have the necessary skills and resources to help maintain Singapore's position as an economic leader.
Han Chung Heng
SVP, Systems, JAPAC & EMEA
Oracle
A strong financial infrastructure and ease of doing business are all essential elements of a highly competitive economy. Singapore is already voted as the World's Smartest City according to IMD Smart City Index 2019, and ranked first in the world for infrastructure and personal security based on an index by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).
Other key attributes of a competitive economy include a sustainable talent pool that is highly agile, digital, inclusive, and savvy enough to capitalise on the flow of knowledge in today's disruptive environment. The digital economy blurs physical and industry boundaries, which provides an ideal opportunity for Singapore to scale by focusing on developing its people.
Celine Siow
Regional VP, Asia and Japan
Alteryx
Building a culture of data science and analytics is an imperative for many organisations looking to compete in today's highly competitive digital economy. To create the next generation of data workers, it is important to democratise data literacy by making analytics available to everyone. To achieve this, we need to empower business analysts sitting in various lines of business with training and self-service data analytics platforms. In addition, big data needs context and emotional interpretation. Traits such as creativity and emotional intelligence are critical for individuals looking to better interpret data and establish what information is useful in driving positive business outcomes.
Renzo Taal
SVP, Asia-Pacific
Salesforce
Technologies such as cloud computing are playing a major role in driving digital transformation and economic growth. For instance, a recent report by IDC has found that Salesforce and our ecosystem of partners will create 8,500 new jobs and S$7.6 billion in new business revenues in Singapore from 2019-2024. Investments in Cloud are subsequently giving rise to new technologies such as AI and IoT, creating additional revenue streams and demand for specialist jobs.
To ensure that Singapore maintains its position as a competitive economy, it is important that we close the tech skills gap. Creating a culture of continuous learning will help us achieve this.
Manish Tibrewal
CEO
Maitri Asset Management
In a changing world, the most successful global organisations are no longer prioritising just shareholder profit, but also recognise the importance of social and environmental purpose, including employee well-being, their responsibility towards the local communities in which they operate and their corporate carbon footprint. Similarly, it will be the economies that make a clear commitment to driving better sustainability standards and governance, both environmentally and societally, that will reap the benefits in terms of long-term competitiveness. Innovation will be another key factor: technology solutions must be developed in order to help create a more sustainable, eco-friendly society. Singapore has made a great start in these areas and has committed significant investment which is very encouraging. ESG forms the bedrock of our business and investment philosophy, and we are committed to continuing to drive greater awareness and educating our partners across the region.
Jayaprakash Jagateesan
Chief Executive Officer
RHT Fintech Holdings
A competitive economy requires the rule of law in governing trade and business dealings to safeguard the interests and rights of investors, business owners and workers. Without it, there is uncertainty instead of security. Innovative ideas from visionaries executed by a skilled and dynamic workforce will drive the economy forward, particularly for economies with little natural resources.
RHT Fintech sees the future economy to be tech-focused, which calls for strong regulatory compliance. Combined with an innovative and skilled team, businesses will be able to stay ahead of the curve and contribute to a competitive economy collectively.
Svend Janssen
Head of Asia
Western Union Business Solutions
The quintessential attributes of a highly competitive economy relate back to the business infrastructure and innovation ecosystem it has in place. That ecosystem will have the mission to connect to, empower and deliver cross-border growth. The competitive economy will need to support businesses to build their innovation capability through digital transformation and develop their talent pool to achieve sustainable long-term growth. Singapore continues to raise the bar for digital transformation, thanks to a government that is wholly committed to providing considerable efforts to drive economic prosperity. Strategic partnerships will be equally important. Western Union Business Solutions prides itself on helping SMEs to easily engage in global trade, enabling growth, further investment and to deliver the jobs of the future. As we look forward to 2020 and beyond, Singapore's journey in building SMEs to become micro multi-nationals will of course include some challenges. However, the country has much to gain, if it continues to strive to retain its competitiveness on the world stage.
Deborah Heng
Country Manager, Singapore
Mastercard
Small and medium-sized businesses are the backbone of every economy. Accelerating digital inclusion of SMEs is essential to establishing a dynamic economy that can compete on a global level. Ultimately, this helps businesses raise productivity, boost competitiveness and gain access to new opportunities - all of which are hallmarks of a truly dynamic and innovative economy. Translating this into success depends on a close and effective partnership between public and private sectors. The goal of any collaboration should ideally focus on providing domestic and international trade opportunities, simplifying and enhancing how our SMEs do business with one another and the world at large.
