Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said Thursday that his country's fourth quarter economy growth is 3.5 percent, although for the whole year the economy growth is still negative, at minus 2.1 percent.

Speaking in his annual New Year Message on Thursday, Lee urged the country to prepare for post crisis world and gear up for economy transformation.

Lee said that 2009 has been a volatile year for Singapore's economy, and the country has recovered much of the ground since the recession began last year.

In the first quarter, the gross domestic product (GDP) fell 10 percent, while in the fourth quarter economy, the economy manage to grow at 3.5 percent, although for the whole year the economy growth is at minus 2.1 percent. For the next year, Lee said that Singapore expects the GDP to grow at 3 to 5 percent.

He said that Asia is expected to resume its rapid growth, which will create many new opportunities for Singapore, but he urged Singaporeans to think ahead, and prepare for the post-crisis world.

"We must therefore shift gears, to grow by qualitative improvement: transforming the economy, developing skills and growing talent, both our own and from abroad." Lee said, adding that companies must find new ways to add value, and workers will need to up-skill, re-skill and multi-skill.

He said that the country's economy will likely expand more slowly than before, but the island-state must make up for this, firstly by growing the Gross National Product(GNP), which means expanding the country's external wing, and secondly by focusing on raising per capita income, through up-skilling and economic upgrading.

(Xinhua News Agency January 1, 2010)