SINGAPORE : NTUC's Secretary General Lim Swee Say has said he is confident that Singapore will be able to replenish the S$4.5 billion drawn from the reserves over two to three years.
Singapore had drawn on past reserves to help fund the Jobs Credit scheme, which was designed to help firms save jobs.
In his National Day message to workers and management, Mr Lim said that is because Singapore makes sure that every dollar is put to good use and every extra dollar is put back into the reserves.
Mr Lim shared the sentiments of trade union leaders from other countries whom he had met two months ago in Geneva at the annual International Labour Conference.
He said countries were impressed by Singapore's strategy of "cutting costs to save jobs" against "cutting jobs to save costs", a move adopted by many other countries.
Mr Lim said: "They were impressed by the 'V-shaped recovery' of
the Singapore economy, up from minus 9.4 per cent in the first quarter
of 2009 to +15.5 per cent in the first quarter of 2010, one of the
strongest rebounds for any economy.
"They were even more impressed by our ability to regain full employment
so quickly, with our unemployment rate dropping from 3.3 per cent in the
third quarter of 2009 to 2.2 per cent by the first quarter of 2010, one
of the lowest in the world."
Union leaders from other countries also wondered how Singapore managed
to keep the trust and preserve unity during a severe downturn.
Mr Lim noted that Singapore believed in building trust during good times so as to stay united during bad times.
He said: "They wondered how tripartism could be so uniquely effective in
Singapore at a time when it is either breaking down or not functioning
in many other countries.
"We explained that when times are good, we work hard together to build
up two types of capital - financial capital, by being one of the most
pro-business economies in the world; and social capital, by being one of
the most pro-worker nations in the world.
"So, by the time we are hit by a global downturn, we already have in
place the necessary resources and a high level of trust among labour,
management and government to rally us to respond in unity.
"Singapore's approach to tripartism is good for our workers. We avoided
massive retrenchments and prevented a rapid rise in unemployment.
"It is also good for our businesses. We preserved our economic capacity
and upgraded our economic capability to grow again in a global
recovery."
Looking ahead, the NTUC chief said the tripartite partners would strive
to do even better as Singapore rides the global recovery in 2010 and
beyond.
So, he has called on everyone to live the dreams as One Singapore, lift
the nation's productivity as One Workforce, and fly the flag as One
People.
- CNA/ms