Chia Ngiang Hong
President
Real Estate Developers' Association of Singapore (REDAS)
As a small economy, Singapore has done well in the world's standing as a nation with a forward-looking and progressive government, garnering support of its people and business community to drive a competitive economy and putting in place sound institutions, a clean and safe environment, excellent infrastructure, skilled and innovative workforce as well as dynamic and capable enterprises.
In light of the current global economic uncertainties and social instability, it is imperative to anchor Singapore's continued success as a competitive economy with the quintessential attribute of stability, with the people and government remaining united and cohesive. In addition, our continued commitment as a trusted global trading partner and emphasis on environmental sustainability will also put the country in good stead as we transition to a higher-value economy in the new world order.
Mark Billington
Regional Director, Greater China and SEA
ICAEW
Singapore operates in an immensely competitive international environment and has maintained its global standing as a place to do business. For an economy to be competitive, the government must first build a strong regulatory framework that delivers world-leading accountability and transparency from companies without deterring foreign investment. Against the backdrop of digitalisation, broader adoption of digital technologies by businesses in different sectors is critical to boost productivity. Going beyond macroeconomic stability, it is also key for economies to have a highly-skilled, agile and adaptable workforce to keep up with an ever-changing business landscape through constant upskilling and information sharing.
Lee Fook Chiew
Chief Executive Officer
Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants
Trusted institutions form the bedrock of a highly competitive economy and businesses. Among other factors, strong governance framework and transparency in the ecosystem are pertinent for sustained economic growth. The high-quality financial and non-financial information enables governments, investors and businesses to make sound financial and policy decisions, which provide the foundation for stakeholders' trust and confidence. A highly skilled and diverse workforce would also be a key differentiator in a highly competitive economy. In order to effectively leverage growth areas in Industry 4.0, there is a need for all in the society to continuously upskill and reskill.
Maren Schweizer
Director
Schweizer World
The combination of attributes at a particular moment is less important than the efficiency and rate at which a country creates, upgrades, and deploys them. An innovation ecosystem and human capital skill sets are prevailing crucial future success factors, from my point of view.
We believe in approaching innovation in its broadest sense to perceive a new basis for competing or find better means for excelling in old ways. Much change is incremental, depending more on a cumulation of small insights and improvements than on a single breakthrough. It often involves ideas that have been around but never vigorously pursued.
In the future economy, our people should have deep skills and be inspired to learn throughout their lives, and develop critical thinking.
Today's competitive realities demand leadership: Leaders who believe in change; energise their organisations to innovate, acquire, and use knowledge continuously.
Jessie Xia
Managing Director, Southeast Asia
ThoughtWorks
Technology and innovation are two critical factors that will work in tandem to drive highly competitive economies. Technology will continually evolve to push the change of pace and disrupt economies worldwide. Continuous innovation and experimentation are key attributes of economies that want to continue to remain competitive. Leveraging new technologies and looking at new approaches to address existing challenges can create positive impact on cities and economies. The emergence and development of Smart City strategies in most advanced economies have demonstrated this. Another key attribute is the collaboration of the public and private sector to drive talent development and culture of growth and innovation within economies.
Jagdish Mahapatra
Managing Director, Asia
CrowdStrike
Digital transformation has proven to be a powerful catalyst for competitiveness, becoming necessary to meet the requirements of a digital-first audience. With frontier technologies such as the Internet-of-Things and Artificial Intelligence being able to vastly enhance the capabilities of the human workforce, technology is rapidly becoming a business necessity, and no longer just an option.
It is also imperative for organisations to recognise the potential risks that may arise from digitalisation, which creates digital touchpoints that can potentially be used to launch cyberattacks. Robust cybersecurity measures offering the capability to automate and deliver real-time threat analysis and response are vital to remain competitive in a digital economy.
Naveen Menon
President, ASEAN
Cisco
Traditionally, the need to balance consumption, investment and export-led growth has been critical to the creation of a sustainable model of economic growth. In the last few years, several socioeconomic trends such as the shifting landscape of job markets and skills have emerged to increase economic complexity. The Singapore government has recognised that the key to this is developing a flexible labour market and being proactive in promoting an entrepreneurial ecosystem where high-potential startups can create innovative ideas and inspire emerging technology.
