Speech at Global Talent Competitiveness Index (GTCI) 2025 Launch
Senior Parliamentary Secretary, Shawn Huang, INSEAD Asia Campus
Professor Lily Fang, Dean of Research and Innovation, INSEAD
Professor Sameer Hasija, Dean of Executive Education, Dean of the Asia Campus, INSEAD
Distinguished Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen
1. Good evening. Thank you for the warm introduction, and thank you to INSEAD and the Portulans Institute for inviting me to speak today.
2. It is my pleasure to be here for the 11th edition of the Global Talent Competitiveness Index, the GTCI for short, a report that has consistently provided valuable insights into how countries can build and sustain their human capital advantage.
3. This year’s theme, “Talent and Resilience: Navigating an Era of Disruption”, could not be more relevant to the challenges we face today.
4. Geopolitical tensions are reshaping global supply chains overnight. Artificial intelligence is transforming entire industries in a matter of months, not years.
5. In this environment, the question isn't whether disruption will come, it's whether we have the resilience to navigate it successfully.
6. For Singapore, this question is particularly acute. We are a small country with no natural resources except for our people.
7. That's why we have consistently invested in human capital as part of our competitive advantage. Our strong performance in past editions of the GTCI is testament to these efforts.
8. But we cannot rest on past achievements. Let me share three particular areas where Singapore is investing in talent and workforce resilience in this era of disruption.
Developing a Global Talent Hub
9. First, to keep our competitive edge as a global business node, we must continue to strengthen our position as a global hub for talent, by attracting talent from around the world, while also investing in our local talent pipeline.
10. We recognise that in a globally connected world, the best ideas and innovations emerge when diverse minds work together.
a. That's why we introduced the Overseas Networks & Expertise Pass, or ONE Pass, to bring in top global talent with valuable networks, deep skills and expertise, to complement our local workforce.
b. At the same time, through schemes like the Overseas Markets Immersion Programme and Global Business Leaders Programme, we try to equip Singaporean talent with global market exposure and the savviness to navigate across cultures.
c. In today’s economy, it is these valuable soft skills needed to compete and collaborate on the global stage.
11. In Singapore, people are our greatest asset. We must embrace both local and global talent, to complement one another, learn from one another, and ultimately grow stronger together and to grow the economic pie for all – and in so doing, create a virtuous circle where new opportunities abound for all.
Developing an AI-Ready and AI-Resilient Workforce
12. Second, we are reimagining what it means to develop talent in the age of AI and automation. The skills that made us successful yesterday may not be sufficient for tomorrow's challenges.
13. According to a 2024 paper by the International Monetary Fund, around 77% of employed resident workers in Singapore are highly exposed to AI, in areas like science and engineering, healthcare and law.
14. However, in Singapore’s labour-constrained economy, AI exposure could present more opportunities than risks. A high degree of exposure means greater scope for an AI-ready workforce to take on the full advantage of AI to transform our economy.
a. There will be more demand for AI practitioners who can deploy AI tools and solutions at scale in their business domains.
b. Beyond technical jobs, there are new roles being created in AI governance and ethics.
15. At the same time, we must not overlook soft skills that are AI-resilient, such as creativity, critical thinking, emotional intelligence and leadership, which will become more valuable as AI increasingly handles routine tasks.
16. So while we want our workforce to be AI-fluent and able to apply AI to their respective domains, we will also need to hone skills that are irreplaceable by AI.
17. Most importantly, we need to cultivate adaptability itself as a core competency. In a world of constant change, the ability to learn, unlearn, and relearn becomes our most valuable skill.
Charting the Next Bound of Human Capital Development
18. Third, even as we help our workforce to become more adaptable and resilient, we must adapt our policies and strategies in a world of heightened disruption.
19. The Government is taking a comprehensive view of the economic future as part of our ongoing Economic Strategy Review.
a. Bringing together leaders from the private sector, unions and educational institutes, this review is helping us chart our economic strategy for the medium term, ensuring that we remain competitive and resilient in an uncertain world.
b. Human capital is one of the five areas of the Economic Strategy Review, showing how talent strategy and economic strategy are indeed inseparable.
20. There are also other platforms through which we are developing forward-thinking, innovative ideas that anticipate future challenges in close collaboration with our unions and businesses.
a. This includes the Alliance for Action on Advancing Career & Employment Services, where we are working with private sector players to develop ground-up solutions that can strengthen the career resilience and mobility of our workforce, and at the same time, help businesses find the talent that they need.
b. To ensure our growing group of seniors can continue working if they wish to, the Tripartite Workgroup on Senior Employment is reviewing and refreshing our senior employment practices, to make jobs and workplaces more age-friendly.
Conclusion
21. Of course, building talent and resilience isn't just about government policy.
a. As leaders, this means nurturing the workforce culture where people can grow, adapt and progress into new roles. This will help to unlock wider talent pools and build more adaptable teams.
b. For individuals, it means taking ownership of our own career health. In an era of disruption, waiting for someone else to tell you how to upskill is a luxury that we cannot afford.
22. For all of us, it means embracing the report's key insight – that we need to "bounce forward than bounce back" from disruptive shocks.
23. Resilience isn't about returning to where we were before the disruption. It's about using that disruption as an opportunity to become stronger, more adaptable, and more innovative than we were before.
24. This is the Singapore story – a nation that has consistently turned challenges into opportunities, disruptions into advantages.
25. With the launch of this 11th edition of the Global Talent Competitiveness Index, let us use its insights not just to measure where we stand, but to chart where we need to go.
26. Thank you, and I look forward to the discussions ahead.