Is it time for Singapore Inc to change?

SINGAPORE (Dec 23): More than five decades after Singapore first successfully adopted an export oriented economic model, it may be time for a change.

Koh Boon Hwee, the former DBS Group Holdings chairman who now sits on the GIC Investment Board, thinks the country is about to undergo its toughest transition in history.

“We are going to have to move from just doing things well to being able to create new knowledge and new enterprises,” says Koh. “The gestation period will be longer than in the past, when we were transitioning from [being] labour-intensive to capital-intensive, from capital-intensive to services. We are at a level today where I don’t think we can continue to look around the world and emulate best practices. We are going to have to be able to create new enterprises, create an environment that encourages more growth and start-up companies.”

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