Mr Lee was speaking as he wrapped up his official visit to Vietnam.

In his recent New Year message, Mr Lee had said that Singapore had to make up for its expected slowing Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

One way is to grow its GNP, which means expanding the country’s external wing.

The other strategy is to raise per capita income, through up-skilling and economic upgrading. This way Singapore can continue to prosper and every Singaporean can look forward to a better life.

Domestically, Singapore’s size means limited resources for growth, and the country has managed this by taking in foreign workers.

But even then, Mr Lee said more needs to be done — such as developing opportunities overseas, where the benefits of projects and investments abroad accrue back to Singapore.

Going to Vietnam and other rapidly growing parts of Asia is an integral part of this strategy, which could see Singapore’s GNP growing faster than before.

Mr Lee said: "We will do the best we can to foster this. There is ample niche for a player our size with these strengths in Asia and we must make the most of it. And that depends on our people willing to go and take the chance and venture."

Mr Lee said his interactions with top leaders in Vietnam during his stay here suggested they were receptive to Singapore investments. But as with any emerging economy, the approach is not always straightforward.

Mr Lee said: "Of course, the Vietnamese environment isn’t completely transparent. The bureaucracy is still complicated, you have got to know your way around.

"And so sometimes our companies do take time to overcome problems and they run into roadblocks and difficulties. So when this happens, I think the G2G (government-to-government) links will be useful.

"At least give them a hearing, so if there is a problem, the Vietnamese government can see what can be done to help them."

To encourage more Singaporeans to go abroad, the government is looking at presenting more economic data.

Mr Lee said: "We have to look at multiple indexes. I don’t think you can look at just one. GDP will remain important, but perhaps we should look at GNP together with it.

"The figures are all released, it is just a question of whether you dig it out and publish it. But we will study how to present it, so that it tallies with the objectives we have."

GNP contains products produced by companies owned by a country’s citizens, whereas GDP — a widely-watched indicator — includes only products produced within a country’s borders.

Mr Lee returns to Singapore on Friday. — CNA/sc

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