Cisco is one company that has long supported an open innovation ecosystem, epitomised by the launch of our co-innovation centre here, and empowered people to engage and innovate anywhere through initiatives such as NetAcad that has positively impacted nearly 70,000 Singaporeans since inception. As we work in a fast-paced industry where change is constant, I believe that education will be the foundation for success in our brave new world.
Vikas Nahata
Co-Founder and Executive Chairman
Validus Capital
Awareness and openness are the two key attributes of a highly competitive economy like Singapore. ''Awareness'' means to keep abreast of the latest updates in the region. SMEs need to be well-informed and constantly looking out for opportunities, whilst being equipped with the right skills to stay ahead of the competition. In an increasingly complex and fast-moving world, one needs to think ''how can we do it better'' rather than ''it used to work''. ''Openness'' is the mindset of embracing unconventional methods to stay relevant and competitive. We believe having these attributes have enabled Validus to become the largest SME financing platform in Singapore.
Joanne Flinn
The Business Growth Lady, CEO
Unicorning with Project Wings
The future of innovation, entrepreneurship and skills development in highly competitive economies will flow from two quintessential elements.
The first is kindness. Kindness to others, to future generations and the planet. Destroying our planet does not create sustainable competitive advantage. Oxford, Harvard and Stanford scientists have highlighted the performance benefits of kindness. You can call this good karma.
The second is what we value. Countries, organisations and leaders who value diversity, kindness and collaboration build more resilient, adaptive organisations. They reap financial rewards in the form of 25 per cent higher profitability, according to IBM research.
Gary Newbold
VP Enterprise, Asia Pacific
CommScope
As we enter a new, connected era powered by the emerging technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, advancements in digital technologies and innovation will continue driving the economy. Smart cities of the future will be powered by ultra-fast seamless connectivity, supported by the integration of emerging 5G and Wi-Fi 6 technologies, including augmented and virtual reality applications, as well as the Internet of Things, in our daily lives.
To stay competitive in Asia-Pacific, which is a pioneering region for 5G adoption, it is critical for businesses to recognise that connectivity underpins future technologies.
Given the growing expectation for technology to be integrated into everyday services, including capabilities from digital banking to healthcare, businesses need to be ready for the new era in connectivity.
Joanne Wong
Senior Regional Director for Asia Pacific & Japan
LogRhythm
Resilience, continuous drive for innovation, and safety are all important elements that can help nations remain competitive. The world's economy has gone digital, and digital security has never been more critical as it is fundamental to achieving all those key attributes. Resilience means being able to identify threats as they occur, or quickly bouncing back after a critical infrastructure cyberattack. Digital security is also important in the sense that we need to keep people's trust in disruptive technology that fuels innovation. Finally, our definition of safety has also evolved into a shield that does not only protect us from physical harm, but also keeps us safe in our digital interactions like mobile bank transactions.
Hari V Krishnan
CEO
PropertyGuru Group
There are many essential ingredients that go towards building a competitive economy. However, two main attributes that make economies future-proof are:
1) Access to top talent - from around the world and not just within the country; 2) Use of technology - as an enabler to drive efficiency and transparency across industries.
Singapore has done a fine job of creating world-class infrastructure and all that a developed nation has to offer. This is fundamental to being in the top league of the world's leading economies. The government has also laid conducive policies to make Singapore, the Asian hub for multinational companies and industries, thrive. Technology is quintessential for growth and bringing efficiency for every sector. It allows for top talent to focus on innovation and bring about solutions that drive progress; it also brings in the much-needed transparency that leads to newer opportunities of economic growth.
George Lee
VP, Asia Pacific & Japan
RSA
In our hyper-connected world, a highly competitive economy is one that is equipped with solid digital infrastructure and upskilled talent to enable organisations to pursue digital transformation effectively. While digital transformation spurs new business opportunities, it also amplifies and accelerates digital risks such as cybersecurity, data privacy and compliance. In short, a highly competitive economy cannot exist without security. Organisations must embrace risk and build their businesses upon a secure digital foundation.
This means having integrated visibility of risk across all business functions and automated systems to generate insights and mitigate threats before they develop into attacks. At the same time, there must be a concerted effort between the industry and government via private-public partnerships to nurture a skilled workforce in order to mitigate digital risks together. Only then can organisations have peace of mind when pursuing new digital implementations, and contribute to the highly competitive economy while reaping its benefits.
