Gan Kim Yong
Singapore
“Consumer complaints relating to the secondary resale market for tickets to major events and concerts have generally remained low. Nonetheless, to protect the public from scams on secondary ticket resale platforms, the Police have imposed Code of Practice requirements under the Online Criminal Harms Act to require designated online service…”
“Singapore does not condone the use of forced labour. We criminalise forced labour in Singapore under various laws. Relevant Government Ministries and agencies, such as the Ministry of Manpower, Ministry of Home Affairs and Singapore Police Force, play their part in investigating complaints of suspected breaches in domestic laws that relat…”
“The Association of Banks in Singapore (ABS) discontinued the PayNow nickname feature as scammers had been exploiting the use of nicknames to impersonate legitimate entities and trusted individuals.”
“As of end-2025, around 6,900 private residential buildings have registered their solar installations with SP Group for the export of excess solar-generated electricity to the grid. The installed solar capacity of these residential buildings is 115.3 megawatt-peak (MWp), or around 5.5% of all current installed solar capacity in Singapore.”
“The one-year pilot extension of liquor trading hours has seen strong interest from businesses. As of 31 May 2026, the Police have approved 88 applications for the extension of liquor trading hours from public entertainment outlets in these areas.”
“The Government does not make projections of domestic or regional demand for renewable diesel or sustainable aviation fuel. Demand depends on commercial considerations, evolving market conditions and regulatory developments across different jurisdictions.”
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“Under the research, innovation and enterprise (RIE) plans, the Industry Alignment Fund-Industry Collaboration Projects scheme (IAF-ICP) was established to encourage public sector researchers to pursue research and development in partnership with industry. One of the modalities for such collaborations is through public-private corporate laboratories (CLs), where public sector researchers work alongside the partner companies' researchers. In RIE 2025, about 80% of the CL projects supported under IAF-ICP have licensing revenue expected from jointly-created intellectual properties (IP). Beyond licensing revenue, such projects seek to foster economic growth through helping the partner companies develop new products and also to train a skilled, industry-ready research workforce. Furthermore, these collaborations build up the track record and credibility of our public research organisations amongst industry players, thereby enhancing the attractiveness of Singapore for corporates to anchor their research and innovation hubs. For example, the $110 million Wilmar-National University of Singapore CL strengthened Singapore as a leading centre for Asian-centric studies in translational medicine, nutritional sciences, healthy ageing and synthetic biology. It has trained over 70 researchers and PhD students, and also developed IP that has the potential to unlock new markets, with potential licensing revenue of US$25 million. Another example is Agency for Science, Technology and Research's Institute of Microelectronics' partnership with Applied Materials to establish the Centre of Excellence in Advanced Packaging. Since its inception, in 2011, the Centre has created more than 120 innovation jobs and benefitted at least 60 industry partners in product development.”
“Over the next decade, Singapore's real gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to grow by an average of 2% to 3% per annum, supported by productivity growth of around 1% to 2% per annum, even as our workforce growth slows to around 1% per annum due to an ageing population and falling birthrates. While this GDP growth rate is comparable to that of many small, open economies, such as Switzerland, the Ministry of Trade and Industry aims to take advantage of the window of opportunities presented by structural shifts in the global economy to achieve a faster pace of growth over the next few years. Doing so will put our economy on a strong footing to stay globally competitive over the longer term. To this end, the Economic Strategy Review (ESR), which we set up earlier this year, will seek to refresh our economic blueprint for the new global landscape. As part of this review, the Government will look into anchoring and growing higher value-added industries in Singapore, as well as leveraging technology, such as artificial intelligence, to achieve a larger productivity boost. If we succeed in our efforts, Singapore may be able to achieve above-trend GDP growth of 3% to 4% per annum over the next few years and maybe more in very good years. In turn, this will support good real wage growth for Singaporeans and enhance our resilience in the face of global uncertainties.”
“Its Singapore operations provide management oversight and technical support to its manufacturing facilities in Johor.”
“The Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone (JS-SEZ) will allow Singapore and Johor to complement each other's strengths. Companies can use Singapore's global networks and connectivity as a business and financial hub and Johor's land and resource advantages. This combined offering presents an attractive value proposition to potential investors keen to invest in the region. Since the JS-SEZ Agreement was signed in January 2025, JS-SEZ has attracted considerable business interest. This is evidenced by Johor's record-high approved investment of RM 56 billion1 from domestic and foreign investors in the first half of 2025. Twinning with the JS-SEZ support, the growth of Singapore-based companies, which, in turn, anchor their operations in Singapore, tap on our ecosystem offerings and create good jobs for Singaporeans. Examples of companies that have successfully tapped on Singapore and Johor's complementary strengths include: Agrocorp, a Singapore headquartered agri-commodities and food ingredient firm, recently expanded its downstream capabilities in plant protein extraction with a new plant in Johor’s Tanjung Langsat with its Japanese partner. The plant will use protein extraction technology developed by Agrocorp and Singapore Institute of Technology; Day One, a data centre developer and operator has invested $350 million to develop a data centre in Singapore, which is expected to create 200 jobs2. It also has investments in the JS-SEZ, as part of a hub and spoke model; and ResMed, a US medical device company, houses its Asia Pacific headquarters, research and development and advanced manufacturing facilities for finished medical products in Singapore, collectively employing over 1,400 people.”
