Teo should reduce the ns serving to 1 year and let our boys come out to work asap to increae productivity and not waste 2 years in ns where those pr and foreigners are already in the work force climbing up the corporate ladder liao.
Ideas on raising productivity
A NEW council tasked to make Singapore more productive and innovative will have no lack of ideas, following yesterday's Parliament sitting.
Many of the 26 MPs who spoke about the 2010 Budget gave one suggestion after another on how the National Productivity and Continuing Education Council can boost productivity.
The ideas included setting specific productivity targets for individual industries, ways to help white-collar workers, and spending more on research and innovation to turn small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) into global giants.
Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean will head the new council that will steer efforts in raising yearly productivity from 1 per cent to 2 to 3 per cent in the next decade. To achieve it, a $2 billion productivity fund and a productivity and innovation credit scheme will be launched.
However, Mrs Josephine Teo (Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC) said the national targets are too broad and suggested sectoral targets because some sectors, such as construction, will need to improve more.
The Government should also set specific targets for business associations, which are getting $100 million over the next five years to help them drive the productivity campaign. This is to make sure the money is put to good use, she added.
--ST
DPM Teo lists out two focus areas for National Productivity and Continuing Education Council
Singapore's ongoing productivity drive may not see results in months or
even within the year.
But it's an effort for the long haul, and is the basis for Singapore's
future economic competitiveness.
Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean said this in Parliament today, as he
spoke for the first time about the new high-level National Productivity
and Continuing Education Council, which he's chairing.
The new Council will focus on two main areas.
First, it will drive efforts to raise productivity at the individual,
enterprise and sector-levels.
And second, it will oversee efforts to develop a world-class national
Continuing Education and Training or CET system, and entrench a culture
of continuous learning and upgrading among Singaporeans.
In listing these priorities out, Mr Teo also clarified that productivity
is not about working harder or longer, or just about automating
existing processes.
Instead, it encompasses factors like the quality of systems found within
enterprises, the attractiveness of their products and the structure of
their sector and the economy as a whole.
"Higher productivity enables us to generate the additional value that
can be shared between companies and workers, provide good jobs and
higher incomes for workers, and generate higher profits for companies.
Ultimately, productivity is the basis for our future economic
competitiveness."
But Mr Teo adds that improving productivity will require a concerted
tripartite effort involving enterprises, workers and the government.
And he says the Council will identify government agencies that will work
with industry partners and also the unions to develop strategies and
solutions to raise productivity in each sector.
It will also direct funds towards developing infrastructure and tools
that enterprises can use to support their productivity efforts.
These will include setting up sector-focused resource centers to do
applied research into productivity, and developing productivity
benchmarks.
As for workers, Mr Teo says the Council will oversee the development of a
world-class national CET system that caters to everyone, yet is
customised to the needs of different workers and companies.
It will also identify and develop new focus areas of growth for the CET
system, in line with the skills needed to support the productivity
drive.
"Lifelong learning is the means to an end, and that is to add value. The
ability to add value will bring about better employability and better
income for workers."
The exact composition of the Council has not been announced.
But Mr Teo says it will be an inclusive one reflecting the comprehensive
nature of the productivity drive.
--938Live