NEARLY HALF OF S$1B IN PRODUCTIVITY FUND USED

Posted on March 2, 2011 by Mindy Yong.
Categories: Property News - Todayonline.

NEARLY HALF OF S$1B IN PRODUCTIVITY FUND USED
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Good start to productivity drive: DPM Teo
by Esther Ng

SINGAPORE – A year after a raft of measures were introduced to cure the economy’s Achilles heel, the Republic has made a “good start” in its bid to boost productivity, as the man tasked to oversee the national effort put it.

In Parliament yesterday, Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean, who chairs the National Productivity and Continuing Education Council, gave an update on the progress: The council has endorsed the productivity roadmaps of seven of the 12 sectors, with the remaining set to submit their blueprints this year.

And almost half of the S$1 billion National Productivity Fund has been disbursed on productivity initiatives.

Said Mr Teo: “We have made a good start in our national productivity drive. I am heartened that many have already stood up to be counted… But we need many more to do so.”

The sectors that have received the council’s nod on their plans – which include construction, retail, electronics and F&B – account for a quarter of Singapore’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and about a third of the country’s workforce. The sectors that have yet to do so include manufacturing, infocommunications and health.

Singapore’s productivity rose by 10.7 per cent last year – based on preliminary estimates – on the back of stellar economic recovery.

But, Mr Teo said: “We should not be complacent and declare victory prematurely. It is only one year, and the exceptional productivity performance was due to our strong economic recovery.”

During the Budget debate on Monday, West Coast GRC MP Ho Geok Choo and Hong Kah GRC MP Amy Khor voiced their concerns that small and medium enterprises (SMEs) would need more help to access Government assistance schemes.

Mr Teo responded yesterday that the SME-PRO (SME Productivity Roadmap) – a joint initiative by SPRING and the Singapore Workforce Development Agency (WDA) – was introduced to provide such enterprises a “systematic, 3-step approach” to enhance productivity.

Urging SMEs to come forward with ideas to improve productivity, Mr Teo pointed out SPRING also has a micro-loan programme that offers loans of up to S$100,000 for Singapore SMEs with 10 or fewer employees.

Last August, the labour movement had launched a S$40-million initiative – tapping on the National Productivity Fund – which was aimed at driving productivity and improving the skills and pay of low-wage workers.

According to labour MP Heng Chee How, about 200 companies have signed up.

Still, another labour MP Josephine Teo noted the “stubborn refusal by some businesses to embrace the productivity challenge”.

Said Mrs Teo: “Their common refrain is there is a limit as to how much they can automate and so tax credits for productivity and innovation are not useful.”

Noting that productivity was “not just about automation or cutting manpower”, Mr Teo called on companies to take a “holistic, comprehensive and fundamental re-look of their businesses”.

Mr Teo reiterated that he was “not looking for quick solutions”. He likened productivity to brisk-walking – rather than running a marathon “without an end”. Said Mr Teo: “You do it regularly every week. It doesn’t exhaust or drain you.”

For the year ahead, the council intends to leverage on the strengths of networks.

Said Mr Teo: “The Government cannot do this alone. We need more ground-up initiatives from the unions, trade associations or chambers of commerce.”

Another key area is good management practices to boost productivity and the Manpower and Education Ministries – together with the WDA – will work on promoting such training, said Mr Teo.

The Manpower Ministry is also driving the effort to “raise the overall quality of human resource management” here, he added.

Source : TODAYonline – MediaCorp Press Ltd’s copyright

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