“Upon completing their leases at Sprout@AMK, participating merchants may apply for direct allocation of vacant Housing and Development Board (HDB) shop spaces under the HDB Enhanced Entrepreneur Scheme, where they will also be able to receive a 10% rental discount for the first term of a three-year tenancy. Through combining training, mentorship and access to retail spaces, the HIT programme complements our existing efforts to rejuvenate our heartlands while helping heartland businesses stay relevant. Additionally, the National Heritage Board (NHB) recently introduced the SG Heritage Business Scheme to recognise, drive awareness and inspire a greater appreciation of our local heritage businesses. Designated heritage businesses will enjoy various incentives, such as brand visibility and business consultancy support. NHB's Organisation Transformation Grant also supports heritage businesses to adopt innovative projects that can contribute to their long-term viability. In February 2025, the Government set up the Inter-Agency Task Force for Heritage Businesses, Traditional Activities and Cultural Life. Co-chaired by the Senior Minister of State for Culture, Community and Youth, Ms Low Yen Ling, and the Acting Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs, Assoc Prof Dr Faishal Ibrahim, the Task Force brings together key agencies to develop policies and schemes to better support heritage businesses in historic districts, including issues related to business sustainability and transformation.”
“The Government works closely with our Trade Associations and Chambers (TACs) and SME Centres, to engage businesses at scale. SME Centres are run by the TACs in partnership with Enterprise Singapore, and offer one-to-one business advisory services, workshops and group-based upgrading projects. We are enhancing these Centres to provide more comprehensive and personalised business advisory services to assist businesses on more complex issues. For heartland merchants, Enterprise Singapore works closely with the Heartland Enterprise Centre Singapore (HECS) to provide business advisory services, and training. In 2024, HECS assisted more than 2,000 heartland enterprises. Enterprise Singapore also supports heartland shops through initiatives, such as the Enhanced Visual Merchandising Programme and the Heartland Enterprise Placemaking Grant. The former helps heartland shops to refresh their storefronts and develop their marketing positions, while the latter provides support for heartland merchants to organise placemaking and promotional events to attract more customers. For example, Unidbox Hardware tapped on the Heartland Enterprise Placemaking Grant to organise a Home Solutions Carnival in Hougang in 2025, with activities, such as home safety talks and DIY tool assembly competitions. The three-day event attracted over 500 visitors daily, leading to an 8% increase in revenue. In addition, the newly launched Sprout@AMK at the Ang Mo Kio Town Centre seeks to help heartland enterprises testbed innovative concepts, refine their business models as well as marketing strategies. The site is currently housing the first batch of merchants from the Heartland Innovation and Transformation (HIT) programme for a 12-month period.”
“The allocation of electricity import landing sites is dependent on (i) the import projects' locations; (ii) their respective development timelines; and (iii) Singapore's infrastructure planning considerations, such as the availability of land, sea corridor space, and grid infrastructure.”
“The Energy Market Authority works with SP Group to review grid network plans annually, including augmentations that may be needed to support new sources of power generation. For solar deployments, these include upgrades to transmission and distribution infrastructure, as well as energy storage systems to mitigate the impact of solar intermittency. With solar deployment being on track to meeting the target of two gigawatt-peak (GWp) by 2030, SP Group has been following through with these plans, so that Singapore's electricity transmission and distribution infrastructure keeps pace with the growth of domestic solar energy deployment.”
“Stablecoin regulatory developments in the US and Europe are still relatively new. MAS is following these developments closely and will consider appropriate regulatory cooperation on the safe and secure cross-border use of regulated stablecoins. At the same time, MAS has been actively supporting industry-driven innovation in distributed ledger technologies. The objective is to develop strong digital asset capabilities in our financial centre, and reap efficiency benefits for our financial system. Key financial institutions have established digital asset centres of excellence and conducted market testing of the issuance of tokenised financial instruments from Singapore. This includes the use of stablecoins for programmable rewards, conditional payments and settlement of cross-border payments. MAS is also playing a key role in collaborations among global financial institutions and international policymakers. The aim is to develop standards around tokenised assets and the supporting infrastructure to facilitate cross border interoperability across digital asset networks and instruments, including stablecoins, tokenised bank liabilities.”
“The United States (US) Senate passed the GENIUS Act in July. It seeks to bring regulatory clarity to payment of stablecoins in the US, which is a subset of digital assets that is designed to maintain a stable value relative to a fixed monetary value, such as to one US dollar. Rule-making is underway, before finalised details of the Act are implemented by January 2027. Market participants generally expect it to spur interest and adoption of stablecoins and digital assets in the US and globally. However, it is too early to tell the scale and scope of adoption at this point. Stablecoins adoption could potentially bring efficiency gains and lower costs for users as transactions are done on a shared ledger. However, if not well regulated, stablecoins could also introduce risks to the financial system. For example, if value stability is not maintained, it could result in a loss of confidence and result in rapid redemptions and fire-sales of the underlying assets backing the value of the stablecoin. In countries with weaker currencies, there are also concerns about currency substitution. It is therefore important that stablecoins and digital assets in general develop under regulatory guidance globally. The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) published a stablecoins regulatory framework in 2023 to ensure a high degree of value stability for stablecoins regulated in Singapore. The framework will distinguish well-regulated stablecoins from other crypto assets, which MAS has consistently warned about, because of risks to consumers from cryptocurrency speculation due to high volatility and the lack of inherent value. MAS is working on legislative amendments to formalise the framework and will issue a public consultation later this year.”
“We will continue to enable our wealth management sector to thrive, so it can generate opportunities, create good jobs for Singaporeans, and contribute to our social and philanthropic sectors.”
