IMPROVING LIVES OF SINGAPOREANS IS TOP PRIORITY - PM LEE

SINGAPORE, May 9 (Bernama) -- Singapore's Prime Minister, Lee Hsien Loong, has pledged to give top priority to efforts to improve the lives of Singaporeans.

Speaking at the 30th anniversary conference of the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC), here, Lee said that to achieve this, it would need to improve the economy by staying connected to the world, Channel NewsAsia reported.

Lee led the ruling PAP to win 81 of the 87 parliamentary seats in the 14th general election on Sunday, including five uncontested seats in the Tanjong Pagar Group Representation Constituency.

Lee said the government would attract investments and talent into Singapore and also encourage the country's enterprises to diversify, expand and move abroad.

It would also transform and upgrade the economy because it cannot grow simply by increasing its workforce indefinitely, he said.

In this regard, the prime minister said it was also the government's objective to raise incomes across the board, including those for middle-income and lower-income households.

To achieve that goal, the workforce must upgrade its productivity, which will be a key challenge for the next 10 years, Lee noted.