预算辩论 · 2024-03-01 · 第 14 届国会

新加坡经济增长与AI挑战

Committee of Supply – Head V (Ministry of Trade and Industry)

AI 经济与产业AI 与就业AI 与国家安全AI 基础设施与研究 争议度 2 · 温和质询

议员质询新加坡如何在土地、劳动力和碳排放限制下推动经济增长，特别关注生成式人工智能等新兴技术带来的机遇与挑战。政府回应强调保持投资吸引力，强化制造业和服务业，提升基础设施和人才培养，确保政策稳定以应对全球竞争和技术变革。核心争议点在于如何平衡创新发展与经济基础的稳固。

关键要点

  • • 经济增长面临多重限制
  • • 新兴AI技术带来挑战机遇
  • • 需持续吸引高价值投资
政府立场

推动创新与稳固经济基础

政策信号

强化AI与高端投资支持

"The rapid rise of new disruptive technologies such as generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) presents both challenges and opportunities to Singapore."

参与人员（24）

完整译文（中文）

Hansard 英文原文译文 · 翻译日期：2026-05-02

主席：贸易与工业部第五部分。梁荣华先生。

发展我们的经济

梁荣华先生（武吉班让）：主席先生，我请求动议：“将估算表中第五部分的总拨款减少100元。”

先生，拥有一个增长且充满活力的经济，是我们努力建立强大社会契约的重要组成部分。我们需要一个增长的经济，为新加坡人创造良好且有意义的工作，并产生资源以应对我们的社会和长期挑战。如果我们的经济停滞不前，将会抑制人们对更好未来的期望和希望，可能导致民众的不安和不安全感。

先生，我们知道未来几年经济增长将更加困难。我们面临的固有限制——土地、劳动力和碳排放——将变得更加严峻。我们还必须应对一个更加分裂和充满争议的世界，各国更愿意利用经济杠杆来维护自身利益。

中午12点30分

经济格局也发生了深刻变化。生成式人工智能（GenAI）等新兴颠覆性技术的快速崛起，以及大数据分析、云计算、电子商务和自动化技术的广泛应用，既给新加坡带来了挑战，也带来了机遇。

所有这些听起来可能令人望而生畏，但幸运的是，我们能够从强势地位做出回应。

那么，未来我们如何推动经济增长？请允许我简要谈及三个方面。

首先，新加坡必须继续成为高附加值投资的首选目的地，这些投资使我们处于尖端技术的前沿。拥有先进企业的枢纽和基地，有助于克服我们的规模限制，促进技术的传播和技能人才的发展。

为实现这一目标，我们必须满足投资者关注的各项条件。关键要求包括卓越的基础设施和连通性、多元化的人才库、值得信赖且富有创新的枢纽、强健的财政状况和政治稳定。

尽管是一个小型经济体，新加坡仍是全球第四大外国直接投资（FDI）接受国。然而，基本侵蚀和利润转移（BEPS）第二支柱的实施将重置投资竞争的游戏规则，并对我们吸引高质量和高附加值投资的努力产生影响。

这就是为什么我们必须继续努力提升整体吸引力；持续大量投资于劳动力、基础设施和创新；同时加强我们的连通性和经济基本面；并制定稳健且一致的政策。

其次，我们必须继续强化经济的两大支柱——制造业和服务业。贸易与工业部（MTI）在之前的预算委员会供应阶段已阐述了我们的制造业和服务业战略。尽管制造业目前占国内生产总值（GDP）不到30%，但它仍是我们经济的重要支柱。

新加坡是全球第八大高科技产品出口国，拥有许多高附加值产业，如精密工程、医疗技术、航空航天、半导体等。除了创造就业和附加值外，制造业还增强了我们经济的韧性，并促进了服务业的增长。除了吸引和固定全球前沿制造商在此设立基地外，我们还应继续努力发展和壮大本地企业的制造能力，目标是将它们培育成区域冠军。

先生，我现在谈谈服务业。我们的服务业涵盖广泛的业务领域，包括面向外部的金融服务、物流、贸易，以及面向国内的餐饮和零售业。

在去年的MTI预算委员会供应阶段，颜金勇部长分享了我们的“服务2030”愿景，旨在利用数字化和可持续发展领域的增长机遇，确立新加坡作为领先且充满活力的商业、生活方式和旅游枢纽的地位。这一战略和重点将发挥我们的优势，减少我们的短板。

服务业中最能发挥我们优势且难以被他人复制的是我们作为金融枢纽和东方国际金融中心的卓越地位。我很高兴我们没有自满，今年预算中宣布向金融业发展基金注入另外20亿新元，以进一步提升我们的竞争力。

为了继续成为全球企业首选的服务枢纽，我们需要使我们的城市成为世界上最具商业友好性和最宜居的城市之一。因此，城市重建局（URA）的长期城市规划如总体规划，以及交通、休闲设施、医疗保健、会议设施等基础设施升级，都有助于打造一个有利于向全球消费者和企业提供服务的枢纽。

第三，我们通过持续投资新技术和能力来推动经济增长。去年，我们见证了人工智能驱动应用和系统的快速涌现，这一势头今年可能继续并加速。我们需要开发本土人工智能技术，扩大人工智能人才库，并鼓励企业采用人工智能技术。

除了人工智能，我们还需要持续投资于科研和创新，深化科学能力，强化初创生态系统，以捕捉价值。

先生，2024年预算还采取了重大措施保障我们的能源安全，这关系到我们长期的经济竞争力。主要举措包括建设第二个液化天然气（LNG）终端，以及设立初始注资50亿新元的未来能源基金，以进一步发展关键基础设施并向清洁能源过渡。

先生，为实现上述目标，新加坡必须拥有所需的技能和人才库。我们正在大力投资培养本地人才，如技能未来升级计划、职业健康计划等；但我们也必须开放引进外部劳动力，以补充和强化我们的整体竞争力。

先生，在此背景下，请允许我向部长提出几个问题。

第一，鉴于当前动荡的时代，政府如何确保新加坡保持全球竞争力和相关性？

第二，贸易与工业部计划如何继续支持我们的企业，抓住区域及人工智能和绿色经济等增长领域的未来机遇？

第三，政府能否分享更多关于提升制造业竞争力的计划？

第四，为加强我们的连通性和国际联系，部长能否分享更多关于国际合作努力的细节，以及新加坡企业如何从这些合作中受益？

第五，副总理在预算声明及总结发言中提到发展本地企业领导人才管道，并加强支持新加坡人获取海外经验。请问能否提供更多该计划的细节？

最后，第六，关于旅游业，贸易与工业部宣布政府已预留5亿新元支持旅游业复苏。请问能否更新旅游振兴工作的进展？我们还能做些什么，以确保新加坡在激烈的全球和区域竞争中保持吸引力？

先生，我期待部长的回应。

【（程序文本）提案问题。（程序文本）】

支持中小企业发展

符美霞女士（西海岸）：主席先生，中小企业（SMEs）作为我们商业环境的主体，当前正面临诸多挑战，威胁其增长和可持续发展。

人力成本上升是主要关注点。加上原材料、租金、公用事业及其他运营费用的增加，给其本已微薄的利润率带来巨大压力。利率环境的上升也加剧了融资成本，增加了中小企业获取资本以实现增长和创新的难度。

先生，此外，人力短缺使许多中小企业处于困境，无法填补关键岗位，维持运营，更谈不上创新和转型。数字化转型的需求已从奢侈变为生存和发展的必需。

另一个紧迫问题是环境影响和日益增长的绿色合规要求。许多中小企业缺乏知识和资源向绿色实践转型，尽管它们面临来自同行和法规的压力，要求遵守绿色标准。这一差距进一步阻碍了它们有效且可持续地竞争。

