“That thinking is fatally flawed,” Wong, also the finance minister, said in his address to the Singapore Economic Policy Forum on Tuesday. “If our policies become overly-restrictive, global companies based here will simply find other places to operate in,” causing all the jobs they brought here to be lost, he said.
Singapore Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said staying open to foreign talent is key not just for economic growth, but the very existence of the city-state that has little else to fall back on in terms of resources.
Seeking to overcome any resentment against the government’s efforts to scout for so-called rainmakers from around the world, he said recent years have seen “very ugly anti-foreigner sentiment” in favour of keeping the good jobs for Singaporeans.