“Developing Single Family Offices (SFOs) is part of broader efforts to grow Singapore's wealth management sector. When SFOs and other high net worth individuals (HWNIs) use wealth management products and services, private banks, other financial institutions and ancillary service providers benefit, and business revenue and jobs are generated. The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) tracks metrics such as assets under management, employment and the wages earned to measure growth and contributions of the wealth management sector. While MAS does not track social contributions from SFOs in Singapore, industry players such as Soristic Impact Collective1 track philanthropic giving, including those from HNWIs. Some HNWIs behind SFOs have engaged in philanthropic activities and established philanthropic entities, such as Tsao Foundation2 and Ishk Tolaram Foundation3. The recent establishment of new intermediaries such as ImpactSG4 and Philanthropy Asia Alliance5 also reflects growing interest in philanthropy among HNWIs in Singapore. The Government will continue to work closely with industry to strengthen Singapore’s position as an international wealth management centre, including revamping the family office tax scheme application process. Most applications are now processed within three months, down from the previous 12 months; supporting HNWIs across their business, wealth and family interests; improving customer onboarding experiences including ensuring private banks' account opening processes are efficient and customer-friendly, while maintaining sound controls. We must continue to strike the right balance, to ensure we remain competitive versus other wealth management centres.”
“This set of criteria allows Pentagreen Capital to attract and mobilise additional capital from other investors, which is the intent of the FAST-P initiative. GIP is subject to investment governance and oversight similar to all commercially managed funds. It has an investment committee, with representatives from the fund manager and independent experts to make advisory recommendations and approve the projects prior to investment. It also has a Limited Partner Advisory Committee (LPAC) comprising representatives from major investors in GIP. The LPAC performs an oversight function with regard to GIP's investment strategy, policies and guidelines. Pentagreen Capital, as the manager of GIP, provides quarterly reports on the project and fund performance to GIP's investors. With catalytic capital from the Singapore Government, GIP has attracted investors that are like-minded in supporting Asia's transition, including Multilateral Development Banks and Development Finance Institutions, philanthropic organisations and commercial investors. A sum of US$510 million has been committed by GIP's investors in the first round of fundraising. In the next phase of fundraising, Pentagreen Capital aims to engage and raise capital from both Singapore-based and international institutional investors to reach a target US$1 billion total fund size for GIP.”
“The Green Investments Partnership (GIP) supports investments in renewable energy and storage, electric vehicle infrastructure, sustainable transport, water and waste management and other sectors critical to Southeast and South Asia's energy transition. The Government's contribution of US$51 million to the first close is in the form of grant money in order to catalyse other donors and concessional and commercial capital and make a difference to our region's transition. GIP's key partners which have contributed concessional capital include Export Finance Australia, International Finance Corporation, Temasek and Allied Climate Partners. Pentagreen Capital is a fund manager licensed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore. Pentagreen Capital was appointed to manage GIP, in consultation with key partners involved in the design of GIP, taking into account its expertise and experience of its investment team, and the alignment of its investment focus with the objectives of the Financing Asia's Transition Partnership (FAST-P) to mobilise capital for Asia's transition. In selecting projects for investment, Pentagreen Capital’s investment team bases its evaluation on a comprehensive set of criteria, including investment merits of the project, including project structure, and assessment of the project’s long term economic and investment performance; additionality considerations to ensure that the investment in the project results in sustainability benefits and impact, such as emission reductions; and alignment of the project with environmental and social assessments, which are based on internationally-recognised best practices and developed in collaboration with GIP's investors.”
“Notable examples of companies that are launched on the back of an intellectual property or technology from A*STAR include Mirxes and MetaOptics, which have successfully scaled internationally. 230 local small and medium enterprises and startups have licensed 302 A*STAR-originated technologies over the past five years.”
“The Agency for Science, Technology and Research's (A*STAR's) value-add to local enterprises is assessed through indicators, such as the number of projects that A*STAR undertakes with local enterprises; the number of research scientists and engineers (RSEs) seconded to local enterprises under the Technology for Enterprise Capability Upgrading (T-Up) programme; and the number of A*STAR spin-offs. These indicators reflect three key ways that A*STAR supports local enterprises. First, providing access to research capabilities, intellectual property and technologies. This includes access to shared prototyping and pilot-scale production facilities, such as the National Semiconductor Translation and Innovation Centre and Innovation Factory@Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology, that would otherwise require substantial upfront investments by the companies. A*STAR aims to set up more of such facilities moving forward. Over the past five years, A*STAR has undertaken more than 2,400 projects with 925 local enterprises. Second, transferring knowledge and talent to drive transformation. Through the T-Up programme, A*STAR has seconded more than 300 RSEs to 177 local enterprises over the past five years, equipping them with technical expertise that they may not be able to build in-house. Our evaluation studies show that enterprises participating in T-Up saw 44% higher revenue and 22% higher total employment than non-participating firms on average within three years of starting the T-Up project. Third, nurturing deep-tech startups from lab to market. A*STAR technologies have spun off more than 70 new companies over the past five years.”
“The recipients of allowances are from the chemicals, electronics and biomedical manufacturing sectors. Using latest available data, these sectors accounted for over $75 billion in value-add and almost 160,000 jobs. These correspond to almost 70% of manufacturing value-added and more than 30% of manufacturing jobs.”
“We provide transitory allowances for companies in emissions-intensive and trade-exposed sectors. These companies compete globally and face competition from counterparts in jurisdictions with lower or no carbon prices. We will review the provision of transitory allowances and adjust them based on how companies have delivered on their decarbonisation plans, taking into consideration international developments and advancements in decarbonisation technologies.”