先生，2024年预算中的企业支持方案将立即为中小企业提供一些缓解。但最重要的支持措施是倾向于能够重组和转型的企业。因此，为支持中小企业开启转型之旅，我建议政府在三个方面加大力度。

首先，我们必须大力推动大型企业与中小企业在供应商发展和共创领域的合作。副总理黄循财正确指出，“我们不能强迫跨国企业只选择本地供应商，但我们可以且将帮助新加坡企业达到高标准，与跨国企业形成双赢合作关系。”

我欢迎能力转型伙伴计划的扩展，涵盖更广泛的合作领域。然而，为进一步加强该计划，我建议政府考虑采取额外措施——这是一个重要步骤——将新加坡本地中小企业的参与作为跨国企业和大型企业申请政府资助时的积极考量因素。

这一纳入——即在申请中包含中小企业——应特别强调适用于研发和创新相关的高附加值投资资助。这样不仅能激励大型实体与中小企业合作，还能确保政府支持项目的利益惠及更广泛的商业生态系统。

其次，政府企业融资计划（EFS）旨在协助中小企业满足各种融资需求。其关键特点是风险分担机制，即新加坡企业发展局与参与金融机构共同承担企业破产时的贷款违约风险。政府的风险分担比例可达70%，为银行提供了重要的安全保障。这一安排应使银行愿意承担更多风险，并为中小企业提供更优惠的贷款条件。

通过提供此类支持，政府有充分理由期望参与的金融机构改善对中小企业的贷款条件。政府如何支持中小企业获得更优惠的利率、更灵活的担保要求以及更有利的还款条款，尤其是对于使用EFS贷款的企业，相较于使用标准银行贷款的企业？

未来十年经济增长

朱德明先生（淡滨尼）：主席先生，正如副总理王瑞杰在今年预算演讲中指出，新加坡正准备迎接一段增长缓慢和高通胀的时期。

我们的人口迅速老龄化，本地劳动力增长最终将趋近于零。人口老龄化将导致社会支出增加、消费减少和劳动力产出下降。我们还面临土地、电力和碳排放的限制。

未来十年我们的GDP将如何表现？研究显示，超级老龄化的日本GDP预计将比人口稳定的基线情景下降约5%。我们绝不能让这种情况发生在新加坡。

请问部委能否分享未来十年在面对这些限制时，推动GDP增长的总体规划？

我有三点建议供部委考虑。

第一，我们必须增加中小企业的资本投入和创新技术采用。新加坡已是全球自动化领域的领导者之一，尤其是在工业机器人方面，2021年仅次于韩国。

为了持续增长，我们需要加强中小企业的自动化和创新。请问目前在加大资本投资和创新采用方面的进展和计划如何？能否更新科技研究局（A*STAR）T-UP计划的采用情况，以及如何继续提升中小企业的参与度？

其次，我们需要更多企业在海外运营，以带来收入和就业机会。从经济角度看，我们需要关注国民总收入（GNI）人均值，与GDP人均值同等重要。新加坡幸运地位于东南亚，这是全球增长最快的地区之一，拥有6.5亿年轻且持续增长的人口，新加坡可接触到庞大的市场和人才库。

我们的企业必须抓住有限的窗口期，在区域内扩展。贸易与工业部如何帮助新加坡企业拓展区域市场？未来有哪些计划支持中小企业走向区域化？

最后，我们必须抓住人工智能带来的机遇，使新加坡继续发挥超出体量的影响力。人工智能有潜力极大提升工人生产力。

然而，人工智能研发需要大量资源，尤其是电力和人才。部委如何确保新加坡拥有必要的基础设施和人才，使企业能够跟上步伐并深化人工智能工作？

中午12点45分

支持产业转型

黄伟中先生（裕廊）：主席先生，在全球经济日益互联、数字技术迅速发展的时代，企业保持竞争力的需求比以往任何时候都更为关键。面对21世纪的复杂局面——包括气候变化带来的紧迫挑战——数字创新、全球市场扩展和可持续实践成为企业不仅生存而且繁荣的关键。

数字化和可持续实践是全球供应链和商业复杂网络中韧性和增长的核心支柱。数字化通过实现技术的无缝整合，促进企业间前所未有的效率、敏捷性和连通性，从而提升竞争力和市场准入。同时，可持续实践应对减少环境影响的紧迫需求，推动负责任的采购和生产方式。

因此，贸易与工业部采取了哪些关键措施，支持我们的行业和企业在数字化、国际化和可持续发展方面的转型努力？

在BEPS 2.0世界中保持竞争力

玛丽亚姆·贾法尔女士（森巴旺）：先生，随着BEPS 2.0的即将实施，全球许多司法管辖区正努力在吸引投资和确保公平税收之间取得平衡。多个国家已实施各种政策，包括新的税收激励和抵免、增强的投资扣除、针对特定行业的支持以及对个别公司的直接补贴。

议长先生，我们这些曾在经济发展局（EDB）等一线机构工作的人，以及跨国公司国家团队的成员，深知在新加坡锚定优质投资所需付出的巨大努力。这个土地稀缺的小红点，没有可言的国内市场，工资和生活成本高于许多其他地区。我们不能自满，竞争性的税制至关重要。

因此，可退还投资税收抵免方案非常受欢迎。它直接减轻企业税负，同时允许经济发展局和新加坡企业发展局针对最能促进经济增长、为人民和本地企业创造机会和就业的公司和行业。对该计划的实施方式及其对新加坡经济和新加坡人的潜在益处有清晰了解，对企业和公众均有帮助。为此，我有几个问题请教部长。

一、在考虑其他司法管辖区采取的措施时，该计划如何保持新加坡作为投资目的地的吸引力？二、经济活动和合格支出的清单似乎相当广泛；部长能否具体说明预期涵盖的行业和合格支出？三、如何确保税收抵免激励资本投资并推动期望的成果，如提高生产力或实现脱碳目标；并帮助跨国公司实现这些目标？最后，政府还采取了哪些措施支持企业保持竞争力？

主席：请谭淑珍女士一并发言。

企业转型

谭淑珍女士（东海岸）：谢谢主席先生。面对地缘政治不确定性、快速的技术发展、结构性扰动和通胀压力，2024年预算传达了企业转型的紧迫性。转型已不再是可做可不做的选择，而是企业保持相关性、持续经营和增长的必由之路。

业务转型并不容易，因为它涉及业务流程和运营的变革；采用相关的数字技术；以及需要培养员工新的深层次能力，以应对结构性颠覆。随着气候变化，我们看到可持续性标准和披露的立法日益增多。这将要求企业承诺并转向可持续的经营方式，如果他们想继续开展业务的话。

有了产业转型路线图和众多支持措施帮助企业转型，贸工部能否分享新加坡企业，包括中小企业，在业务转型方面的进展？

2024年预算案中宣布的各项措施将如何协同支持企业，包括中小企业，在数字化、网络安全、可持续发展以及国际扩展等转型努力？有多少新加坡企业已利用这些支持措施进行转型？

作为全球商业枢纽的地位

主席先生，新加坡保持了世界领先的商业枢纽地位。但随着地缘政治不确定性增加、新兴颠覆性技术出现以及BEPS 2.0的实施，新加坡的枢纽地位面临挑战。政府正在采取哪些努力，确保新加坡继续在全球保持吸引力和竞争力？正如尊敬的Mariam Jaafar女士所言，跨国企业在新加坡落地投资并非易事，竞争极为激烈，尤其是在当今世界。

