IAL & OPINION The Business Times, Friday, July 10, 2009 ior blaoop conse SERVICE O08 308 einhet dt Maly Newrapers) RICK DANIEL es os Pree je Sense soe) ROBIN HU TAY cate ae ; iUL PATHAK. svater AN ANG ct No El ING WEI KONG cart New at GELA TAN tear MEEE NETH JAMES. Room for hope, despite the challenges THE Ministry of Finance recently unveiled the members of the Economic Strategy Committee (ESC). The aim of tho committe isto develop stratogies to keep tho econo- ‘my growing - and spread the gains to Singaporeans. ‘The ESC isa follow-up to the valuable work done by the Economic Review Committee from 2001 to 2003 which strategically stored the Singapore economy away {rom the more traditional industries in which it was los ‘ng competitivoness to new grovth areas, The success of. ‘hat strategy was evident right upto 2008 when the glo- ‘bal financial crisis overturned the old world order. The now ESC will havo its work cut out, given the consenstis ‘that recont crisis isa game changer. ‘There if aite-publicised department within the Min- istry of Trade and Industry, which calls itself the Futures Group. The group essentially functions as a foresight ‘think fank and is tasked with coming out with ideas/ observations/insights that will impact Singapore's eco- ‘nomic and job growth in tho future, In Apil, the group id a study on the possible future of global demand, post-crisis. This study ~ which painted three possible post-risis sconarios ~ forms the larger context that the current ESC sub-committee could use. ‘The three possible scenarios were One, “Wounded Beast", whore the old world order continues. But EDITORIAL because global imbalances which ee een enemies even miore frequently. _ hereto G8 Ho US Europe and Japan = inerense their savings rate leading 10 a shortfall in global demand, Asian domestic consumption will take decades to make up for the demand! shortfall, and conse- ‘quently global growth rate will be considerably lower. ‘Inthe third nightmare scenario, amed “Abyss”, pub- lic debt burdens rise to unstable levels. both public and privatespending diminish and social and political unrest ‘increases. 7 According to the Futures Group, all three scenarios prosont significant challongos for Singapore. The city-state needs to address the three main themes ofresll- lence, survival and relevance to secure its continued eco- ‘nomic progress. While the future is fraught with uncertainties, there aro grounds to be optimistic about Singapore's future. That the government is constantly looking heyond the curve is one reason to be sanguine. That it has the re- Solve and the capability to take hard decisions and imple. ‘ment difficult policies is another: Also helpful is the ab- sence of racial and communal politics that shackle a ‘umber of countries. But hero, pragmatism roigns. And even as it takes hard economic decisions, the govern- ‘ment is increasingly strengthening the social compact by introducing more programmes targeted at the weaker members of socloty. Thus, despite the daunting challen- gos of our uncortain world, there is room for hope.