Mark Orsi
President
Global Resilience Federation
Technology is the driving force behind today's rapidly-evolving economic landscape. Our current industrial revolution builds upon the groundwork of artificial intelligence and inherent connectivity to enable delivery of bespoke products for every consumer. These advances provide new opportunities for adversarial forces to disrupt at tremendous scale. Smart cities create massive efficiencies in movement of people, goods, and services, but also new avenues for cyberattacks which impact the digital, and increasingly, the physical world.
We must be vigilant in developing cybersecurity technologies which keep pace with these changes, making our organisations and our economy more resilient. New methods must be used to gather actionable intelligence to help identify, protect, and recover from threats and attacks.
Ong Yu-En
Head of Singapore
Norton Rose Fulbright (Asia) LLP
Singapore has consistently been ahead of the curve in recognising market shifts. There are excellent examples - stepping forward with our technology offering, a centre for restructuring and leading the region on sustainable infrastructure and green finance expertise.
These have brought about great waves of activities for many industries including law, finance and infrastructure. The government continues to encourage innovation in both foreign and domestic enterprises, and has swiftly implemented the necessary policies and reforms. In a global market that is quick to commoditise, Singapore has to be quick to move and continue to scale advantages by differentiating its offerings and platforms, and demonstrating its competitiveness. With all these in place, businesses in Singapore can be confidently future-ready.
Foo Mao Gen
Head of Southeast Asia
Qualtrics
We live in a digitalised and connected world today. As Singapore shifts towards a knowledge economy, companies should capitalise on innovation strategies to deliver better experiences for their key stakeholders, particularly customers and employees. To achieve such levels of competitiveness, companies should invest in their staff to cultivate a sense of ownership. They should engage with their employees to gather insights on what they are thinking and identify moments that matter to them. Having superior infrastructure, financial and healthcare systems in place will act as a catalyst to maximise business productivity. All of these are critical in delivering positive customer experiences, enabling them to remain competitive in today's experience economy.
Matthieu Imbert-Bouchard
Managing Director
Robert Half Singapore
The Fourth Industrial Revolution is the most important force shaping a competitive economy. ICT adoption is central to this, helping to drive productivity and value across every industry - Singapore's top competitiveness ranking can certainly be attributed to the government's priority on technology adoption and innovation. Tied to this is the importance of skills. Investment in upskilling will help to ensure that the forces of digitisation are shared across all tiers of the workforce and help to mitigate the shortage of skilled workers and growing workforce disparities by reallocating human capital to more meaningful tasks, which in turn will help to drive long-term economic growth.
Jimmy Yam
VP of Sales, East Asia
Eaton
Business priorities are shifting amid rising concerns around climate change and human-machine workplace interactions. Thus, addressing and preparing our society and economy for these trends will be a key factor in maintaining our competitiveness. For instance, as energy continues to form the bedrock of our technology-driven economy, we should proactively source for and adopt sustainable solutions and practices to meet our ever-increasing energy demands. Private and public organisations also need to build and foster a learning environment and facilitate the adoption of a growth mindset amongst its workforce. Only then can Singapore maintain its competitiveness and become the global innovation hub it aspires to be.
Sudhanshu Tewari
Co-founder & CEO
Rewardz
In a difficult year for global trade and investors, Singapore has emerged as the world's most competitive economy.
For Singapore to stay competitive, it can do well looking at the values of its pioneer generation - like being open, hardworking, transparent, believing in the strength of a multicultural society. It was not just the leaders but every single citizen worked hard to build what Singapore has become today.
In the last 10 years, the Singapore government and leaders have focussed a lot on entrepreneurship and it does seem to be a top-down approach. It has definitely yielded good results with Singapore widely regarded as one of the leaders in fintech. However, I strongly feel that generation Z and millennials need to value how entrepreneurship can lead Singapore in the future. The youths should learn entrepreneurship at an early age.
Singapore needs to invest further in early education so kids appreciate and find joy in experimenting and building products. We need more inventors, creators and founders to shape the future of Singapore and stay competitive.
Lim Soon Hock
Managing Director
PLAN-B ICAG
For an economy to be highly competitive, it has to be laissez-faire. This means that there should not be any dominant party, be it private enterprises, government-linked companies or state-owned enterprises. Our Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore ensures that this is kept in check. This classical view ensures that entrepreneurship will not be stifled and companies at any stage of development have a fair chance to compete on a level playing field, and to succeed.