我们正在探索哪些策略，继续使新加坡成为全球顶尖企业选择设立区域及全球业务的地点？这对新加坡实现良好增长、引进尖端技术、专业知识和优质就业机会至关重要。

能否分享更多关于国际合作伙伴关系的细节，以及这些合作如何确保新加坡继续处于全球贸易中心？利用新加坡作为全球商业枢纽的地位，新加坡企业如何利用2024年预算案中宣布的增强支持措施，拓展并抓住增长机遇，在区域和全球价值链中发挥重要作用？

主席：Neil Parekh先生，请将您的两个发言合并。

抓住未来增长机遇

被提名议员Neil Parekh Nimil Rajnikant：主席先生，在亚太地区，数字经济（包括人工智能）和绿色经济带来了巨大的增长机遇。预计到2030年，东南亚互联网经济将达到1万亿美元，绿色经济预计将创造五到六百万个新工作岗位。

在新加坡本地，预计到2030年将创造超过5万个绿色就业岗位。2023年，贸工部宣布加强企业发展补助计划对可持续项目的支持，帮助更多企业在向绿色经济转型过程中抓住新的增长机会。

先生，毫无疑问，数字经济和绿色经济的重要性日益增长，新加坡企业必须抓住这些增长领域的机遇，进一步在这些领域取得进展。

我想问贸工部：贸工部计划如何继续支持我们的企业，抓住区域及增长行业（如人工智能和绿色经济）的未来增长机遇？同时，鉴于东南亚的增长潜力，贸工部如何加强新加坡与该地区在绿色经济和人工智能领域的联系与合作，使我们的企业和人民能够利用海外机遇？

促进国际化

主席先生，随着全球经济日益互联互通，我们必须认识到国家的增长与我们走出国门的能力密切相关。新加坡虽小，但潜力无限。要充分释放潜力，国际化不仅是选择，更是持续经济增长的必需。

然而，疫情余波、地缘政治紧张和宏观经济不确定性导致世界日益分裂。经济增长面临高通胀和波动性增加的逆风。

在新加坡，我们迄今取得了不少成就。我们已建立了27个自由贸易协定（FTA）网络，并签署了亚太地区多个区域协议，如《全面与进步跨太平洋伙伴关系协定》和《区域全面经济伙伴关系协定》。

贸工部、企业新加坡和新加坡工商联合会（SBF）也提供多个计划，如全球创新联盟，支持企业国际化。未来，新加坡需要识别新机遇，打造新的增长引擎，并继续加强国际合作伙伴关系。

我想问贸工部：贸工部如何继续促进企业抓住东南亚、南亚、拉丁美洲、中亚、中东和非洲等快速增长市场的新经济机遇？同时，我们如何保护新加坡企业在这些新兴市场的投资？

自由贸易协定与新加坡竞争力

Pasir Ris-Punggol议员Sharael Taha：主席先生，副总理黄循财在预算演讲中提到，国际环境急剧恶化——主要大国在当前地缘政治气候下优先考虑国家安全而非经济相互依赖，还有诸如BEPS 2.0等潜在逆风，可能影响新加坡吸引投资的竞争力。

鉴于此，我们的全球自由贸易协定如何保持相关性，创造跨境投资条件并提升新加坡竞争力？

主席：He Ting Ru女士，请将您的两个发言合并。

反经济胁迫影响

Sengkang议员He Ting Ru：先生，当前世界日益不确定且充满争议，尤其是美中竞争加剧。由此，新加坡面临经济胁迫的风险增加。这不一定是因为我们做了什么，而是因为大国及其他国家认为可以强迫我们采取某些立场。

我们已见到美国限制技术转让，限制部分出口能力。特朗普政府时期，新加坡曾被列入潜在货币操纵国名单，可能面临制裁。中国公布了包括澳大利亚、捷克、加拿大、日本和韩国在内的国家名单，因其行为不被认可。

经济胁迫可能是任意且突发的。随着中美国内政治变化，这种情况可能加剧。我们采取了哪些具体措施准备和缓解可能的经济压力？这些计划必须尽早包含公众和企业的积极参与，才能有效。

新加坡企业声誉风险

欧盟目前提议一项法律，要求大型企业识别对人权及供应链的实际或潜在负面影响，并防止、缓解及补救这些影响。这是在现有法律基础上，要求大型企业对供应链进行尽职调查，确保有风险识别计划，涵盖劳工实践、健康安全及环境问题。

我们关于招聘费用的政策影响新加坡吸引投资和业务的能力，尤其是海事等需雇佣大量外籍劳工的行业。劳工部（MOM）在政策制定和执法资源分配方面，企业面临哪些声誉和法律风险？

欧洲议会和理事会已达成协议，预计很快将出台加强全球供应链劳工权利的规则。这些规则旨在营造法律确定性、公平竞争和可持续竞争的商业环境，杜绝剥削劳工。

德国已颁布类似法律。2019年，国际劳工组织（ILO）理事会批准了招聘费用及相关成本的定义，强调招聘费用不应由工人或求职者承担，工人不应为获得就业机会支付费用，或因劳动力结构调整而延迟。

欧盟立法者和欧盟跨国公司已有国际标准可采纳。外籍劳工仍支付高达1.2万美元的招聘费以获得在新加坡工作的机会。鉴于债务束缚对工人权利及其经济决策能力（如选择离开工作环境恶劣的岗位）的风险，这一领域令人担忧。具体而言，我们的招聘费用情况如何？工人党重申呼吁建立政府职位门户，公布所有外籍劳工空缺职位，减少工人支付给新加坡及海外中介的费用。

我注意到去年对一项国会质询的回应称，我们正考虑促进返工人员的直接招聘渠道，有无最新进展？据称我们无权管辖外籍劳工在原籍国支付的招聘费用，但劳工部和贸工部是否与来源国就招聘费用问题进行接触，鉴于这将影响跨国公司在新加坡的供应链？

主席：Mark Lee先生，您可以将两个发言合并。

离岸补助计划

被提名议员Mark Lee：先生，随着新加坡寻求新的增长引擎，同时克服国内资源限制，例如柔佛-新加坡特别经济区，部分发展工作可能需要利用离岸资源在境外进行。这些离岸活动最终将贡献有形和无形资产，惠及新加坡，使企业降低成本并最大化价值获取。

贸工部是否考虑修订现有补助计划，涵盖离岸开发活动中产生的业务费用？此调整可大幅帮助本地企业利用国际资源，同时确保成果惠及新加坡经济。

下午1点

能力转型伙伴计划（PACT）

先生，我支持PACT计划促进跨国企业与中小企业合作。请问贸工部如何激励参与PACT计划，促进中小企业与跨国企业之间的互利合作？

本地企业反映，因跨国企业为迅速扩张运营，常提供高但不可持续的薪酬以满足外劳配额，导致中小企业在人才保留和培养上处于劣势。针对这些问题，贸工部如何培养本地中小企业有效应对挑战？

支持中小企业

黄伟中议员：主席，近年来，尤其是全球疫情后，中小企业面临前所未有的挑战，考验其韧性、适应力和可持续性。

贸工部在推出多项支持措施，帮助企业应对复苏复杂局面并寻求新增长机会方面发挥了关键作用。政府将如何继续支持这些中小企业？

企业成长支持与旅游业

Holland-Bukit Timah议员Edward Chia Bing Hui：主席先生，疫情前，我们投入大量努力帮助本地企业抓住海外机遇，扩大全球影响力。疫情后，外部环境和供应链因强调韧性和地缘政治紧张而发生重大变化，导致极化和“友岸外包”增加。

