Singapore’s Prime Minister-designate Lawrence Wong unveiled his Cabinet at a press conference on Monday (May 13), with Minister for Trade and Industry Gan Kim Yong to be appointed as Deputy Prime Minister.
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NewsTranscript
00:00As Prime Minister, I will be supported by two Deputy Prime Ministers.
00:05Mr Heng Swee Keat will continue as Deputy Prime Minister,
00:09and he will oversee the technology and R&D portfolios in his capacity as Chairman of the NRF.
00:16Mr Gan Kim Yong will be promoted to Deputy Prime Minister.
00:21He will take over from me as Chairman of the MES,
00:24and will assume responsibility of the Strategy Group in the Prime Minister's Office,
00:29which coordinates our policies and plans across the Government.
00:35I have known both Kim Yong and Swee Keat for many years.
00:38I value their advice and counsel, and I am glad that they will be supporting me as my deputies.
00:45Swee Keat, you already know his record in Government.
00:49We entered politics together in 2011, and worked together in MOE and MOF,
00:56as well as in national exercises like the Our Singapore Conversation.
01:02Kim Yong, we went through the COVID baptism of fire together,
01:06and he was a pillar of strength throughout.
01:10Through the course of working together, we have come to get to know each other's working styles better,
01:15and in this period of increased geopolitical tensions,
01:19his experience in international economics will also help us navigate a more contested global environment.
01:28Both Kim Yong and Swee Keat are experienced Ministers,
01:31and will provide a steady hand in this initial period of transition.
01:36I will be able to tap on their views and expertise as I take on my new responsibility,
01:41and they will also help me to mentor our younger officeholder colleagues.
01:47On the whole, we have a strong team with a good mix of both experienced Ministers and younger officeholders.
01:54Amongst the 4G Ministers, some have been in office for several terms,
01:58a number entered politics at around the same time as me,
02:02and others are still relatively new in their roles.
02:06I will be working and interacting with all of them.
02:10Beyond this term, if my Government is re-elected,
02:14I plan to rotate the 4G Ministers to different portfolios and give them wider exposure and experience.
02:22Amongst them, I am sure some will be able to step up and take over from their senior colleagues in due course.
02:30Likewise, amongst the junior officeholders, there will be a few who will be able to take on larger responsibilities.
02:39But we will still need more fresh blood as some of the older Ministers are likely to retire,
02:45either at the end of this term or shortly after.
02:49And so I am actively looking for new candidates with the potential to be officeholders.
02:54I aim to further renew and strengthen the team with new members,
02:58especially men and women in their 30s and 40s.
03:02There is no higher priority for me, and that is to form the best possible team to serve Singapore and Singaporeans.
03:15Overall, we have a full agenda ahead of us to keep Singapore safe and secure,
03:21to tackle the immediate concerns of Singaporeans around cost of living and jobs,
03:26and to translate our Forward Singapore aspirations into concrete programmes for the benefit of all Singaporeans.
03:35More and more, many of the issues we deal with will involve close linkages between the economy and the society.
03:42And so I will be working closely with both Deputy Prime Ministers and the Ministers
03:47to review and coordinate our policies across multiple fronts.
03:53And we will also be engaging closely with our partners, especially the labour movement and NTUC, as well as other stakeholders.
04:01We are fully committed to working with all Singaporeans to chart our new way forward.