IPS-Nathan Lecture II - Economy and Business by Mr Ho Kwon Ping

No economic forecasting can cover both the known unknowns and unknown unknowns for the next 50 years. We return to fundamentals and question whether the basic strategy for Singapore’s success in the past – leveraging off the Three L’s of Location, Land, and Labour – are still valid, especially the role of manufacturing when other city-states have moved entirely into services provision. Then, a few sacred cows or below-the-radar issues which will impact on the very long term future of business and the economy are examined in more detail. These include the need for a more integrated immigration and foreign worker policy, changes to the education, land and housing policies, the need for new indices of economic well-being, and the creation of an innovation-attracting social environment.