鉴于这些变化，贸工部如何调整如Scale-up等项目，以适应不断变化的外部环境，确保区域化支持有效？

此外，考虑到贸工部近年来成功吸引外资及跨国企业入驻，这些因素将如何助力本地企业抓住新兴机遇？这是否会纳入加强版PACT计划？Scale-up与PACT之间有何协同？

贸工部积极签署多个自由贸易协定，为本地企业拓展海外收入提供更多机会。贸工部如何协助本地企业抓住这些机会？贸易协会和商会（TACs）在这方面发挥何种作用？贸工部如何加强对TACs的支持，提升其秘书处人力和能力？

疫情后，旅游业格局也发生变化。旅游及相关行业企业面临多重挑战：一是劳动力市场紧张导致人力成本上升；二是能源费用增加；三是传统主要市场旅游人数恢复缓慢；四是新加坡元兑主要旅游市场货币走强。

贸工部有哪些策略应对这些挑战？

尽管努力，旅游人数及预测尚未恢复到疫情前每年1900万的水平。过去两年旅游业强劲反弹，主要得益于如就业支持计划（JSS）等方案，保留了能力和产能，但其他全球旅游中心已恢复势头和竞争力。竞争市场也推出大量新举措和景点，争夺旅游市场份额。

鉴于此，贸工部有哪些具体策略恢复旅游业至疫情前水平？在这些策略中，有哪些具体举措提升本地内容，赋能本地企业培育强大的知识产权（IP），而非单纯依赖进口IP？

支持中小企业——数字化、人工智能与绿色经济

Nee Soon议员Derrick Goh：先生，数字化对中小企业在快速变化的技术环境中生存和抓住新经济机遇至关重要。2023年，人工智能及其实际应用取得突破。但常言道，人工智能不会取代人，使用人工智能的人才会。实质上，能更快适应和转型的中小企业，将数字化和人工智能视为朋友而非敌人，才会更成功。

作为一名在风险管理和审计工作中使用包括生成式人工智能（GenAI）等多种人工智能工具的从业者，我理解中小企业为何会感到人工智能令人生畏。需要帮助中小企业消除“对未知的恐惧”，打破人工智能仅限跨国企业使用的观念。

在这方面，贸工部能否分享计划，帮助中小企业加速数字化，使更多本地企业能利用人工智能转型并提升生产力？

关于可持续发展，我很高兴2024年预算涵盖了绿色转型的关键方面，作为竞争优势，因为跨国企业较早启动可持续发展之路，也期望我们的中小企业供应商同样如此。我也很高兴得知更多行业的中小企业将受益于绿色贷款和能源效率补助计划，这是我去年供应委员会辩论中提出的建议，呼吁政府支持更具包容性。

然而，尽管绿色转型至关重要，且政府资金增加，2023年DBS研究发现，只有37%的中小企业有明确的可持续发展目标路线图。许多企业表示，复杂的报告标准是障碍。

对此，贸工部如何评估现有补助和计划（如企业可持续发展计划）的进展和成效？如何加强这些计划，帮助中小企业提升环境、社会及治理（ESG）意识？

数字经济和绿色经济机遇众多，但转型不易，单靠资金支持不足。更根本的是中小企业需转变心态，愿意加快转型步伐。对于愿意转型的企业，应提供便捷的专业支持。中小企业中心和贸易协会作为关键的接触和咨询枢纽，应发挥更积极作用，推动和帮助中小企业数字化和绿色转型。

我与业界交流时，部分中小企业反馈希望这些中心不仅仅是推广补助选项和提供通用指导，而是提供更多业务发展建议和定制化专业指导。

因此，能否请贸工部分享三方面内容：

一、是否有计划提升中小企业中心的咨询能力，并将其关键绩效指标（KPI）从一级或基础目标（如中小企业访问量）调整为更贴合成果的指标，如所覆盖中小企业的生产力和客户增长？

二、是否可以引导行业协会（TACs）深入了解其成员的具体情况，以便提供更有针对性的协助和支持，并促进成员之间更有效的跨领域学习？

三、我们是否可以为中小企业（SMEs）构建一个更全面的支持生态系统，例如通过：（a）协同中小企业中心和行业协会的角色，与加强版的中小企业能力转型伙伴计划（Partnerships for Capability Transformation Scheme for SMEs）结合，使企业更容易学习数字化和绿色战略；（b）深化与高等院校的培训合作；（c）利用拥有广泛商业联系的宗亲会进行倡导。

支持人工智能转型

玛丽亚姆·贾法尔女士：主席先生，人工智能的快速发展正在改变企业和行业。然而，企业在将人工智能从试点和概念验证（POCs）推广到规模化方面遇到困难，因此未能从其努力中获得价值和影响。

正如我在预算辩论演讲中提到的，我也想声明我的利益关系——我是一家从事人工智能工作的咨询公司的董事总经理兼高级合伙人。人工智能的规模化不仅仅是购买一个平台和雇佣几名数据科学家。我提到过10-20-70规则：10%的努力在于算法；20%在于技术和IT基础设施——基础架构、数据架构；而70%则是关于人员和流程——工作方式、业务流程重塑、如何推动大规模采用、组织、人才战略和变革管理。

因此，企业需要超越试验和概念验证。他们需要有明确的战略和路线图，说明如何构建人工智能平台、数据、流程、组织及其他支持要素，并按顺序开发用例，以便能够为人工智能转型之旅提供资金，并在中期取得成功。

贸易与工业部（MTI）已推出多项良好举措，如人工智能创新沙盒和实操工作坊，旨在识别人工智能和生成式人工智能（GenAI）用例；以及人工智能先驱者计划，帮助组织识别生成式人工智能用例并构建解决方案原型。

政府将如何帮助组织迈出下一步，在概念验证和试点之外实现人工智能的大规模实施？

鼓励创业精神

许凯思先生（提名议员）：主席先生，裁员和冗员预计将持续。跨国企业（MNEs）、Lazada、亚马逊和谷歌等科技企业已减少员工。Tetra Pak的关闭将影响300名工人。当地企业也时常因环境变化而缩减规模或停止运营。

这些现实并不新鲜。我们需要不断寻找新的外资投资，同时继续建设和强化本地企业。本地商业部门是由具有创业精神的个人经过数十年甚至数百年建立起来的。虽然大多数被归类为中小企业，但我们也有大型成功的本地企业，这些企业共同雇佣了许多新加坡人。

我想问财政部和我们所有人：我们将如何保持创业精神的活力，尤其是在充满挑战的时期和商业环境可能不利的情况下？此外，随着“前进新加坡”（Forward SG）计划的推进，社会创业项目可能会复兴。我们如何支持这些变革推动者？

支持我们的中小企业

何婷如女士：主席先生，企业融资计划和能源效率补助的增强值得欢迎。激励和补助对于提供种子支持至关重要，是推动中小企业增长的关键，也是我们制定工业战略，特别是绿色转型的重要信号。然而，星展银行的一项调查发现，亚洲63%的中小企业认为转型为可持续商业模式是最大的挑战。

据《新加坡商业评论》上月报道的一项调查显示，58%的小型和微型企业对2024年的前景信心不足。调查还指出，除了补助外，中小企业还希望在人才补贴、收购计划（反映劳动力市场紧张）、国际扩展支持以及租金援助和支持等方面获得更多帮助。

