stars conference ”. several foreign bankers and business executives i met – some had not visited singapore for many years and a few were here for the first time – told me that they were surprised and excited by the “ buzz ” in singapore. it is not just the business buzz of the financial industry, the integrated resorts, the sizzling property market, and so on. it is also the glitz of our nightlife and our arts, culture and restaurant scene. how have we managed this quick and dramatic rebound? first, we have a government which has the capacity to think long term and implement tough policies to resolve problems and transform the economy. the government is not bogged down by disruptive and unproductive domestic political pit fights. our basic economic strategy is right ; our implementation good. we are moving up the value chain to more technology - and knowledge - intensive manufacturing. we are growing our services sector in areas like tourism, healthcare, education, banking and insurance. we are pumping money and talent into r & d. we have enlarged our economic space through ftas ( free trade agreements ) and moved into new areas like the middle east. foreign minister george yeo has just visited libya and yemen, the first singapore minister to do so. at the right time, i will go there too to strengthen our relations. minister mentor is himself engaging russia and kazakhstan to open up business opportunities. and if there are opportunities in north korea, we will go there too. i dare say that our ministers are not just good at forging relations but also enterprising like businessmen. second, we have intelligent, hard - working and adaptable people. they know the world has changed and is constantly changing. they know they must run ahead of the pack in order not to be eaten by the proverbial lion. some singaporeans grumble and complain about the government and its tough policies but basically, they are nagging the government to listen to them more. singaporeans are pragmatic and disciplined. they are prepared to take bitter medicine prescribed by the government. if our people resist change like they do in france and germany, our economy would be sluggish and unemployment high. investors and international analysts have noted the way singapore has reinvented itself. many foreign leaders have also studied singapore to discover the secret of our success. the foreign editor of a german newspaper i met earlier this week said that he was struck by singapore ’ s development. so he could not understand why many singaporeans he had

speeches published date : 04 may 2021 " a tech - enabled financial sector – is our workforce ready? " remarks by mr ravi menon, managing director, monetary authority of singapore, at “ growing timber ” mas - ibf webinar series on 4 may 2021 good morning and thank you for joining us. at the “ growing timber ” webinar six months ago, i spoke about : how jobs are the central economic challenge of our times ; where the job opportunities in financial services are ; how we can make our tertiary students job - ready for the financial sector ; and how we can help our mid - career workers retain their jobs amid technological changes. today, i want to focus on two topics : an update on job opportunities in financial services based on mas ’ latest employment outlook survey ; and the most challenging part of our jobs and skills agenda – job specialisation, specifically in the area of technology, based on a deep dive study mas has done. on both topics, i will be sharing for the first time some granular data and information so that we can have a deeper understanding of the challenges and opportunities on the jobs and skills front in the financial sector. job opportunities - employment outlook for financial sector let me start with job opportunities. the financial sector added 2, 200 net jobs in 2020 – a year when the economy as a whole shed 180, 000 net jobs. about 2, 800 net jobs went to singaporeans ; non - singaporeans accounted for a net job loss of 600. this 100 % singaporean share of net job growth is unusual. it reflects the impact of the job support scheme that shored up local employment ; and the border control measures during the covid - 19 pandemic that made the employment of foreigners [UNK]. job growth in the financial sector has been consistently strong over the past 5 years a total of 21, 000 net jobs were created during 2016 - 2020, with singaporeans taking up about 16, 000 or about 75 % of these jobs. with more financial institutions setting up their regional and global hubs in singapore today, 40 % of financial sector jobs here are primarily international - facing. half of these jobs are filled by singaporeans. they include good jobs such as : application developers who develop digital products for overseas markets ; private bankers who serve regional clients ; and risk managers who monitor risk metrics for the regional or even global business. the employment outlook for the financial sector in 2021 remains positive. late last year, mas and the institute of banking and finance (