Human capital is the other quintessential attribute. In the case of Singapore, our world class education system has produced much talent that the nation needs, and is driving and supporting a thriving innovation. Contrary to what many people think, there is no lack of innovation in Singapore. However, more can be done to support entrepreneurship, when innovative ideas are being commercialised.
Singapore would have succeeded in nurturing and developing entrepreneurship when we have a critical mass of large local companies with a global footprint. The good news is that the government is intensifying efforts to continue to develop a holistic eco-system to support this.
Annie Yap
CEO
AYP Group
The root of any quintessential attributes of a highly competitive economy lies with the government. If you have a government that is farsighted, proactive and innovative while creating a safe and sound environment for its citizens - chances are you have many of the ingredients for creating a highly competitive economy.
The government has to demonstrate leadership, communicate a vision and be able to translate the vision into reality. That will inspire local businesses to grow while pulling foreign organisations into the country. In turn, this will create further job opportunities for citizens. When the economy grow steadily, the government will be able to pull off greater growth with more strategic planning.
Sandie Overtveld
Vice-President, APAC
Zendesk
Looking at the top 10 countries in the latest global competitiveness report and their scores, coupled with how governments and industries in these markets work together to accelerate their innovation efforts and invest in talent development, it's clear to me the two most important attributes of a highly competitive economy are labour market and innovation capability.
It is also the case when we look at what defines fast-growth companies. We know our customers are focused on this, and it's also where we prioritise our own investment as a company. We believe the two attributes are interrelated - you cannot have game-changing innovation without great people, and attracting top talent is closely linked to embodying a culture of innovation.
Johnson Chng
Managing Partner (Asia)
QVARTZ
The two most important attributes of highly competitive economies are 1) a conducive ecosystem comprising a world-class workforce (with diversified fields of specialists and vocations); progressive government and policies; world-class healthcare and entertainment systems for families
2) inclusivity, where talents from overseas are welcomed and diverse perspectives are tolerated ( or even encouraged).
While there must be other attributes that make up a competitive economy, these two factors probably are key to enabling the rest.
Siaw Kim Leng
Managing Director (Singapore)
TMF Group
A key factor in determining an economy's competitiveness is its level of business complexity. Today, some of the world's most commercially-attractive countries are the most complex from a ''rules'' perspective, where failure to understand or comply with due processes and procedures carries a significant cost ranging from business disruption and reputational damage to penalties. Complexity is not a reason to avoid investing. A good understanding of the rules that prevail, and how to manage them, are more crucial as outlined in TMF Group's 2019 Global Business Complexity Index. We believe that with the right local knowledge and preparation, good companies can thrive in any economy.
Leonard Cheong
Managing Director
AdNovum Singapore Pte. Ltd.
A highly competitive economy should have these two important characteristics:
Harmonious & inclusive environment - socially, politically and economically, where businesses and people can thrive. Disrupting this harmony will be detrimental to any economy.
High market potential - to continue to attract investors as well as drive the growth of a country
Although Singapore has emerged as the world's most competitive economy by the World Economic Forum, we should not take things for granted. As a country with a population of 5.8million, Singapore needs to look to new ideas to leverage on the digital economy and become the safe digital hub connecting businesses in the region and beyond.
Seamus Phan
Chief Content and Technology Officer
McGallen & Bolden
Out of the 12 pillars of the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) 4.0 framework, disregarding population and market sizes, and other institutional advantages, then the two critical pillars for any economy going forward will be skills and innovation capability. The reason is simple - any economy that wants to succeed for the long haul needs to have technological leadership and invention, which demands skills and innovation from its labour force. Skills are dependent on education and training, while innovation capability is partially linked to education and largely due to an entrepreneurial and inventive mindset, which in turn needs societal freedom and nurturing of creativity rather than a rigid exam-based education. In this regard, Singapore will need to brace for improving these two areas given its limited market size if it wants to stay in the top spot for global competitiveness.
Dora Hoan
CEO
Best World International Ltd
While the 12 GCI pillars are equally crucial for a highly competitive economy, two in particular - infrastructure and innovation capability - are the hard and soft fundamental essentials for an economy's growth.
Innovation capability allows transformation of ideas into economic value. It is required in meeting the ongoing competition by sustaining competitive advantage and introducing new ideas. Thus it is the most critical factor for a country to succeed in a rapidly changing environment.