同一调查还发现，简化补助申请流程是企业的愿望之一。我们应继续简化补助的采用流程，尤其是绿色补助。

对许多中小企业来说，日常运营是优先事项，而非补助申请及相关行政工作。或许改进系统的一种方式是由新加坡企业发展局（Enterprise Singapore）提供一个一站式网页，向中小企业提供如何实现绿色转型及相关补助的建议和指导。资金本身及资金的时间价值也非常重要。政府是否可以考虑将部分补助以现金形式而非报销方式发放，以帮助那些通常不会将环保事项纳入现金流规划的企业？

此外，为了正确了解我们的补助是否真正支持了中小企业，我们应公开宣布如何跟踪补助的成效。例如，除了公布绿色补助的发放金额外，还应说明每花费一美元减排了多少吨排放量，以便公众、民间社会和议员们确信这些纳税人资金补贴是有效的，并衡量其目标的实现情况。其他评论者指出，缺乏标准化的报告测量使得中小企业在环境、社会及治理（ESG）合规方面面临挑战。

最后，去年《商业时报》转载的一篇文章指出，中小企业的员工和管理者通常缺乏资源和专业知识来理解和妥善应对心理健康挑战，部分原因是大多数关于职场心理健康和福祉的研究通常在大型组织中进行。我希望我们能研究如何在中小企业背景下解决职场心理健康和福祉问题，了解他们面临的具体挑战，并最终制定有针对性的干预措施，提高中小企业员工的福祉；并探讨是否可以超越目前人力部（MOM）“全面职场安全与健康”计划中的干预措施。

下午1时15分

削减能源效率补助

李显龙先生：主席先生，随着中小企业在不断变化的监管框架下整合可持续实践所面临的挑战，增强版能源效率补助（EEG）旨在弥合这一差距，特别是针对食品服务、制造和零售等行业，并计划扩展至更多新行业。贸易与工业部能否提供EEG在这些领域的成效见解，强调成功策略并分享经验教训，以鼓励新纳入行业的更广泛采用？

此外，鉴于中小企业在采用节能实践时面临的财务和技术障碍之外的挑战，贸易与工业部是否考虑将EEG扩展为涵盖更全面的支持方案，包括咨询、执行和培训费用，以促进这一转型？

此外，在向清洁能源转型及其高昂成本的背景下，贸易与工业部能否说明对中小企业，特别是在采用商用和工业用电动车辆方面的支持措施？最后，贸易与工业部能否解释为何关键行业如流程和物流未被纳入EEG，鉴于它们在脱碳中的重要性？是否有计划将这些行业纳入该计划？

社区活力2025计划

黄伟中先生：社区企业的活力对我国社会经济结构至关重要，它们不仅是本地经济的支柱，也是社区生活的心脏。

2022年，贸易与工业部和新加坡企业发展局启动了“我们的社区2025”计划，旨在振兴本地社区。请问贸易与工业部能否提供该计划下对社区企业支持措施的最新情况？

支持社区企业

傅美霞女士：主席先生，在当今大型零售连锁和在线购物平台主导市场的环境下，我们的社区商店面临前所未有的挑战。然而，这些小型商铺提供了超越商业的宝贵价值——它们是我们社区的生命线。我们的社区企业提供独特的社会价值，滋养社区精神。这些地方是建立个人联系的场所，店主知道你的名字、家庭和喜好。

这些企业通常由家庭和本地创业者经营，深深扎根于社区。它们为社区做出贡献，创造就业机会，并经常提供大型商店无法提供的个性化服务。因此，政府积极介入支持这些重要的社区资产至关重要。

我赞赏政府推出多项举措以激励和支持我们的社区商店。因此，我想请部长分享“我们的社区2025”和“社区数字化”计划的进展情况。这些举措对于帮助我们的社区商店提升竞争力，打造独特角色以在未来几年蓬勃发展至关重要。

支持社区企业

沙基安迪·苏帕特先生（碧山-多美歌）：主席先生，2022年疫情后，贸易与工业部和新加坡企业发展局启动了“我们的社区2025”计划，以促进社区商店的增长和效率，这些商店在疫情期间展现了“令人难以置信的韧性和转型能力”。

我的选区多美歌东有相当数量的社区餐饮和零售商店，尤其是在洛朗8市场和熟食中心，以及金吉食品中心。这些开放式底层商铺的魅力是我们的购物中心和综合体无法复制的，更不用说它们为社区内的老年人提供的便利。

请问财政部该计划在2025年需达成的关键绩效指标（KPI）是什么？财政部能否提供“我们的社区2025”计划下对社区企业支持措施的最新情况？

加强行业协会

许凯思先生：主席先生，行业协会在疫情期间发挥了宝贵作用，包括与政府和议员密切合作，提供商业现实的反馈，并提出应对疫情、保留就业的方案。

历史上，行业协会将同一行业的志同道合企业聚集起来，共同合作，分享最佳实践，提高生产力，并在许多情况下推动国际化。疫情后的复苏对某些行业来说不均衡，许多行业仍面临多方面成本上升的挑战。行业协会仍将保持相关性，尽管某些行业可能面临整合，而其他行业则看到增长机会。广泛的预算支持措施将帮助许多公司。

贸易与工业部将如何在全球和国内商业动荡的这一挑战阶段最好地支持行业协会？对于那些面临整合但仍具备生存能力的行业及其行业协会，贸易与工业部将如何应对？

提升企业

黄伟中先生：主席先生，在我国经济的复杂结构中，行业协会和商会（TACs）作为关键推动者，增强了各行业企业的能力、影响力和韧性。通过提供倡导平台、分享最佳实践和促进合作，行业协会在提升和维持企业，特别是构成经济支柱的中小企业方面发挥着重要作用。因此，我们如何确保行业协会具备充分能力有效履行这一角色？

制造业提升计划

沙基安迪·苏帕特先生：主席先生，我们的制造业是新加坡2030经济愿景的重要组成部分。毕竟，制造业约占我们年度GDP的五分之一，过去十年约占就业的11%至14%。我们的战略是吸引前沿投资进入新加坡，为新加坡人创造优质制造业岗位。戴森、现代和环球晶圆（GlobalFoundries）是最近在新加坡开设或宣布计划开设先进制造工厂的一些知名企业。

然而，过去十年，IBM、可口可乐和显示器制造商友达光电（AU Optronics）等公司关闭了其价值数百万美元的制造设施。作为一个资源有限的国家，我们较高的土地、劳动力和运输成本对全球制造商构成挑战。我们不希望吸引制造业巨头进驻，却在五到十年后因廉价国家技术和知识赶超而失去他们。政府能否分享更多关于提升制造业竞争力、留住制造业企业以及本地企业如何从中受益的计划？

海洋离岸行业转型

黄伟中先生：主席先生，海洋和离岸工程行业长期以来是我国工业格局的基石，为经济发展和全球贸易能力做出了重大贡献。然而，面对全球能源需求变化、技术进步和可持续发展的紧迫需求，该行业亟需转型和未来保障。政府能否分享更多关于行业转型计划如何支持海洋和离岸工程行业的信息？

旅游业振兴

尼尔·帕雷克·尼米尔·拉吉坎特先生：主席先生，旅游业对我们的经济至关重要。作为经济的重要支柱，旅游业不仅为公民创造就业和机会，还提升了我们作为全球商业中心和充满活力生活方式的国际品牌。

疫情影响了全球旅游流动，也影响了新加坡。然而，在新加坡旅游局的支持下，2023年旅游收入已反弹至约140亿新元。进入疫情后的新世界，新加坡继续抢占旅游市场仍然至关重要。