“The Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone (JS-SEZ) will allow Singapore and Johor to leverage each other's complementary strengths. Companies can tap on Singapore's global networks and connectivity as a business and financial hub and Johor's land and resource advantages. This combined offering presents an attractive value proposition to potential investors keen to invest in the region. In April 2025, the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Singapore Economic Development Board and EnterpriseSG jointly established the JS-SEZ Project Office to provide dedicated support for Singapore-based companies interested to expand or do more in JS-SEZ. The Project Office also undertakes investment promotion efforts together with the Malaysian Investment Development Authority and Invest Malaysia Facilitation Centre – Johor (IMFC-J). These include a Joint Investment Forum in Johor in April 2025 and a second forum that will be held in Singapore later this year. We understand that there are private sector developers keen to build new industrial parks in JS-SEZ. We will explore if some of these may be able to better support Singapore's industry transformation efforts.”
“Rent increases for private retail spaces at the aggregate level have generally trended below the inflation rate in the past three years. There are variations in rent at the local level due to locational and property-specific attributes. For example, rents may vary across areas with different population density, whether the retail space is in a shophouse or shopping mall and the age of the property. Businesses can choose the type of retail space that best meets their needs. To help our businesses manage costs and remain competitive, the Government has introduced the 50% Corporate Income Tax rebate for Years of Assessment 2024 and 2025, capped at $40,000, with a minimum benefit of $2,000 for companies with at least one local employee. Enterprise Singapore (EnterpriseSG) has also rolled out schemes to help food and beverage (F&B) businesses innovate their offerings and improve their productivity. For example, FoodX, a programme supported by EnterpriseSG and run by the Singapore Productivity Centre, enables F&B businesses to outsource their food preparation to central kitchens and other manufacturers. This allows them to streamline operations and reduce manpower-intensive processes. In addition, EnterpriseSG also provides support to retailers who embark on experiential concepts that offer stronger value propositions to consumers, as well as formats that improve productivity, such as self-checkout and unmanned stores. In addition, eligible hawkers and heartland F&B businesses which participate in the Community Development Council (CDC) Vouchers Scheme can benefit from increased patronage from residents using their CDC vouchers and the one-off commemorative SG60 vouchers.”
“The Singapore Economic Resilience Taskforce also announced on 10 July 2025 that the Government will be introducing the Business Adaptation Grant in October 2025 to help eligible firms which have been impacted by United States trade tariffs adapt their business operations and strengthen supply chain resilience.”
“Given our small domestic market, our local enterprises have to look at markets outside of Singapore in order to grow. The Government is committed to supporting our companies to sell and expand overseas. At this year's Committee of Supply Debate, we announced the permanent doubling of the maximum quantum for trade loans under the Enterprise Financing Scheme to $10 million to improve access to trade financing. We also extended the Double Tax Deduction for Internationalisation by five years, and the enhanced $100,000 grant cap for each new market under the Market Readiness Assistance scheme by a year to defray costs relating to overseas market expansion. EnterpriseSG also has more than 35 overseas centres globally that support Singapore companies seeking new opportunities in markets around the world by providing market information, intelligence and help to facilitate introductions to in-market partners. In addition, EnterpriseSG works with Trade Association and Chambers to provide resources to help small and medium enterprises (SMEs) grow internationally. For instance, the Singapore Business Federation (SBF) and Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry provide support to SMEs via the GlobalConnect programme, which includes market advisory services and business trips for companies to explore and pursue overseas opportunities, as well as introductions to overseas partners for market entry and expansion. To help businesses navigate the current uncertainties and challenges due to the external economic environment, we partnered SBF to launch the Centre for the Future of Trade and Investment in July 2024, to advise companies on tariff and Free Trade Agreement related queries.”
“Businesses can access materials such as brochures on small and medium enterprise (SME) support in Singapore’s four official languages, namely English, Malay, Mandarin and Tamil, on Enterprise Singapore's website. Businesses can also receive business advisory support in the official languages through the respective Singapore Malay, Chinese and Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry.”
“We do not have the requested data, as the leases are private agreements.”
“The Code of Conduct (CoC) for Leasing of Retail Premises was developed by the Fair Tenancy Industry Committee (FTIC) comprising tenant and landlord representatives. The upper limit of three months' gross rent for security deposits set out in the CoC was based on the prevailing industry practice to require security deposits of three to six months of gross rent for a three-year retail lease. Setting the upper limit at three months seeks to strike a balance between avoiding undue strain on tenants' cashflow and protecting landlords against the cost of unit reinstatement. The review of the CoC is ongoing and is expected to be completed by the first half of 2026.”
“Members of the public should exercise extreme caution and stay away from putting their monies with parties they do not know and in schemes that are high risk, unsuitable and which they do not fully understand.”
“Amazingtech Pte Ltd (ATPL), the operator of Tokenize Xchange, was not licensed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) but was operating under a temporary exemption as part of the transitional arrangements when the Payment Services Act 2019 came into force. ATPL's status as a non-licensed entity was disclosed on MAS' website and ATPL's customer agreement. This exemption would end when its application was withdrawn, approved or rejected. Following MAS' rejection of its licence application, ATPL was required to wind down its payment services business in an orderly manner. Subsequent developments showed that ATPL was unable to meet its obligations to customers. On 15 August 2025, ATPL was placed under interim judicial management by way of a High Court order following a petition by several creditors. As ATPL is not regulated by MAS, we do not have the information requested by Mr Chua. We note that the appointed interim judicial managers (IJMs) submitted a report to the High Court on 9 September 2025, which estimated the total amount owing to customers in monies and digital assets at $266.3 million as of 15 August 2025. As of 9 September 2025, 2,241 customers had lodged their details with the IJMs. Customers of ATPL should register their information with the IJMs if they have not already done so. MAS has taken a consistent position advising members of the public that crypto is not suitable for retail investors and to deal only with licensed entities. This year, MAS through MoneySense has also made further efforts to raise awareness among the public about potential fraudulent schemes under the guise of crypto. In MoneySense materials, members of the public have been warned about risks, such as rug-pulling and pump-and-dump schemes.”
