The Singapore budget will focus on helping organizations enhance productivity and stay competitive, says Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat. The budget will lay emphasis on upgrading capabilities in the workplace and getting companies to embrace technology.

Speaking during a tour of the FairPrice distribution center at Benoi, Heng noted: "I hope to see companies putting a big emphasis on training and upgrading our workers. As we redesign jobs, we will need to help workers learn new skills, and I think in that way, companies can be more competitive and, at the same time, workers can be more productive and enjoy better jobs and better pay."

The minister also cheered workers to employ technology which he says “be key to a better life for the future”. Heng referred to distribution center as an example of how enterprises can exploit technology to enhance productivity.

"FairPrice has worked together with the workers to retrain them. Many of them told me they started when FairPrice had manual processes but they were able to pick up new skills along the way," Heng said, according to The Straits Times.

“All enterprises will need to put this as a major priority so they can make best use of new technologies and our companies can... continue to raise productivity and create a better life for our workers."

The budget according to Heng will also contain key measures on social policy, the Merdeka Generation Package and the bicentennial.

"It is a major event and I hope we reflect on the past so that we can plan for a better future," he noted.