2022年，贸易与工业部宣布政府已拨出5亿新元支持旅游业复苏。请问贸易与工业部能否提供旅游振兴工作的最新情况？贸易与工业部将如何确保新加坡在日益激烈的全球竞争中保持有吸引力的旅游目的地？

支持企业和创意人才创造价值

施金丽·简女士（提名议员）：主席先生，有意识地将新加坡企业与新加坡艺术、文化、媒体和设计领域的创意专业人士的能力结合起来，是带来产业复兴的变革者。正如印刷术的出现带来了前所未有的变革，数字技术和人工智能正在引发新的生产和贸易方式。因此，如果技术和人工智能是企业用来重新构想运营模式的工具，那么创意视角必须是企业用来重新定义商业模式的方式。

为了促进进步企业与创意自由职业者的思想碰撞，我向部长提出三项建议供考虑。

第一，财政部是否愿与全国职工总会（NTUC）的视觉、音频、创意内容专业人士协会（VACCPA）及相关行业机构紧密合作，开发并分享企业何时及如何利用新加坡不同创意形式创造新价值的用例？例如，零售商可以利用自由职业者创造新颖的虚拟购物体验，使用3D数字资产创建。经济资助计划可扩展以涵盖此类创意用例。

第二，财政部是否可以扩大技能未来企业信贷（SkillsFuture Enterprise Credit），以涵盖一至两人的创意微型企业？

最后，财政部是否可以促进创意自由职业者参与经济机构支持的国际项目的工作和学习机会？例如，可以为新加坡自由职业照明设计师创造机会，参与国际巡演活动，这些活动被吸引到新加坡。此类岗位可通过稳健的招聘和认证及相关三方标准支持。自由职业者将受益于其发展和作品集的提升。

通过这三项建议，新加坡企业和创意自由职业者可以释放协同效应，发展新的竞争优势，以应对变化和全球竞争。

创意经济计划

乌莎·钱德拉达斯女士（提名议员）：主席先生，新加坡拥有充满活力且蓬勃发展的创意经济，包括艺术文化、媒体和设计等行业。根据文化、社区及青年部（MCCY）的数据，针对我今年早些时候提交的一项议会质询，这三个行业的名义增加值在过去五年增长了近50%，从2017年的79亿新元增至2022年的117亿新元。

文化、社区及青年部（MCCY）也表示，未来几年，新加坡创意经济的前景是积极的。根据MCCY的说法，虽然该行业的增长取决于许多因素，但创意从业者有机会，尤其是如果他们能够利用不断增长的需求和趋势。这包括利用技术，与区域和国际合作伙伴合作，触及新加坡以外的观众。MCCY还保证，政府将继续通过注入资金、提供技能发展机会以及与私营部门搭建合作伙伴关系，帮助该行业成长，为创意人才开辟机会。

请贸易及工业部（MTI）澄清，在即将到来的财政年度中，其自身的发展或其他开支中，将有多少资金分配用于新加坡创意经济的增长和发展？例如，新加坡旅游局是否会为促进新加坡艺术的旅游消费而产生任何重大开支？我们是否可以期待在塑造新加坡作为创意和文化消费首选目的地方面看到更多开支？我们最近就见证了泰勒·斯威夫特（Taylor Swift）时代巡回演唱会以及政府对斯威夫特团队的联络。

经济发展局（EDB）和新加坡企业发展局（Enterprise Singapore）是否将在即将到来的财政年度开展与创意经济发展和增长相关的具体项目或计划？如果有任何与创意经济相关的具体计划正在进行中，部委能否分享重点关注的具体领域？

RIE2025——新加坡的研发努力

黄伟中先生：主席，研发推动新产品、服务和流程的创造，使企业能够创新并保持竞争优势。这种持续的创新对于维持长期经济增长至关重要，因为它促使开发满足新兴消费者需求并适应市场变化的独特产品。通过研发，公司和经济体可以找到新的生产方法，更有效地利用资源并改进运营流程。它还通过提供创建初创企业所需的知识基础和技术进步，鼓励创业。因此，MTI将重点关注哪些研发举措和行业以推动新加坡经济增长？

研发投资与优先事项

陈顺娘女士：主席，为加强新加坡的研发工作，副总理黄循财在2024年预算案中宣布向《研究、创新与企业2025计划》（RIE2025）追加30亿新元投资。新增资金将用于国家重点领域的研究及相关投资，包括深化我们在先进制造业、可持续发展、数字经济和医疗保健方面的能力。

下午1时30分

MTI能否分享自2020年启动以来RIE2025计划的进展？MTI将重点推进哪些举措以建设新加坡的创新能力，推动经济增长？我们将如何扩大新加坡的人才库，帮助将这些创新推向市场，并增强企业的能力？

在预算辩论期间，副总理王瑞杰谈到了在各级别建立更紧密联系与合作以及创新生态系统的重要性。能否分享更多关于这些创新生态系统的信息，以及它们对新加坡作为创新和商业枢纽的影响？

RIE2025

尼尔·帕雷克·尼米尔·拉吉坎特先生：主席，科学与技术对新加坡的生存和成功至关重要，帮助我们克服了国土面积小和资源有限的限制。RIE生态系统仍是新加坡发展成为知识型、创新驱动经济和社会的基石。

RIE生态系统也是创造新增长途径和提升新加坡经济竞争力的重要推动力。

在RIE框架下，本地企业的研发业务支出从2010年的11亿新元增长到2020年的16亿新元，而参与研发的本地企业数量也从约450家增加到近600家。副总理黄循财在2024年预算案中的最新宣布，强调了政府推动创新和研发举措以推动经济发展的承诺。

新加坡研发工作的一个关键领域是发掘新的经济机会，帮助新加坡经济和企业转型以保持竞争力。

这可能包括先进制造业、健康科技和人工智能等新兴领域的新机会。研发还可以支持企业的绿色转型和推动更大可持续发展。主席，2024年预算案中，政府宣布向RIE2025追加投资，以加强研发工作。

我想问部委：首先，MTI能否分享将重点关注的研发举措和行业，以推动经济增长？其次，MTI计划如何利用研发抓住有前景的增长领域，促进新加坡向低碳经济转型？

优化土地资源

萨克提安迪·苏帕特先生：主席，除了劳动力、资本和企业，土地是新加坡作为一个小国的重要稀缺资源。

难以想象，滨海湾金沙（MBS）所在的土地直到1992年至2004年滨海湾地区填海之前，全部是海域。三个月前宣布，我们将在新加坡东海岸填海造出一个新的“长岛”，预计面积是滨海湾的两倍。

但由于我们的海洋边界和航运枢纽地位，我们从海洋填海的空间有限。因此，我们通过概念规划和总体规划，审慎分配稀缺土地以满足不同需求。2021年宣布，新加坡长期土地使用规划的审查也需考虑不确定因素，如可快速转换为应急用途的土地缓冲区。

请问部委，政府如何确保有足够土地满足工业、住房和休闲等多种竞争性需求？我们如何优化土地使用，释放资源潜力？

能源转型

陈顺娘女士：主席，新加坡电力部门占排放总量的40%。新加坡设定了到2050年实现净零排放的雄心目标。

作为一个可再生能源潜力有限的小国，平衡可持续、安全和负担得起的能源供应具有挑战性。新加坡能源转型（SET）于2021年启动，作为电力部门脱碳和实现气候承诺的蓝图。SET包括更可持续地使用天然气、最大化太阳能部署、引入区域电网和电力进口；并为利用氢能和新兴低碳替代能源实现深度脱碳做准备。

