Transforming the economy and equipping Singapore with the relevant skills, global economic headwinds notwithstanding, continue to be among the foremost priorities of businesses and the government. That was the theme of the discussion at ISCA’s Pre-Budget Roundtable 2019, which took place on January 9 at InterContinental Singapore.
For most of late 2018, talk of the trade wars between China and US echoed constantly, leading to market unease, instability and falling sentiments as the world watched with bated breath. The prolonged uncertainty led the International Monetary Fund to lower its world economic growth projections for 2019 from 3.9% in July 2018 to 3.7% in October, before cutting it again to 3.5% as of 22 January 20191. Likewise, market analysts trimmed their forecasts for Singapore, citing protectionism as a top risk.
