Benjamin Mak and Thng Yi Ren - Economic Society of Singapore

Immigrants: An Enduring Vista of Hope
Having foreign workers, talents etc in Singapore is not new. We have always been open to those
who come to our shores to seek a living or to make this place home.
Tan Chuan-Jin,
Minister of State for Manpower and National Development
Though Singapore‟s economy now focuses on services and high-technology research, it remains
constrained by geography and demography. Thus, the main benefit presented by Singapore‟s
immigration-led population growth arises from its ability to promote a dynamic economy.
Indeed, Singapore has excelled in attracting talented immigrants to lead new engines of growth,
most notably in the biomedical sector where such luminaries as Professor Sir David Lane oversaw
the recruitment of top cancer researchers Neal Copeland and Nancy Jenkins as Executive Director
of the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology in 2006 10 . Economically speaking, immigration has
left an indelible imprint in Singapore‟s success. From 2000 to 2010, foreigners contributed around
40% of our GDP measured in terms of domestic output 11 and comprised 40% of our labour force in
2006 12 .
Such success can be attributed to Singapore‟s selective immigration policy which ensures „an
increased inflow of middle aged, high- and medium-skilled immigrants‟ based on careful
assessments of the „net public gain of a marginal immigrant‟ 13 . Hence, Singapore should merely
fine-tune its immigration policy if necessary to continue gaining maximal benefit from new
immigrants, rather than seek fundamental changes.
10 Agency for Science, Technology & Research (2009)
11 See Lim & Lee (2010), p. 146.
12 Ibid., p. 145.
13 See Storesletten (2000).
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