“All power banks sold in Singapore must comply with international safety standards specified in the Information Booklet under the Consumer Protection (Consumer Goods Safety Requirements) Regulations. To safeguard consumer interests, the Consumer Product Safety Office (CPSO) under the Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore conducts regular market surveillance and takes strict enforcement measures, when necessary, to ensure that products sold comply with the requirements. Failure to comply with the CPSO's directions may result in fines or imprisonment. Consumers can find the latest information on product safety matters on the CPSO's website. The Government will continue to monitor the situation closely and assess the need for additional pre-market requirements on the sale of power banks in Singapore.”
“The Government adopts a risk-based approach to regulating industry and enterprises. We take a serious view towards businesses which participate in activities that may pose harm and safety risks to the public. On the other hand, we seek to foster a pro-enterprise regulatory environment for honest businesses to innovate and grow. Specifically on illegal items, the Government has put in place strict regulations and strong penalties on the import, manufacture or supply of dangerous or socially harmful goods, including guns and illegal drugs. These regulations and penalties apply regardless of the mode of manufacture and whether the goods are made by businesses or individuals. For instance, the Guns, Explosives and Weapons Control Act 2021 (GEWCA) which came into force earlier this year provides for stringent controls over the manufacture of guns and weapons, including through 3D printing. GEWCA also stipulates an offence for the unauthorised possession of digital blueprints of guns or major parts of guns for 3D printing. We do not have plans to impose further regulations on 3D printing. We will stay nimble and respond quickly if new risks emerge. Businesses and consumers should exercise good judgement, stay vigilant and alert the authorities when they encounter potentially dangerous or harmful conduct.”
“Indonesia is one of the main sources of natural gas imports for Singapore. Our current contracts to import gas from Indonesia expire in end-2028. Currently, Indonesia supplies natural gas to Singapore primarily through pipelines. But Indonesia's domestic gas demand is also growing. This may affect how much gas Indonesia is able to continue to export to other countries. Indonesia may also buy Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) from the United States, but this will not have an impact on Singapore as we are not a gas exporter. For Singapore, it is critical to ensure the sufficiency and diversity of our natural gas supplies. To this end, we have built an LNG terminal, which started operations in 2013. The LNG terminal allows us to import LNG from various suppliers around the world. In fact, LNG now accounts for close to 60% of our total natural gas supplies. In 2024, no single country accounted for more than 30% of our gas imports. To ensure we have sufficient natural gas for future needs, we are building a second LNG terminal to increase our LNG import capacity. This terminal will be operational by the end of the decade. At the same time, we will continue to diversify our energy mix. First, we are on track to install at least two Gigawatt-peak of solar capacity by 2030. Second, we aim to import around six Gigawatt of low-carbon electricity by 2035, or one-third of Singapore's projected energy demand then. Third, we are accelerating our efforts to study the feasibility of low-carbon alternatives, such as geothermal, low-carbon ammonia and nuclear energy.”
“We plan to release aggregated data on carbon tax allowances in 2027. As the Ministry of Trade and Industry had previously shared, we need to find a suitable balance between providing transparency on allowances while, at the same time, respecting the legitimate commercial sensitivities of companies. I want to reassure Members that allowances are not a free pass for emissions-intensive and trade-exposed companies to continue emitting, like business as usual. They are judiciously assigned for only a proportion of a company's Scope 1 emissions. Recipient companies must also submit credible net-zero decarbonisation plans, which the Government reviews and holds them accountable for. We will review and adjust allowances based on how companies have delivered on their decarbonisation plans, as well as international developments and advancements in decarbonisation technologies.”
“Enterprise Singapore administers the Enterprise Financing Scheme (EFS), which helps Singapore enterprises to more readily access financing for their business needs across all stages of growth. These include loans supporting businesses' digital transformation plans. Through EFS, the Government shares the risk for any default of loans extended by participating financial institutions, to help catalyse more lending to our companies. Beyond loans, the Government has implemented a suite of initiatives to support businesses in their digital transformation journeys. These include the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) Go Digital Programme and the Chief Technology Officer-as-a-Service.”
“The Government is working with major supermarket operators and the Consumers Association of Singapore to progressively launch a pilot on unit pricing from 1 September 2025. Through the pilot, we will assess consumer feedback on the effectiveness of unit pricing to enable easier price comparison across grocery products of different brands and package sizes, and facilitate more informed purchasing decisions. We will also seek to understand from the operators, the operational feasibility of unit pricing and the impact to their businesses. The insights will inform our decision on whether or not, a broader rollout will deliver meaningful value to both consumers and businesses.”
“This is indeed our approach. Allowances, when given judiciously, provide time for companies in emissions-intensive and trade-exposed (EITE) sectors to make an orderly transition, and ensure that Singapore continues to be an attractive location for them to provide good jobs for Singaporeans. The alternative would be to risk losing these companies to jurisdictions with a lower or no carbon price. Beyond their direct value-add and jobs, many of these companies are part of integrated value chains in Singapore, which means any exit would have a consequential impact on other companies in Singapore, including local suppliers and service providers. We are committed to helping companies transition and continue their economic activities here and add value to our economy.”
