Singapore on April 19 began a meeting with top global corporate executives to discuss a new growth formula to shift the city-state's economy into its next phase.
Executives from some of the world's leading firms including British aerospace engine maker Rolls-Royce, India's Tata Group and German semiconductor giant Infineon Technologies are among those taking part in the two-day meeting.
They will share their views and experiences on how Singapore's new growth formula can be implemented. The formula essentially taps the city-state's reputation for clean governance, its commitment to a knowledge and research-based economy, and its reputation as a safe and liveable environment, Defence Minister Teo Chee Hean, who is also in charge of the civil service, said in a speech opening the meeting.
"To put it in simpler terms, trust is why people come to us. Knowledge will be why they work with us. Connected is why people team with us. And life will be why they stay with us," he said.
Teo said the talks with corporate chiefs will "help accelerate our transformation process, so that opportunities may be recognised and taken up more quickly" as Singapore seeks to stay ahead of competition from emerging economies.
Singapore is Southeast Asia's most advanced economy but is feeling pressure from neighbouring countries with a larger labour pool and lower costs. The city-state has already begun to establish new growth engines, including biomedical sciences, that require higher-skilled labour.
China, India and Japan are set to be the main drivers for Asia-Pacific economic growth in 2007 amid signs of a slowdown in the United States and Europe, a UN report said on April 18.