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S$100m budget to improve Singapore’s quality and standards: Tharman

SINGAPORE – Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam on Tuesday (July 26) identified quality and standards (Q&S) as a key pillar of Singapore’s future economy, as he announced a budget of up to S$100 million to support such an ecosystem.

DPM Tharman Shanmugaratnam. TODAY file photo.

DPM Tharman Shanmugaratnam. TODAY file photo.

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SINGAPORE – Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam on Tuesday (July 26) identified quality and standards (Q&S) as a key pillar of Singapore’s future economy, as he announced a budget of up to S$100 million to support such an ecosystem.

Speaking at a gala dinner held by SPRING Singapore, the Singapore Standards Council and the Singapore Accreditation Council to celebrate 50 years of nation building through Q&S, Mr Tharman said part of the S$100 million budget — which will be made available over the next five years — will be used to support small-and-medium enterprises (SMEs) through standards adoption projects.

Quality and standards has been a quiet but critical contributor to Singapore’s growth and development, helping improve the quality of life on the island, said Mr Tharman, who is also Coordinating Minister for Economic and Social Policies.

“From day one, in order to survive, we had to be relevant to the world. Q&S was vital in ensuring that the products and components made in Singapore met global standards, including the stringent demands of leading MNCs and their customers worldwide," he said.

And the ecosystem remains critical for the future, he stressed. “It will be a key pillar of the innovation-driven economy that we must be in the future, and must provide full support for the directions being developed by the Committee on the Future Economy,” he said.

There are two main ways in which the Q&S ecosystem can play a key enabling role in Singapore’s future economy, Mr Tharman said. They are: supporting market access for Singapore companies and supporting innovation.

SPRING will continue to work with both its local and overseas partners to keep enhancing Singapore’s Q&S ecosystem, and “ensure it fulfils our new Q&S vision of being a Key Pillar of the Future Economy”, Mr Tharman said.

“On the global front, Singapore will continue to participate actively in developing and setting standards, especially on the councils of the ISO (International Organization for Standardization) and the IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission), and to extend the reach of our Q&S network. We will also leverage on our bilateral and multilateral Free Trade Agreements to reduce technical barriers to trade,” Mr Tharman added.

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