August 2009 - Singapore Manufacturing Federation

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IRAS announcesscope for taxaudits in 2009Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) recentlyannounced that it will focus on electronics, wholesaletraders, small and medium manufacturers, motor tradersand marine fuel traders for its goods and services tax(GST) audit for 2009. It is believed that SME manufacturerssometimes wrongly zero-rate goods delivered locally, whichis only limited to exported goods.Other common general pitfalls include not registeringeligible businesses for GST and not showing GST-inclusiveprices. IRAS has reduced penalties under its voluntarydisclosure programme to encourage tax payers who havemade mistakes in their reporting to come forward andseek clarifications on policies with their officers.Two nationalCET campuses tobe ready in 2010Ministry of Manpower (MOM) and SingaporeWorkforce Development Agency (WDA) willdevelop two Continuing Education and Training(CET) campuses to provide adult training and learning.Located at Paya Lebar Central and Jurong Lake District, thetwo national institutions will be ready by 2013; serving as aone-stop training and career coaching centre for employeesand employers.Mr Gan Kim Yong, Minister for Manpower, underlinedthe importance for workers to re-skill as the economyevolves. He added that the two campuses will cater to thegrowing training needs from the working population andwill continue to collaborate with WDA, National TradeUnion Congress’ Employment and Employability Institute(E2i), Singapore National Employers’ Federation, publicand private CET providers, industry associations such asSingapore Manufacturers’ Federation, and employers todeliver integrated and effective skills upgrading for bothworkers and employers.PM Lee’s NationalDay RallyPM Lee has mentioned that labour situation hasstabilized. However, he said that as companiesrestructure and move upstream, some jobs willbecome obsolete as a result. In fact, these jobs are likely togo to other countries with lower costs. Hence, companiesare encouraged to continue to upgrade their local operationsand create new jobs.PM Lee also mentioned that Singapore’s economicassessment has shown that the Resilience Packageintroduced in January has proven to be effective andbefore end of the year, the government will review anddecide on plans for the next year.Singapore is said to be an attractive country to MNCs.As these MNCs see Asia as the key growth engine for theworld, Singapore well-regarded to be the base for their Asianbusinesses. EDB has also been engaging and encouragingthese companies to inject their high-end manufacturingoperations into Singapore so as to better service the region.Asia’s strongfundamentalsremainAsia has experienced a dramatic slowdown but Asia’sfundamentals are strong, said Dr Tony Tan KengYam, Deputy chairman and Executive Director,Government of Singapore Investment Corporation, at therecent Economic Society of Singapore Annual Dinner 2009.He said that as the global economy stabilises and recovers,the positive growth will be more skewed towards theemerging countries.As countries with large populations like China and India,continue to grow, Asia’s economic growth model will bere-oriented from depending largely on exports to one ofa balanced model that is equally dependent on domesticconsumption as with export growth. However, risks exist andthey include the possibility of policy failure in the developedeconomies and a retreat to isolationism or protectionism.6
SMa Dialogue withMinister for Manpower, Mr Gan Kim Yong(From left) Dr Moh Chong Tau, Deputy President, SMa; Minister for Manpower,Mr Gan Kim Yong; Mr Renny Yeo, President, SMa; Mr John Kong, HonorarySecretary, SMaSMa held a dialogue session on 20August 2009 with Mr Gan KimYong, Minister for Manpower,representatives from the Ministry ofManpower (MOM), and the SingaporeWorkforce Development Agency (WDA).Chaired by Mr Renny Yeo, SMaPresident, and attended by CouncilMembers, the session was a usefulplatform to exchange feedback and gaininsights related to manpower concerns,explore ways to overcome challengingissues, as well as garner support from theGovernment on SMa’s host of initiatives tohelp the local manufacturing community.Some of the key concerns fromthe manufacturers include upgradingprogrammes to meet future trainingneeds, foreign employment issues, andthe Jobs Credit scheme.Q1 Has the Resilience Package,which was implemented by theGovernment in early 2009, helpedcompanies tide over the recenteconomic crisis? In particular, has theJobs Credit scheme helped employerssave jobs? Will the Governmentextend the Jobs Credit scheme foranother year?MOM: Feedback about the variousmeasures in managing the downturnhas been positive. In a recent surveyconductedbyMOM, seven in10 companieswith plans to layoff employeesreported thatthey wouldpostpone theplan or reducethe number ofaffected workers after the announcementof the Jobs Credit scheme, SkillsProgramme for Upgrading and Resilienceas well as other measures recommendedin the Tripartite Guidelines on ManagingExcess Manpower.The Government is currently reviewingthe Resilience Package, including theJobs Credit scheme, and will announcethe outcome at the end of the year. TheGovernment will monitor the situationclosely and take in feedback to finetune theassistance programmes where necessary.Q2 What are the implications arisingfrom the recent revision in S Passguidelines?MOM: Singapore needs to developa globally competitive workforcethat is better skilled, more resilientand more productive to remaineconomically competitive and preparefor the economic upturn. For the localworkforce, the Government has andwill continue to provide them withContinuing Education and Training (CET)training. While we encourage employersto constantly upgrade our workers’skills so as to move up the value chain,we must also ensure that the quality ofour foreign labour force is constantlyreviewed and upgraded to match ourskills requirements. Hence, we recentlyraised the quality requirement forforeign workers who enter Singapore,particularly for the S Pass as well as forthe skilled workers.One way to improve the quality offoreign workers is to continue to tightenthe requirement in terms of quality - theirqualifications, their working experience aswell as the types of jobs they are workingin. Thus, over the last few years, we havegradually tightened that requirement.And we will continue to do so to ensurethe quality of our workforce will improveover time.Q3 Moving forward, the economiclandscape will continue to evolve andalong with it, job requirements will alsochange. How does MOM ensure thatthe workers’ skills and knowledge areconstantly kept relevant, and to ensurejob opportunities for the workers?MOM: In today’s rapidly changingbusiness and employment landscape,skills and qualifications lose relevancevery quickly no matter how useful theywere when we first leave school. Hence,we must build up a comprehensive CETsystem to help our workers upgrade theirskills continuously so that Singapore cancontinue to grow and our workers cancontinue to have good jobs.CET is a national priority and underpinsSingapore’s economic competitivenessand workers’ employability. TheGovernment has recently announced theestablishment of two new national CETcentres to equip workers with the relevantskills for new industries and evolving jobs.This is the worker’s best assurance tostaying employed and advancing in theircareers. – CONNECTEditor’s note: The questions and answers have beenedited for ease of understanding.8
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August 2009 - Singapore Manufacturing Federation

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