What have I learnt today? Blogging about books, media, words, Singapore and the world today. The blog that was Blowin' in the Wind.
Singapore withdraws red carpet for foreigners with eye on vote, says Bloomberg. The report, published by BusinessWeek, covers changes in government policy on immigration and foreign workers.
But is it right when it says, "The government’s shift, which includes higher school and medical fees for non-citizens, has spurred speculation that an election may be called as early as this year" ?
The Wall Street Journal reports Singapore moves to curtail immigration. It says:
Singapore should tighten policies on foreign workers in the city-state to ensure their number does not grow significantly from current levels, a committee led by Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam recommended today, reports Reuters.
"We cannot increase the number of foreign workers as liberally as we did over the last decade, or else we will run up against real physical and social limits," the government's economic strategies committee said in a report.
"This will also ensure that our economy's dependence on the foreign workforce over the long term does not grow significantly beyond current levels of about one-third of the total workforce."
Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong, another member of the committee, told a media briefing: "We want to maintain the current balance as it is, which is about one-third."
The committee said the government could increase the foreign worker levies in a "gradual and phased manner" but did not say by how much.
Foreigners make up about 34 per cent of Singapore's population of 4.99 million, reported the Financial Times, as mentioned in my previous post.
Dow Jones Newswires reports the committee also recommends:
Singapore will try to reassure multinational companies that plans to tighten immigration will not affect white-collar expatriates, reports the Financial Times.
Foreigners make up about 34 per cent of the country’s population of 4.99 million, following a long period of high economic growth up to 2008 during which Singapore accepted up to 100,000 people each year.
A report by an economic review strategy committee chaired by Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam will say that the focus of reductions in the flow of foreigners must be on blue-collar workers, says the Financial Times.
This follows growing concern among locals, it adds. But Singapore has to remain open to highly skilled professionals, says the newspaper, quoting "a person familiar with the report".
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