Singapore needs hard-to-replicate edge in global supply chains: DPM Gan

Reliability and security are reshaping trade and investment flows, he says. 

Singapore must build hard-to-replicate advantages and become more integral to companies’ supply chains as geopolitical fragmentation changes global trade and investment decisions, Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong said.

Reliability, security, and strategic alignment are increasingly influencing trade and investment flows, alongside efficiency, Gan told the Economic Society of Singapore’s 70th anniversary dinner on 27 August.

“A hub that is merely convenient or efficient can be bypassed for many of these considerations,” he said.

Gan pointed out that Singapore must move from being open to becoming more relevant to businesses, particularly in high-value manufacturing and trusted services.

The Republic should also evolve from being a hub through which goods, capital and data pass to one where these flows are decided, managed, financed, governed, and translated into value.

“In simple terms, we must move from moving things to determining how things move,” Gan said.

He added that investments should be anchored more firmly through partnerships with local enterprises and research institutions, alongside a strong base of local and foreign talent.

Singapore’s total trade is more than three times its gross domestic product, whilst outward-oriented sectors make up the bulk of the economy.

“Our task is more fundamental: to preserve our ability to choose our own path, even as the world changes around us,” he added.