MTI能否分享新加坡电力部门脱碳计划的进展？新加坡是否在投资其他低碳替代能源以绿色化电力部门？

在2024年预算案中，副总理黄循财宣布设立新的未来能源基金，注资50亿新元，助力国家向更清洁能源转型。将投资哪些关键举措以推动新加坡向清洁能源转型？

核聚变

谢耀权先生（裕廊）：主席，地球上所有生命所需的能量最终都来自太阳。那么，如果我们能在地球上复制太阳核心的能量生产呢？

这就是核聚变能源的简要承诺。

我必须澄清，核聚变与核裂变完全不同。聚变不产生同样的放射性废物；没有熔毁风险；也不依赖其他国家的燃料，如铀。鉴于聚变的优势，我希望当我们说研究未来清洁能源组合中的核能选项时，我们的重点是核聚变能源。

我还要进一步说，虽然我们可以并将通过区域电网和/或氢能进口清洁能源，但最终，能源进口可能不足且不够安全。

因此，我认为我们需要国内生产的聚变能源，以确保长期清洁能源未来。

但聚变技术尚未成熟。此外，我们的净零目标是2050年，副总理黄循财也表示，我们将在未来20年构建清洁能源组合。因此，有人可能认为我们有时间，也应该花时间决定是否采用聚变能源。但这仅从能源安全角度考虑。

从经济角度看，聚变也为新加坡和全球带来巨大经济机遇，我们实际上有更少时间做决定。矛盾的是，正因为技术尚未成熟，我们应加快步伐。

引用我的裕廊同事陈武明博士的话，我们可以成为先行者，也可能发现自己行动太晚。过去两年聚变技术取得重大进展，业界称为“净能量产出”的真正突破可能在未来五年内出现。

这将推动首批实用规模聚变电厂在2030年代初至中期建成。全球各国已开始认真推进聚变。

英国宣布为其聚变项目追加约11亿新元资金。拜登总统设定了美国到2032年实现商业聚变能源的“十年愿景”。中国在聚变研究上投资超过10亿美元，日本最近启动了全球最大的实验性聚变反应堆。

因此，如果我们现在开始，已有追赶领先者的任务。但如果做得好，新加坡可以成为亚太地区聚变设备制造中心。这将为新加坡人带来一系列新兴且激动人心的工作岗位——下一代聚变科学家、工程师和操作员，设计和制造未来世界的能源技术。

为此，我们现在需要做三件事。

第一，领导并支持我们的大学、研究机构和本地中小企业建立能力，立即进入聚变供应链，参与原型和试点电厂；第二，与领先国家合作设计聚变专用法规；第三，重要的是，我们需要在2050年能源路线图中纳入聚变能源，正式设定目标，并向全球聚变社区发出信号，表明新加坡希望成为参与者并做出贡献。

关于核聚变，我们应胸怀大志，立即行动，并发出强烈信号。

未来能源基金

李显龙先生：主席，商界欢迎政府通过50亿新元的未来能源基金，支持清洁能源举措。正如副总理黄循财强调，向绿色能源转型需要政府主导的催化资金支持基础设施和技术的重大投资。

然而，已有多家企业率先开展将清洁能源进口到新加坡的项目，如建设新加坡与邻国之间的高压海底电缆。鉴于此，我想了解政府是否计划与这些企业合作，部委是否考虑利用未来能源基金提升这些项目的财务可行性？

应对能源限制

谢炳辉先生：主席，我想谈谈在满足气候承诺的同时解决能源限制问题，这对我们的经济和环境至关重要。

首先，国家电网必须高效整合多样化能源来源，减少传输损失。同时，提高发电、储能和输电效率也很关键。请问MTI有哪些计划现代化能源电网，以高效整合多元能源并提升整体效率？此外，电网现代化如何融资？对消费者和企业的成本影响如何？

其次，随着我们巩固数据和人工智能中心地位，数据中心和芯片制造设施对能源的需求必然增加。MTI如何预测未来能源需求以支持数字经济特别是人工智能领域的发展？

鉴于数据中心和芯片制造设施的冷却需求显著增加整体电力消耗，采取了哪些措施优化新加坡的冷却系统？此外，气候变化导致气温升高，新加坡的冷却用电需求增加。我曾在议会提及新加坡在发展区域冷却系统方面的进展及其优势。是否有计划加强这方面的努力，培养本地企业提升能力，并将此专业知识出口到全球其他地区？

2024年预算案中，政府宣布扩大能源效率补助计划（EEG）。但我们需要评估此类计划的效果。

本月初，我曾提出议会质询，部长回应称企业新加坡已批准近5,000份EEG申请。迄今为止，补助支持的设备采购预计节省多少能源？扩大后的EEG目标节能总量是多少？

此外，考虑到潜在的系统性影响，我想问是否有空间推出更多针对工厂、建筑和区域的上游能源效率补助？此类上游节能对整体节能工作有重大益处。

50亿新元的未来能源基金是迈向清洁能源的积极举措，但可能不足以完成清洁能源转型。未来是否会追加资金？基金是否会结合借贷工具，如SINGA债券？如何催化私营部门投资？

在减少碳足迹和促进可持续增长的目标下，清洁能源的有限获取是经济增长的关键制约因素，可能影响新加坡人的实际收入增长和生活水平。因此，我们必须解决清洁能源限制问题。

加强消费者保护

蔡庆伟先生（盛港）：尽管消费者与企业的互动方式发生了变革，新加坡保护消费者权益的方式似乎未随之演进，显得对消费者保护态度较为冷漠。

我们只需看看新加坡近期多起引人关注的消费者事件——圣淘沙天灯节、健身房连锁突然关闭、邮轮和航班长期超额预订、装修承包商失信、二手车行业“柠檬车”问题，以及某些汽车共享和食品快递运营商普遍存在的不满意客户服务。这些只是消费者权益保护方面存在不足的几个具体领域。

新加坡消费者协会（CASE）报告称，2022年预付款损失同比增长24%，消费者报告损失超过64.5万新元。在许多案例中，企业不能仅仅卖订阅服务后关闭，令消费者无处申诉；“平台积分”退款与现金退款并不等同；如果航空公司超额预订无法安排旅程，责任完全在于航空公司提供令客户满意的替代方案。此外，尽管许多二手车由经销商代售，许多消费者并不知情，此类购买不受“柠檬法”保护——这在二手车行业“柠檬车”普遍存在的情况下颇具讽刺意味。

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虽然政府已采取一些措施应对不公平交易行为，但仍未建立起新加坡作为一流经济体应有的强有力保护框架。我们需要转变“买者自负”的传统观念，让个人能够自信地对抗大企业的强势，明白客户不总是对的，但至少我们会被公平对待。

提升消费者保护

杨益才先生（拉丁马士）：主席，我声明本人为新加坡消费者协会（CASE）会长。价格透明是保护消费者的核心原则，确保我们做出明智的购买决策。

为应对“缩水通胀”问题，即零售商表面维持产品价格但暗中减少份量，MTI能否与CASE合作，调查此类做法在新加坡的普遍程度，并鼓励本地零售商在店内推行单位定价？自2023年1月1日起，CASE已在“价格脚印”应用程序上推出了6,000多种商品的单位定价。在MTI支持下，CASE准备协助零售商实施单位定价。

根据消费者协会（CASE）的年度投诉统计，2023年与电子商务交易相关的投诉数量激增了47%。最常见的问题涉及未能在规定的交货时间内收到订单以及未能收到退款。这令人深感担忧。我们必须采取紧急行动，更好地保护消费者，尤其是在购买行为发生转变，许多消费者现在依赖电子商务的情况下。

