Speaking in parliament as part of a budget debate, Ng said the bulk of new jobs in the short term would likely come from services while manufacturing, a key pillar of the economy, will likely see employment grow at a slower rate.

"For manufacturing, direct job creation will increase but at a much slower rate compared to service industries but there will be jobs created in electronics, biomedical, chemical sectors, transport engineering (and) general manufacturing industries," Ng said in remarks aired by local radio.

Singapore's annual unemployment rate in 2003 rose to 4.7 percent from 4.4 percent in the previous year as its trade-led economy suffered from slowing orders from the world's major markets.

The US$90 billion economy was also affected badly by the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome viral epidemic that hit East Asia, causing billion of dollars in lost businesses for the region including Singapore.

But leading indicators released in past weeks showed the economy is on the mend, especially on the export front.

Figures released Wednesday showed key non-oil exports grew a solid 25.7 percent in February with economists saying it showed the economic recovery from last year's downturn was gathering pace.

The government has also upped its 2004 gross domestic product growth target to 3.5-5.5 percent from 3.0-5.0 percent after the economy grew 1.1 percent in 2003, better than the preliminary estimate of 0.8 percent.
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