Mr Chairman, first let me thank Members for their comments and suggestions. As pointed out by Members, 2008 will be a challenging year. The global environment is more uncertain and we face increasing cost pressures. How do we remain competitive, grow the economy, and create jobs? These are the key issues raised by Members.

We had a good run in the last four years. Our economy has enjoyed 18 consecutive quarters of positive growth. Real GDP grew by a cumulative 36.3% from 2003 to 2007. We have created nearly 600,000 jobs. Not just more jobs, but high quality jobs. From 2004 to 2007, about two thirds of new jobs taken up by Singapore citizens were in the professional/ managerial/executive/technician or the PMET category of occupations. Wages have grown by a total of 17.4% during this period. Consumer prices, on the other hand, have increased by 5.3%, though the main increase took place in the second half of 2007.

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