SINGAPORE - Despite the utmost efforts to keep companies afloat to preserve jobs, some people may still find themselves out of work, said Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat on Saturday (June 20) as he declared that the Government's most urgent task now remains to protect people's livelihoods and create as many jobs as possible.

The aim is not just to create jobs, but generate better jobs for Singaporeans, he added, as he outlined three ways to support businesses and workers and re-imagine the economy.

Speaking in the last of the series of six national broadcasts by ministers on Singapore's future after Covid-19, DPM Heng said: "Our most urgent task now is jobs. Your job is our top priority. Because jobs are the most direct way for every Singaporean to improve our lives and support our loved ones."

To do so, it will try to preserve current jobs by helping viable businesses to stay afloat, so they can hold on to their workers for as long as possible, he said.

Those workers hardest hit by the pandemic, including people who are self-employed and low wage workers, will also be given support, and employers and unions will also be roped in to boost these efforts.

Mr Heng warned, though, that even then, job losses cannot be avoided, and some, and perhaps even many, will still lose their rice bowls.

New jobs will have to be created to fill these gaps, and to this end, the Government will push ahead with the economic transformation that had begun before the coronavirus.

The Government is making a big push to create as many new jobs as possible, said DPM Heng. The National Jobs Council has started work to oversee the creation of 100,000 jobs and training opportunities under the SGUnited Jobs and Skills Package.

"We are determined not to lose a generation of workers and youths," said DPM Heng.

But the Government will go even further, to strengthen the economy through building connections to new global nodes in Asia and the world and to create better prospects for workers through this process.

"This is what distinguishes us from other countries. All countries, including us, are providing immediate support, to provide a cushion. But we are going further, investing to give everyone a springboard, to bounce back from this even stronger. In Singapore, we never stop thinking of tomorrow," said DPM Heng.

To succeed at this task, he added, Singapore will need to master the major trends reshaping the global economy. The coronavirus has driven home the importance of resilience and reliability, accelerated the shift to digitalisation, and also transformed the way people live and work, said DPM Heng as he outlined three ways that the Government will help businesses and workers thrive in this post-Covid world.

First, Singapore will remain committed to the free flow of goods, services, capital, data, ideas and talent.

"In a more fractious post-Covid world, whatever the rest of the world does, we will persist to find new links to enable these flows, especially in connecting critical supply lines around the world. Do not doubt this: Singapore must always remain an open, trading nation. We are finished if we close up," said DPM Heng.

Second, Singapore must continue to invest in its infrastructure even if it means delaying some projects.

It is important because "such projects keep us connected to the world, makes travelling within Singapore faster and more pleasant, and gives us all beautiful homes", he said.

Third, Singapore must continue to invest in research and innovation to sharpen its competitiveness.

DPM Heng announced that as Singapore finalises its R&D plan for the next five years, $20 billion will be set aside to to support basic and applied research in high impact areas, such as health and biomedical sciences, climate change, and artificial intelligence.

Along with this, a series of Innovation Challenges will be launched to encourage people to pioneer solutions for some of the world's major challenges.

At the same time, the Emerging Stronger Taskforce, set up in May to make the most of the new opportunities in the post-Covid world, will also set up Singapore Together Alliances for Action.

The target is for these industry-led alliances to quickly come up with new ideas and projects within the coming months, in areas such as robotics, e-commerce, environmental sustainability, digitalisation of supply chains and the built environment which can become the new shoots of growth and generate new jobs.

"The Taskforce is consulting widely, and involving people from a wide spectrum of society, while putting ideas into action quickly," he said.

Making these announcements yesterday, DPM Heng said Singapore has a headstart as the country had begun transforming its economy five years ago to prepare for the future.

He stressed that the effort to grow the economy is not just to create jobs but to create better jobs for Singaporeans, and the Government will provide training to prepare people for these jobs as well as strengthen the education system.

"This is how we will keep the promise of progress alive for all," he said.