Singapore Budget 2023: Conversation with Victor Mills
SpeakIn Podcast with Victor Mills
Singapore Budget 2023: What does Budget 2023 hold in store for Singapore, its economy and the ecosystem?
We had the opportunity to speak with Victor Mills on his thoughts about the Singapore Budget 2023.
We are deeply grateful to Victor for joining us today, 14th February 2023, on this landmark Valentine's Day for Singapore. Given that Singapore is a node and an anchor for the region, our government released the budget for 2023 touted very well as a Valentine's Day gift. So, we asked Victor…?
Is this indeed a Valentine's Day gift for Singapore?
“Oh, I really think so, because there were lots of bouquets for Singaporeans, from the youngest to the oldest. There were measures to help mitigate the immediate cost of living pressures. There were measures announced to improve the affordability of housing for first time buyers, there were measures to enhance the earliest years of life, there were more incentives to encourage Singaporeans to have more babies, and there were measures to enhance the employability and retirement adequacy of senior workers. It was just remarkable. The only question, of course, is just how sustainable are all these measures? And it was interesting that the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance answered this very question by saying it's just not fiscally sustainable to rely on government support for the long term on inflationary pressures. And he very quickly pointed out that the better way to proceed was, of course, to build up the capabilities of businesses and workers to expand the economy.”
How do you think this budget was for entrepreneurs and to further the interest of entrepreneurship both within Singapore and to attract entrepreneurs from outside of Singapore?
“Well, I think the support in the budget continues a long tradition in the last six, seven years of Singapore budgets for targeted support for Singapore companies. In the announcement, it enhances the enterprise innovation scheme. And as we all know, every economy needs innovation. And the fact that companies can now look for more help to be developed, to be enabled to innovate and go global is only good news for Singapore businesses. And the other side of the coin was also dealt with in the budget, because the other side of the coin is, of course, enhancing foreign direct investment. And the news that the national productivity scheme could now be utilized to attract investments is a clear indication that both sides of the coin are equally important, equally valued and of course, the whole end objective is to ensure a vibrant economy and provide good jobs for Singaporeans.
What steps do you see in the budget to further that interest?
“Well, I think the Deputy Prime Minister announced that they are taking another look at Skills Future, which is a sort of national initiative to enable more workers to build more capabilities. And the word that is often used is the upskilling word. It was really encouraging to hear the Deputy Prime Minister say that there's a lot of quality out there in training, a lot of variance in quality. So they're taking another look at this to see how it can be improved, because if we're going to have more productive businesses, we need more productive workers. And as you know, this mantra has been used in Singapore for at least the last 15 years and especially in the last ten years, all about businesses transforming, becoming more productive and changing the types of jobs to create better jobs for Singaporeans who do their bit as workers by regularly upskilling. So I think the focus is very clear: business transformation, worker transformation through the right kind of training and I think that's exciting and it is the right area to emphasize.”
If you were to summarize this budget, what would you give them in three quick takeaways?
“Well, I would say that this was a budget for the current time in the sense of addressing what we hope will be short term inflationary pressures, although it may be an extended short term period, given what's happening in the global economy and the war in Ukraine and everything else that's going on around us. I think it's also a budget that builds on previous budgets to encourage greater levels of innovation, more companies to be grown in Singapore and then enabled to go global. I mean, I think the Deputy Prime Minister said that the road ahead will not be easy. And he qualified that by saying, that's always been the case. And when you think about it, it always has been the case for every business and of course, for Singapore, and especially in what the Deputy Prime Minister called the “zero-sum” thinking era, which is most regrettable. But this allows plenty of need for and practice of resilience, innovation, optimism and above all, action. Action by businesses, action by employees.”
About Victor Mills
Victor Mills is Chief Executive, Singapore International Chamber of Commerce (SICC) which he has led for over 8 years. Prior to joining the Chamber, Mr. Mills had a 30-year career in financial services, 29 of them in Asia-Pacific serving customers in a variety of senior regional business roles.
About SpeakIn
SpeakIn is Asia’s largest digital learning platform for executive learning. SpeakIn brings together the best of thought leadership, ideas, and discussions. In this inaugural podcast by SpeakIn, we bring the best of thought leaders and their leadership to the region.
This brings us to the end of our conversation. It was an absolute pleasure to have discussed the Singapore budget 2023, the gift of Valentine for this year with Victor Mills.
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