DIGITALISATION, sustainability, and partnerships are keywords in the recommendations of the Emerging Stronger Taskforce (EST), according to its report issued on Monday. The EST's Alliances for Action (AfAs) are also here to stay as a private-public partnership model, though the taskforce has now completed its work.

The Future Economy Council (FEC) has accepted the EST's recommendations, as affirmed by Deputy Prime Minister and FEC chair Heng Swee Keat at a press conference the same day. "In particular, we will institutionalise and scale the Alliances for Action as a more agile and nimble way to undertake industry transformation," he said.

"The EST's recommendations mark the beginning of the journey towards a 'Virtually Unlimited Singapore'," said EST co-chair Tan Chong Meng, group chief executive officer of PSA International, in a reference to the taskforce's economic vision.

This is a play on the word "virtual", with digitalisation featuring heavily in the taskforce's proposals. In fact, the EST's first recommendation is to create new virtual frontiers, by using digitalisation to transcend Singapore's physical boundaries.

The taskforce identified e-commerce and supply chain digitalisation as key areas to invest in, together with virtual training and workforce solutions, and the safe and "smart" restart of travel and tourism through the use of technology.

The EST's second recommendation is anchored on sustainability. It suggests positioning Singapore as a carbon trading and services hub, by developing a carbon marketplace and a one-stop solution for companies to measure, mitigate and offset their carbon footprint.

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It also suggests strengthening food resilience through agritech, and digitalising industry value chains so as to strengthen traceability and accountability in meeting ESG (environmental, social, and governance) standards.

The third recommendation pertains to growing "global champions" and an "agile and strong Singapore core", referring to large local enterprises and the workforce respectively.

The EST recommends leveraging "queen bee" companies that are industry leaders, and commercial frameworks to bring along smaller players in their respective value chains. Meanwhile, the government should provide digital infrastructure, like common data or digital platforms, for companies to access best practices, technology and resources.

The taskforce also called on businesses to work more closely with unions on a preventive approach to upskilling workers, by developing training plans before job disruption occurs. More should also be done to enable self-directed learning. At the same time, Singapore must remain open to skills from abroad.

The EST's fourth recommendation is to institutionalise its AfA model of public-private partnership. Billed as industry-led coalitions that adopt a "startup approach", the AfAs have been a hallmark of the EST since the taskforce was formed.

Involving private sector leaders and government representatives, the AfAs were tasked to quickly explore, prototype and execute ideas over several months. Autonomous public transport, carbon trading and restarting safe travel are some of the areas that the AfAs have looked into.

While the EST has now concluded its work with the submission of its report, it has suggested for the AfA model to continue. Future AfAs may be primarily, though not exclusively, established under the FEC.

The EST's fifth and final recommendation is to strengthen international partnerships, with a focus on South-east Asia. Besides setting up more B2B platforms, the taskforce recommended strengthening digital connectivity across the region.

Formed in May 2020, the EST was tasked to provide recommendations to the FEC on Singapore's post-Covid-19 economy. "It was clear to the EST that Singapore was facing an unprecedented challenge brought about by this pandemic," said co-chair Desmond Lee, Minister for National Development.

"We therefore decided right from the outset that we could not stop at just setting out recommendations, but we should also get down to action and establish a tangible agenda for Singapore to emerge stronger together."

He added: "The Alliances for Action have been a hallmark of this orientation towards action. The spirit of partnership that has allowed the private and public sectors to pilot new concepts and ideas within a short span of time can potentially be a critical differentiating factor for Singapore in the years ahead.

"We look forward to working with the FEC to institutionalise this form of partnership, as we embark on the next phase of our growth, together."