Singapore’s next leader Heng Swee Keat says jobs are top priority

The deputy prime minister and finance minister said Singapore plans to preserve existing jobs and create 100,000 new ones, despite the downturn

His televised address speech caps a two-week public relations blitz involving six speeches by government leaders, amid expectations of an imminent election

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Singapore's Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat, the de facto successor to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, said the government was setting policy for the long term. “Where there are winds of change, we must find new waves of opportunity,” he said. Photo: AP

Published: 8:12pm, 20 Jun 2020Updated: 2:44pm, 24 Jun 2020

Singapore’s government has in recent weeks stressed that preserving existing jobs and creating 100,000 new positions in the short term are a “top priority” as the labour market bleeds – and its future leader Heng Swee Keat repeated that mantra on Saturday.

In the last of a series of six televised speeches by government leaders, the deputy prime minister said the employment situation was the administration’s “most urgent task”.

“Your job is our top priority because jobs are the most direct way for every Singaporean to improve our lives and support our loved ones,” said Heng, who in 2018 was picked by the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) as the de facto successor to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

The government’s aggressive plan to not only provide a short-term cushion but to restructure the economy in the midst of the worst downturn since the Great Depression “distinguishes us from other countries”, Heng said.

Heng Swee Keat, Singapore's deputy prime minister, speaks via video link at the Lujiazui Forum in Shanghai, China, on June 18. Photo: Bloomberg

His speech caps an extraordinary two-week public relations blitz kicked off by Lee on June 7.