“The insights gained from this pilot will inform the Government's plans to roll out unit pricing more widely. Supermarket operators also have various initiatives to keep prices of essential items affordable. For instance, FairPrice's Everyday Low Price campaign offers consumers over 500 products and there are regular discounts for Community Health Assist Scheme (CHAS) cardholders and seniors. In addition, many businesses are providing SG60 discounts for food and other essential goods to mark Singapore's 60th.”
“As a small and open economy that imports most of its supplies, Singapore is subject to global economic forces and supply chain disruptions. To mitigate against these, the Government's approach is to diversify our import sources. We achieve this through various strategies, including maintaining a comprehensive network of Free Trade Agreements, to facilitate access to a broad range of goods and services across different markets and provide consumers with more choices. We also monitor for and take robust enforcement action against anti-competitive practices. This ensures that businesses compete and price their goods fairly. The Government recognises Singaporeans' concerns about higher household expenses. That is why Budget 2025 introduced additional support measures, such as the recent $800 in Community Development Council (CDC) Vouchers for all Singaporean households and additional U-Save rebates for eligible HDB households to cope with their utilities expenses. Furthermore, the Government also provided the one-off commemorative SG60 vouchers, worth $600, to adult Singaporeans and $800 to older seniors, that will also offer some cost relief. We are continuing our joint efforts with businesses to provide affordable choices to Singaporeans and help consumers make more informed purchasing decisions. Since 1 September, major supermarket operators – NTUC FairPrice, Sheng Siong, and Prime Supermarket – have launched a pilot to display unit prices for selected grocery items. Cold Storage and Giant supermarkets will come on board next month on 31 October. This initiative helps consumers easily compare prices across different brands and package sizes to find the best-value buys and deals, and to stretch their dollar.”
“In consultation with tripartite partners under SERT, the GRaduate Industry Traineeships programme will also be launched to support fresh graduates in gaining industry-relevant experience and skills and facilitate their transition into full-time employment. We are closely assessing the situation and stand ready to provide further support, including to companies in key sectors, as needed.”
“Singapore is currently subject to a United States (US) baseline tariff rate of 10%, which was announced on 2 April 2025 and took effect on 9 April 2025 (eastern daylight time). The US has also imposed section 232 sectoral tariffs on automotives at 25%; steel and aluminium at 50%; and copper at 50%, which apply to most economies, including Singapore. There are signs that these tariffs have partly affected our domestic exports, with our domestic exports to the US declining by 28% year-on-year between April and August 2025. Notwithstanding this, Singapore's economy held up in the first half of 2025, growing by 4.3% year-on-year, on the back of a temporary boost from front-loading activities in the region, ahead of the implementation of tariff measures by the US. Singapore's gross domestic product (GDP) growth for 2025 is forecast to range from 1.5% to 2.5%. The Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) expects global growth and hence Singapore's GDP growth to moderate in the second half of 2025 as the temporary boost from front-loading activities dissipates and the US' tariffs on its trading partners take effect. There also remains significant uncertainty in the global economy, including the possibility that section 232 sectoral tariffs on additional goods, such as pharmaceuticals and semiconductors, could be announced soon. MTI will continue to monitor developments closely. The Singapore Economic Resilience Taskforce (SERT) will support businesses and workers in navigating the current uncertainties and challenges, and to plan ahead to secure our long-term economic future. SERT had announced the Business Adaptation Grant to support enterprises in evaluating the impact of tariffs, supply chain optimisation and reconfiguration for a time-bound period of two years.”
“You mentioned space. Indeed, we do have a space office. It is called OSTIn, Office for Space Technology and Industry. This is an agency that oversees the development of space technology. This is an area that we have an interest in because with the emergence of communication requirements, especially with 5G technology, low-orbit communication has become a very important sector that we want to grow. That is why we are also focusing on developing our space industry in Singapore. But it is still early days. We do want to explore the different possibilities and opportunities in space technology.”
“First, at the broad level, we would like to encourage companies to embrace AI technology so that their workers at all levels are familiar with the use of AI and confident in using AI-enabled tools going forward. So, this is a very broad baseline. It is a little bit like digitalisation previously, where we wanted to encourage all our workers to be digitally ready so that they are comfortable with using digital tools. Similarly for AI, at the first level, we want to have a broad adoption and acceptance of AI technology and skills. At the second level, within the companies, for companies that are bigger, we want to encourage them to invest in building up AI capability within the company. These are what we call company-based AI centres of excellence. We support them, we encourage them, we help them, we give them grants so that they are able to build up their AI capability. These are in the beginning stage. They will take some time for them to be able to familiarise with and to be able to be confident in building up their AI centres of excellence. At the third level, there are also a lot of companies that are much smaller. They do not have the confidence to be able to build company-based AI centres of excellence. So, they want to be able to tap on some national platforms. That is why we also have national, sectoral-based AI centres of excellence. One example is in manufacturing, which we have already set up. We make that facility available to manufacturing companies, to tap on this capacity so that they can build their AI capability. Once they are familiar and confident, if they want to build our own company-based AI centre of excellence, they can do so, as and when they are ready. So, we adopt a multipronged approach in building AI capability in Singapore.”
