Singapore's Lee says immigration policy benefited citizens

Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who’s seeking to extend his party’s rule in elections nexth month, defended the government’s immigration policy, saying the influx of foreign workers has boosted the economy.
Singaporeans have not been disadvantaged by the government’s labor strategy, Lee said in a speech today at the opening ceremony of Intel Corp. and Micron Technology Inc.’s US$3 billion ($3.7 billion) memory fabrication facility in Singapore. The country, led by Lee’s People’s Action Party, is holding a general election on May 7.

 

Foreigners make up more than a third of Singapore’s 5.1 million population as companies hire thousands from overseas to work at hotels, shipyards and restaurants. Exxon Mobil Corp. and International Business Machines Corp. are among companies that are adding capacity in the island ranked by the World Bank as the easiest place to do business.

 

“By allowing in a controlled number of foreign workers, far from disadvantaging our own people, we have created more good jobs for Singaporeans and more opportunities in our economy,” Lee said.

 

Companies added about 116,000 jobs last year when the economy grew a record 14.5%, while wages increased an average 5.6% in that period. Of the new positions created, 59,700 jobs went to foreigners, the Ministry of Manpower said last month.

 

Singapore aims to attract as much as $14 billion of investments in manufacturing and services this year, the Economic Development Board said in January. The country lured fixed-asset investments of about $12.9 billion last year.

 

IMMIGRATION STRATEGY

Immigration had also been a key component of Singapore’s population and economic strategy, given the failure of other incentives offered since 1987 to arrest a birth-rate decline, such as tax breaks, subsidies and cash bonuses.

 

The population has increased by about 810,000 people since 2005, government figures show. Singaporeans say the immigration policy means crowded public transportation, more competition with newcomers for jobs, public housing and places in choice schools for their children.

 

In August, Lee said the influx of foreign workers is a “trade-off” that Singapore cannot avoid. He said at the time that the government will slow the pace of immigration because the country can’t increase its population by more than 100,000 a year indefinitely.