The standard of physical, digital and alternative energy infrastructure determines the production, consumption and interaction between firms. Good infrastructure development results in connectivity, that in turn leads to benefits such as reduced production costs, more business opportunities, better market competition and innovation. Otherwise, insufficient or ill-designed infrastructure results in misallocated resources as well as decreased welfare. Hence it is hoped that development projects such as the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High Speed Rail and Belt and Road Initiative can be implemented successfully for the benefit of the national (and even regional or global) economy.
David Leong
Managing Director
PeopleWorldwide Consulting Pte Ltd
Notwithstanding the assessment metrics employed by the World Economic Forum, infrastructure readiness and continuous upgrading are important to ensure that there is enabling facilitation for businesses in Singapore to thrive. Without infrastructural support and stability, like building the 5G systems, innovation in new technologies cannot take off. Autonomous devices, artificial intelligence in public transport, services and Smart City need 5G. Our government's prioritisation of competitiveness is based on real needs to attract, retain and enable companies including those wishing to locate to Singapore to grow their businesses.
Apart from infrastructure, macroeconomic stability and clear legal framework, Singapore's bilateral and regional FTAs provide companies the launch pad to access other markets. These are the connectivities that set us apart from the competition. With these, innovation capabilities, talent development, business dynamism and investments should follow to make Singapore great among giants.
Atul Temurnikar
Co-founder and Chairman
Global Schools Foundation Singapore
Although Singapore is ranked first for competitiveness, the World Economic Forum highlighted that it needs to promote entrepreneurship and further improve its skill base to become a global innovation hub. This is something I strongly believe in - that we need to invest in the youth and workforce, to arm them with the requisite skills and expertise to remain relevant in a competitive economy. We espouse this as part of the pedagogy at Global Indian International School (GIIS) by adopting skill- and value-based learning in our curricula. We want to prepare students to be future-ready with a global mindset - with multi-dimensional skills such as entrepreneurship and coding/robotics in the age of startups and AI.
Zaheer K Merchant
Regional Director (Singapore & Europe)
QI Group of Companies
In understanding the attributes of a competitive economy, we acknowledge there is no perfectly competitive economy. The Global Competitiveness Report 2019 evaluates economies on the basis of 12 pillars ranging from institutional stress tests, innovation and workers skills to sustainability. So the range and gamut are wide for any economy to ''comply with'' to be deemed ''highly competitive''. To me, from a straight definition perspective, it means scaling and maximising labour and capital, and thereby making efficiency the main attribute or quality. I would approach the issue from its conclusion backwards. This means to ensure productivity as being the critical element of a competitive economy because in this way, every aspect of growth and competitiveness (creating the ''perfect'' economy) accounts for manpower, skills, upskilling, manufacturing, technology, financial systems, innovation and all the way to health and country sustainability (since everyone is involved and contributing to the main objective). In many ways a highly competitive economy is a virtuous cycle. We are fortunate to score well.
Peter Koh
Executive Director & CEO
Oceanus Group Limited
Innovation is a key growth driver not only for businesses but also for the competitiveness of the overall economy. Given the scale and complexity of the world's current challenges, no single company can in any efficient way solve them alone. In Singapore, Oceanus Group has forged strategic partnerships with educational institutions to develop science and evidence-based farming techniques and cutting-edge aquaculture technology for greater productivity. Through such initiatives, we have already seen the development of a wide range of innovative outcomes to address issues such as food scarcity and environmental sustainability.
Henry Tan
Group CEO
Nexia TS Group
Key attributes of a competitive economy are an innovative workforce and stable government and financial systems. Innovative workforce is important to remain relevant in a changing environment. Stable government and financial systems provide the confidence and trust needed for business.
Liz Kim
General Manager
Philip Morris
Singapore's competitive economy is dependent on the strength of its commercial backbone, our small and medium enterprises. SMEs account for some two-thirds of all employment here and contribute around S$200 billion to the economy. Retail trades like mini-marts account for a significant proportion of the SME sector. While these businesses were optimistic about the potential impact that digital transformation will bring to their bottom-lines, they were only half as confident in their digitisation strategies, as compared to their larger-sized peers, says a 2018 ASME Study. For Singapore's competitive economy to be sustainable, it must also be an inclusive one. To that end, perhaps the time has come for larger enterprises who have a vested interest in the success of their local SME partners and customers, to also step up, partner with business chambers, government and the NTUC, to help our SMEs make the change from digital laggards to leaders in their own ways.
Copyright © 2019 Singapore Press Holdings
This article was from The Singapore Business Times and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network. Please direct all licensing questions to legal@newscred.com.