“I thought that there were no more clarifications, I almost left. Anyway, I am glad to have the questions. First, let me explain that the potential high growth industries will also involve the training and upskilling of workers. I have mentioned in my speech. This will involve programmes that we will put in place, including SkillsFuture programmes as well as the SkillsFuture Level-Up Programme. Exactly what skills we will need is something that we will have to work through with the industries that we are promoting. When we bring in the industries, they will need new skills, new workers. Existing workers have to be upskilled, have to be retrained. This is something that we have to also prepare ahead of time. Even as we negotiate and discuss with new industries coming in, we will already start talking about the type of workers that they need, the type of skills that they need. Some of the industries that we bring in may already exist in Singapore. They may be upgrading their production, upgrading their operations, moving into higher value-added activities. In that case, they may also need to upgrade their workers who are already in their companies. It is a combination of new workers and existing workers upgrading, new skills. This will be an entire transformation that we will need to go through. It is part and parcel of our tripartite efforts. We work with companies, we work with our trade unions, our worker representatives to see how we can support their skills upgrading and retraining journey. The Member has asked about AI labs, yes, we have set up quite a lot of AI initiatives at different levels.”
“Together with determination and imagination, we can continue to grow our economy, create good opportunities for our people and build a better and brighter future for Singapore and Singaporeans. 5.29 pm”
“And by doing so, we will open up more opportunities for our businesses, diversify our markets and strengthen our resilience in an increasingly fragmented world. These efforts will also strengthen the rules-based trading system. The World Trade Organisation (WTO) is not perfect, but it remains an important foundation on which to build a better global, rules-based trade architecture. For sure, the WTO needs to be reformed to stay relevant and effective. We will work with like-minded partners to reform and modernise the WTO, and reinforce an open, fair, rules-based multi-lateral trading system, so that small, trade-dependent economies, like Singapore, can continue to thrive in the global economy. Mr Speaker, Singapore’s economic journey has never been an easy one. With limited land, manpower and natural resources, we have to work harder and plan longer, further ahead and move faster than others. We can take heart at the success we have achieved over the past six decades, but we cannot afford to be complacent. To secure our future in a changed world, we must stay globally competitive, by building strong industries, anchoring leading firms here, grow our own enterprises, strengthening our capacity to embrace technology, investing in our workforce and finding ways to overcome our resource constraints. We must also continue to expand our international economic space, by strengthening our network of trade and investment, reinforcing a rules-based global trading system and positioning Singapore as a trusted hub in a more uncertain and turbulent world. Our circumstances may be challenging, but our foundations are strong.”
“Beyond India, we are deepening our economic cooperation with other key economies, such as Australia, the European Union (EU), Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates and the list goes on. Closer to home, we are also deepening our economic cooperation with our immediate neighbours, including in Johor through the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone and in Batam-Bintan-Karimun (BBK). We are further exploring how the three of us can work together for even stronger synergies. Regionally, we are working within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to deepen our regional integration, as well as to broaden our cooperation with other external partners. We have recently concluded the negotiations to upgrade the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement and we are making good progress towards substantial conclusion of the ASEAN Digital Economy Framework Agreement later this year. ASEAN is working with the Gulf Cooperation Council to enhance trade and investment flows and also working to establish a dialogue with the EU and with the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership. And last week, Singapore, together with 13 other small, medium and trade-dependent economies, launched the Future of Investments and Trade (FIT) Partnership. The FIT Partnership is an informal group that will champion a forward-looking trade agenda and work together on areas, such as supply chain resilience, investment facilitation, non-tariff barriers and trade facilitation, as well as leveraging on technology. These examples illustrate how Singapore will continue to broaden its network of economic partnerships, including in areas, like digital economy and green economy.”
“We will also grow other higher value-added industries as I have outlined before. If we do it right, we may be able to add 1% and achieve 3%-4% growth instead of 2%-3%, and in very good years, maybe even more. I spoke earlier about how Singapore’s success has been closely intertwined with an open, rules-based, multilateral trading system. Trade is important. Trade is three times our GDP. Singapore pursues an active trade strategy through our Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) and other platforms. These FTAs have opened doors for our companies to access new markets, diversify supply chains and build deeper economic partnerships around the world. Our network of FTAs also makes us an attractive destination for foreign investments and has enabled us to build a resilient economy that provides good jobs for our people. We must double down on our efforts to preserve and expand our international economic space. Bilaterally, we will deepen our cooperation and integration with our key economic partners. Both the US and China remain our key economic partners. The US is our largest foreign investor and China is our largest goods trading partner. While competition between the US and China has intensified, we must continue to work with both US and China in areas of mutual interest and mutual benefit. India is another economy that is poised to grow strongly in the years ahead. Earlier this month, we launched the Roadmap for the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between India and Singapore, outlining areas, such as semi-conductors, industrial parks and capital market connectivity, where both countries could strengthen economic cooperation.”
“For example, those in F&B can tap on Enterprise Singapore’s FoodX programme and heartland enterprises can tap on the Enhanced Visual Merchandising Programme and the Heartland Enterprise Placemaking Grant to revamp their storefront to drive more business. Our CDC and SG60 vouchers will also encourage consumers to spend at the heartland enterprises. We will help these SMEs raise their productivity, restructure their operations and rejuvenate their businesses. I mentioned earlier that despite the challenges ahead, there are opportunities for Singapore to grow our economy. We expect to grow at about 2-3% per annum over the next decade on average. This is comparable to many other small, advanced economies, such as New Zealand, Switzerland and Sweden. But we should not take that as a given. Instead, we should try to aim higher, take advantage of the window of opportunities over the next few years to achieve a faster rate of growth if we can, before we settle down to the 2%-3% trend over the long term. But this will not be easy. Our foreign worker policy has remained unchanged. We expect our workforce to grow just about 1% per annum over the next decade, given our ageing workforce and falling birthrates. We also expect our productivity to grow by about 1%-2% per annum over the next decade. This is already challenging, judging by the historical experience of economies with similar size and level of development. There will also be times when the global economy will slow down and our growth will also slow down consequently. And, therefore, that will bring us to between 2%-3% per annum. However, we see opportunities to get a larger productivity lift from technology, such as AI, robotics as well as automation.”
