Foreign Labor in Singapore: Trends, Policies, Impacts, and Challenges

Singapore has one of the most open economies in Asia in terms of trade, foreign direct investment inflows, and foreign labor inflows. By 2010, citizens formed only 63.6% of the population and foreigners (not including permanent residents) form 34.7% of the labor force. This high foreign labor ratio reflects buoyant labor demand, limited domestic labor supply with declining total fertility rate, and the lack of xenophobia and labor protectionism. Foreign labor is needed to grow the population, mitigate population aging, grow the GDP and per capita GDP, cover shortages in labor supply and skills, act as a cyclical buffer, and contain wage costs to ensure international competitiveness. However, the heavy dependence on foreign labor has also delayed economic restructuring, adversely affected productivity performance, and engendered a FDW-dependency syndrome among households.The foreign labor policy is dual track, with unrestricted inflow of foreign talents and managed inflow of low-skilled labor through the use of work permits, worker levies, dependency ceilings, and educational and skills criteria. Going forward, Singapore has to limit its dependence on foreign labor to accelerate productivity growth and as it is constrained by physical space and citizen concerns over crowding out of jobs, public and recreational spaces, and public services. Greater bilateral and ASEAN cooperation is needed to mitigate the cross-border conflicts and tensions arising from the cross-border movement of labor

The ASEAN Economic Community: Progress, challenges, and prospects

Serious efforts at economic integration among the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) members started only in 1992. Initial obstacles included the widespread pursuit of import substitution policies of industrialization, the small extent of intra-ASEAN trade, and the wide differences in economic size, development level, and industrial competence giving rise to widely divergent perceptions of benefits and costs of integration. The switch to outward-looking development strategies and external pressures (such as the formation of the European Union Single Market and the North American Free Trade Area) pressured ASEAN to form a free trade area (FTA) in 1992. The challenges of globalization, slow recovery from the Asian financial crisis, and the economic rise of the People's Republic of China (PRC) and India further pressured ASEAN into deep integration in 2003 with the formation of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC). The AEC has objectives of a single market and production base, a competitive economic region, equitable economic development, and integration into the global economy. It involves liberalization and facilitation of trade in goods, services, and investment, as well as protection and promotion of investment; narrowing the development gap; and free flow of skilled labor and freer flow of capital. The AEC Blueprint outlines actions and measures and time lines for completion by the 2015 deadline. However, by end-2011 only an implementation rate of 67.5% had been achieved. While tariff elimination had largely been on schedule, there were difficulties with removal of non-tariff barriers (NTBs) and services and investment liberalization. In summary, the AEC has come a long way, but it has fallen short of the high standard and time frame it has set for itself. ASEAN has to find the political will and management capability to fulfill all goals in the AEC Blueprint and embark on further liberalization, rationalization, and integration to seize the opportunities and successfully meet the economic challenges of the 21st century

Regional trade policy cooperation and architecture in East Asia

The global financial and economic crisis has affected East Asia mainly through the trade channel. The region remains heavily dependent on export markets in Europe and North America through both direct exports to these destinations and indirect exports via the export of parts and components to other East Asian countries, particularly the People's Republic of China, which are then assembled and exported as final goods to Europe and North America. The need to rebalance growth in East Asia in the post-crisis era requires measures to strengthen domestic demand and emphasize intra-regional demand. Production networks have been integrating East Asia and this integration process is being hastened by the rapid growth of regional and bilateral trade and economic agreements since the late 1990s. The trigger point for regionalism in East Asia appears to be the 1997-1998 Asian financial crisis, and regionalism is being accelerated by the dismal outlook for the Doha Development Round, the economic rise of the People's Republic of China and India, and the ongoing global financial crisis. Proposals on regional trade architecture include Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)+3 and ASEAN+6 for East Asia, the Free Trade Area of the Asia Pacific, and an extension of the Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership. The case for a new regional trade architecture includes improved competitiveness and economic dynamism from a large integrated market; increased intra-regional flows of trade, investment, and human resources; expansion and deepening of production networks; a rebalancing of growth towards regional demand; and a stronger and cohesive voice in international fora and organizations. Challenges include the pressures of protectionism in an economic recession, the question of whether there is a common political vision, the existence of multiple and overlapping free trade agreements with the accompanying problem of the noodle bowl, and the wide development gap among the region's economies

ASEAN China economic relations : developments in ASEAN and China

Meeting: Workshop on China ASEAN Economic Relations : Developments in China and ASEAN and their Implications for China ASEAN Economic Relations, 27-29 Oct. 1987, Beijing, C

Mapping genomic loci implicates genes and synaptic biology in schizophrenia

Schizophrenia has a heritability of 60-80%1, much of which is attributable to common risk alleles. Here, in a two-stage genome-wide association study of up to 76,755 individuals with schizophrenia and 243,649 control individuals, we report common variant associations at 287 distinct genomic loci. Associations were concentrated in genes that are expressed in excitatory and inhibitory neurons of the central nervous system, but not in other tissues or cell types. Using fine-mapping and functional genomic data, we identify 120 genes (106 protein-coding) that are likely to underpin associations at some of these loci, including 16 genes with credible causal non-synonymous or untranslated region variation. We also implicate fundamental processes related to neuronal function, including synaptic organization, differentiation and transmission. Fine-mapped candidates were enriched for genes associated with rare disruptive coding variants in people with schizophrenia, including the glutamate receptor subunit GRIN2A and transcription factor SP4, and were also enriched for genes implicated by such variants in neurodevelopmental disorders. We identify biological processes relevant to schizophrenia pathophysiology; show convergence of common and rare variant associations in schizophrenia and neurodevelopmental disorders; and provide a resource of prioritized genes and variants to advance mechanistic studies

Mapping genomic loci prioritises genes and implicates synaptic biology in schizophrenia

Schizophrenia has a heritability of 60–80%1, much of which is attributable to common risk alleles. Here, in a two-stage genome-wide association study of up to 76,755 individuals with schizophrenia and 243,649 control individuals, we report common variant associations at 287 distinct genomic loci. Associations were concentrated in genes that are expressed in excitatory and inhibitory neurons of the central nervous system, but not in other tissues or cell types. Using fine-mapping and functional genomic data, we identify 120 genes (106 protein-coding) that are likely to underpin associations at some of these loci, including 16 genes with credible causal non-synonymous or untranslated region variation. We also implicate fundamental processes related to neuronal function, including synaptic organization, differentiation and transmission. Fine-mapped candidates were enriched for genes associated with rare disruptive coding variants in people with schizophrenia, including the glutamate receptor subunit GRIN2A and transcription factor SP4, and were also enriched for genes implicated by such variants in neurodevelopmental disorders. We identify biological processes relevant to schizophrenia pathophysiology; show convergence of common and rare variant associations in schizophrenia and neurodevelopmental disorders; and provide a resource of prioritized genes and variants to advance mechanistic studies