The official preliminary data for the whole of 2001 and the fourth quarter will be released by the Ministry of Trade Wednesday.

Goh said that in the fourth quarter growth contracted 7 percent year-on-year, but on an annualized quarter-on-quarter basis, the fourth quarter saw positive growth of 4.3 percent, in contrast to the 10 percent contraction in the earlier three quarters.

Despite this fourth quarter improvement, the Ministry of Trade "is retaining its growth forecast of between --2 percent and +2 percent for 2002, for now," Goh said.

"The outlook for next year depends on developments outside Singapore, especially the U.S. economy, the global electronics industry, and the war against terrorism. Some analysts expect the US economy to resume growing by the middle of 2002. But it is too early to say. It is better for us to prepare for another lean year," he warned Singaporeans.

"However, despite the tougher environment, I am confident we can average 4 to 6 percent growth per year over the next 10 years. But to achieve this, we have to remake Singapore," Goh said, reiterating the government's favorite theme.

The government has been advocating the economy needs to undertake structural changes, striving on innovation and entrepreneurship. "We have to restructure our economy and find new ways to make a living," Goh said.

"We must lower our costs and overhaul our tax regime to retain existing jobs and create new ones," he warned

Goh added that the remaking of Singapore went beyond economics as the third generation of post-independence Singaporeans had different aspirations and expectations from the previous generations.

To that extend the Prime Minister wants to set up a committee of younger Singaporeans to come up with recommendations on how to address those aspiration. The committee will complement the recently created Economic Review Committee, which is addressing the reshaping of the economy.