“Similarly, we want our workers to gain overseas work experience and exposure. This will position them well to take on regional and global leadership roles in future. We must also stay open to global talent, so that we may tap on their strengths to complement our resident workforce. This is critical to ensure that our industries and firms stay globally competitive. Three, careful and long-term planning. Our years of investments in our port and airport infrastructure have been critical to Singapore’s excellent connectivity today, which underpins our role as a regional hub. Similarly, we must plan for the energy transition and help our businesses transition to a sustainable future. This is why we are pursuing multiple pathways to decarbonise our energy mix. We are ramping up our domestic solar deployment, facilitating low-carbon electricity imports and building capabilities in emerging low-carbon alternatives, such as hydrogen and nuclear energy. We will calibrate the pace of the transition carefully. Even as we decarbonise, we must ensure that Singapore stays cost-competitive and our energy security is safeguarded. Even as we secure our long-term growth, we have not lost sight of the challenges that some of our SMEs are facing, including those in the retail and F&B sectors, as well as our heartland enterprises. This is because of a variety of factors, including more intense competition from e-commerce players, shifts in consumer preferences and rising costs. We have rolled out several initiatives to support such businesses.”
“With support from Enterprise Singapore's Global Innovation Alliance, Aliena worked with partners in the United Kingdom to develop a technology that uses water electrolysis for electric propulsion systems. These collaborations enabled Aliena to expand its customer base and operationalise their footprint, and the company has seen a more than 300% year-on-year increase in revenue last year. Third, we will strengthen our fundamentals to stay competitive. Let me highlight three key fundamentals. One, our capacity to deploy and diffuse new technologies. Each new wave of technology, from computerisation, the Internet and now to AI, has shown that it is not just the technological breakthroughs themselves, but the ability and speed at which we can deploy and diffuse them effectively across the economy that determines whether we can sustain our competitiveness. We must, therefore, be a nation of both innovators and fast adopters. Take artificial intelligence (AI) for example. We have made good progress in accelerating AI-driven innovation through the establishment of AI Centres of Excellence. At the same time, we must complement this by broadening and deepening AI adoption across the broad base of enterprises, including SMEs. We will develop AI playbooks and toolkits to guide companies in adopting AI-driven solutions, as well as raise the AI fluency among both technical professionals and non-technical professionals. Two, our skilled workforce. The quality of our human capital has been a key competitive advantage for Singapore. As we transform our economy towards higher value-added activities, we must also ensure that our upskilling and reskilling efforts keep pace. We must empower workers with new skills for the future, including being AI-fluent, so as to remain relevant.”
“This is an example of how our Singapore companies are tapping into growth opportunities overseas. By growing in overseas markets, these companies will become bigger and stronger to support the value creation, innovation and headquarters functions here in Singapore. This will also reinforce our status as a hub for globally competitive firms. There are companies which may be small today but have the potential to become future industry leaders. We will seek them out and anchor them in Singapore, so that they may be new engines of growth for our economy in time to come. One such category of companies are startups. Ambiq Micro is a good example. Ambiq manufactures ultra-low power processors that consume one-tenth of the power compared to their competitors. Their technology can be found in smart watches and was used to power up the TraceTogether token during COVID-19. Ambiq established their presence in Singapore in 2021 and has since grown and successfully listed. To support their international growth, the company has established their regional headquarters and R&D activities here in Singapore and we hope to further anchor their presence in Singapore. At the same time, we will study how we can better support our local startups and entrepreneurs from initial stages to scale-up and grow. This could include access to growth capital, space and infrastructure needs, and partnerships in overseas markets. One example is Aliena. Aliena is a space-tech startup that develops electric propulsion systems which enable small satellites to fly closer to Earth for higher quality data collection.”
“Our strengths as a leading biomedical sciences hub put us in a good position to capture opportunities in the research, development and commercialisation of life science tools, diagnostic testing and therapeutics in this rapidly growing sector. In addition to precision medicine, we are also exploring other potential growth areas such as AI and deep tech, green economy, autonomous vehicles and space. Second, we will make Singapore a home for leading firms. We will reinforce the presence of today's industry leaders and nurture companies with the potential to become future industry leaders. We have established a strong base of industry leaders in key sectors. We will work with them to further grow their businesses and anchor new high value-added activities here in Singapore. For example, in the healthcare sector, eight out of the top 10 biopharmaceutical companies have established their manufacturing sites or R&D activities here. Seven out of the 10 top life science tools companies have significant R&D and manufacturing activities in Singapore. This has enabled us to be among the top global manufacturing sites for high-value manufacturing instruments and consumables. We will partner with these industry leaders to establish best-in-class manufacturing facilities and R&D activities, develop new capabilities such as AI and expand their product range. Many Singapore enterprises are also industry leaders in their respective sectors. We will support them to deepen their capabilities and help them to expand overseas. One example is Sembcorp. To date, the company has established a total capacity in renewable energy generation of close to 18 gigawatts overseas in countries such as China, India and Vietnam.”