Minister Tharman: Singapore's success is due to hard work of its people

Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam participated in a CNN panel discussion on the world economy that was aired on Sunday, May 16. The show, hosted by Mr Fareed Zakaria, was recorded in late April and featured other guests like French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde; Mr Lawrence Summers, head of the White House Economic Council; and Mr Dominique Strauss-Kahn, managing director of the International Monetary Fund.

During the interview, Mr Fareed noted that Singapore was growing faster than perhaps any other country in the world. He asked Mr Shanmugaratnam why Singapore was so successful. In response, Mr Shanmugaratnam said Asia was a competitive place with highly motivated people.

Please see the full article from CNA By Ong Dai Lin | Posted: 17 May 2010 0000 hrs:

SINGAPORE: One key to Singapore's economic success is Asia's fast growth, said Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam in a CNN panel discussion on the world economy that was aired on Sunday, May 16.

The show, hosted by Mr Fareed Zakaria, was recorded in late April and featured other guests like French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde; Mr Lawrence Summers, head of the White House Economic Council; and Mr Dominique Strauss-Kahn, managing director of the International Monetary Fund.

During the interview, Mr Fareed noted that Singapore was growing faster than perhaps any other country in the world.

He observed that quarter on quarter, Singapore grew 30 per cent. This was based on the Ministry of Trade and Industry's flash estimates comparing the last quarter of last year with the first quarter of this year.

Mr Fareed asked Mr Shanmugaratnam why Singapore was so successful.

Mr Shanmugaratnam said this growth was being experienced in Asia and added the region was coming out of the financial crisis a little faster than in most parts of the world.

He also said there was a structural shift taking place in the world economy.

He explained: "First, we have to expect there will be adjustments in savings among consumers, particularly in the United States. And generally, the adjustment in fiscal balances is something that is going to take several years. That means lower demand overall for the global economy than we had expected before the crisis."

As to why Asia was growing faster, Mr Shanmugaratnam said Asia was a competitive place with highly motivated people.

He said: "People work hard, they adjust easily, there is an insatiable demand for training, learning English, learning technical skills. Everyone wants to improve, and every parent wants their kids to do much better than them. So, that is the fundamental driver."

One of the issues discussed during the interview was China's undervalued currency.

Mr Fareed noted that Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong had said that China "should effectively revalue its currency so that its goods are not unfairly cheap to the rest of the world".

Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam responded by saying that as productivity goes up, “if you want people to be able to enjoy a higher standard of living by consuming more, it goes with a stronger exchange rate.”

As to Mr Fareed's question on whether he is worried about the next crisis, Mr Shanmugaratnam said there was no escaping the next crisis but ”we want to make sure we do not get a big blow-out the way we got this time”.

He added: “And when we do get the next crisis, we want to make sure that there is an orderly, and not a destabilising way of resolving problems of individual institutions." - CNA/vm