《消费者保护（公平交易）法》上一次审查是在2016年，当时电子商务尚未在新加坡兴起。我敦促贸易与工业部（MTI）审查该法案，以适应消费者购买习惯的演变。消费者协会愿意与MTI合作，以便我们共同更好地保护消费者。

主席：颜金勇部长。

贸易与工业部长（颜金勇先生）：主席，首先感谢各位议员的深思熟虑的意见。

过去几年非常具有挑战性。作为一个小型开放经济体，新加坡深刻感受到疫情带来的不确定性和全球经济结构性转变的影响。但我们没有被击倒。我们继续推进转型之路，帮助企业将挑战转化为机遇。

在新冠疫情期间，我们经历了自独立以来最严重的经济衰退。当时我们的首要任务是支持企业度过这场前所未有的危机，保护新加坡人的就业。

疫情尚未结束时，新的挑战又出现了。由于供应链中断，全球食品和能源价格大幅上涨，进而引发全球通胀。各国央行为应对通胀压力提高利率。美中等大国之间的地缘政治竞争加剧。乌克兰和中东地区爆发冲突，应对气候变化的紧迫性日益增加。

在这些挑战中，我们的经济在2023年增长了1.1%。2024年，我们预计GDP增长在1%至3%之间，通胀将有所缓和。

尽管如此，正如多位议员指出的，我们的外部环境仍然充满波动和不确定性。许多企业，尤其是中小企业，担心业务成本上升和融资渠道受限。他们也希望获得更多支持，以推动转型和培训，保持竞争力并抓住新机遇。

黄先生询问了对企业的支持措施。我们已拨出13亿新元设立企业支持计划，以应对这些短期挑战。该计划包括三个部分：企业所得税回扣以帮助现金流；调整企业融资计划以帮助企业获得贷款融资；以及延长SkillsFuture企业信用，以支持转型和技能培训。

首先，关于企业所得税回扣。2024评估年度应缴企业所得税的公司将获得50%的回扣，最高不超过4万新元。为确保即使缴纳少量或无所得税的小型企业也能受益，2023年雇佣至少一名本地员工的公司将获得最低2000新元现金支付。企业所得税回扣将惠及众多企业，尤其是中小企业。

接下来，我们将调整企业融资计划（EFS），以促进贷款融资。疫情期间，我们大幅增强了EFS，为企业提供更强支持。我们已审查并调整EFS，以更好满足当前业务需求。例如，疫情期间全球市场停滞，国际化计划受到严重干扰。为帮助企业持续努力，我们将EFS贸易贷款的最高贷款额度翻倍至1000万新元，并将政府风险分担比例提高至70%。

一家利用EFS实现国际化的公司是Apeiron Bioenergy，该公司利用废弃物生产清洁燃料。该公司利用EFS贸易贷款和EFS绿色贷款，将首批废弃食用油（一种清洁生物燃料原料）出口到美国市场，并扩大了其在亚洲和阿联酋的设施。

鉴于全球市场仍在恢复中，我们将把1000万新元的最高贷款额度延长一年，至2025年3月31日，但风险分担比例调整为50%。这与李显龙先生呼吁支持新加坡企业海外扩张的建议一致。

疫情期间，我们还扩大了EFS项目贷款计划，涵盖受影响严重的国内建筑项目。大多数建筑项目现已恢复进度，行业整体回暖，尽管部分企业仍面临挑战。因此，我们将把EFS项目贷款（国内）对国内建筑项目的支持延长一年，至2025年3月31日，但最高贷款额度从3000万新元降至1500万新元。

此外，我们将永久提高EFS营运资金贷款的最高额度至50万新元。疫情期间，我们曾临时提高上限，以应对企业严重的现金流压力。此后，尽管现金流有所改善，中小企业的营运资金需求实际上因业务量和成本增加而上升。将更高的最高贷款额度设为永久，将更好支持中小企业。

自2020年以来，超过3万家企业利用SkillsFuture企业信用（SFEC）支持员工培训升级和企业转型。

其中包括Aux Media Group，这是一家活动和演唱会组织公司。该公司利用SFEC抵扣数字化工作流程转型项目的费用，还利用SFEC派员工参加涵盖人力资源到无人机驾驶的SkillsFuture培训课程，以满足公司需求。

为让企业更多受益于SFEC，我们将把申报截止日期延长一年至2025年6月30日。我们将继续完善对企业的支持，深化劳动力和企业转型。

劳工部长兼国会议员刘燕玲也将介绍专门支持社区企业的额外措施。

在应对短期挑战的同时，我们必须继续投资于长期未来，建设一个有韧性且充满活力的经济体。为此，我们需要实施GUTC战略。GUTC代表四大战略：增长经济（Grow our economy）；释放资源潜力（Unlock our resource potential）；转型企业（Transform our businesses）；连接全球（Connect），以巩固我们作为全球商业枢纽的地位。

让我重点介绍增长新加坡经济的战略，其他同事将详细阐述另外三大战略。

我们将通过三大重点推动经济增长：利用贸易网络；促进投资和新技术采用；发展人才。

首先，关于利用贸易网络。新加坡处于有利位置，可从区域及更广泛地区的增长中受益。我们广泛的连通性一直是并将继续是我们的关键竞争优势。新加坡已建立起作为连接良好、可靠且值得信赖的物流和运输枢纽的强大声誉。全球供应链转变中，企业和投资者因我们稳健的基础设施、亲商政策和熟练劳动力而持续青睐新加坡。外国直接投资（FDI）五年前为1.9万亿美元，至2023年底已增长超过50%，达到约2.9万亿美元。预计这一趋势将持续。

为了维持经济增长，作为小型经济体的新加坡不能拒绝全球市场，也不能让全球市场拒绝我们。

梁永华先生、陈洁仪女士和沙拉尔·塔哈先生询问政府如何确保新加坡保持竞争力并吸引全球投资者。首先，我们必须通过继续加强基于规则的贸易架构，扩大国际和区域连通性，拓宽经济空间，抓住全球机遇。这将使我们能够在不同地区发展创新贸易合作模式，扩大贸易伙伴社区，并建立与新市场的联系。

我们将继续深化与全球伙伴的合作，促进贸易增长和吸引投资。我们将通过现有平台，如《全面与进步跨太平洋伙伴关系协定》（CPTPP）和《印太经济框架》（IPEF），以及双边伙伴关系，如美新加坡增长与创新伙伴关系、中新自由贸易协定和印新部长级圆桌会议，积极与伙伴互动。

在更近的地区，预计东南亚地区未来五年经济增长速度将超过全球平均水平。

在东盟内部，货物贸易从2018年的6450亿美元增长约30%，达到2022年的8570亿美元。作为一个整体，东盟也在加强与伙伴的外部关系。去年在印度尼西亚担任主席期间，东盟完成了升级东盟-澳大利亚-新西兰自由贸易协定的谈判。我们目前正在与加拿大谈判自由贸易协定，并升级和审查与中国和印度的东盟协议。

我们也加强了与邻国的合作。例如，我们正在探索建立柔佛-新加坡特别经济区，以加强与马来西亚和柔佛的经济合作。今年1月签署了谅解备忘录（MOU），并同意努力改善货物、人员和投资的跨境流动。

梁永华先生、傅美霞女士和尼尔·帕雷克先生询问MTI如何抓住未来增长机遇。

首先，正如副总理黄循财宣布的，我们将通过引入新的可退还投资税收抵免（RIC）来增强投资促进工具包。RIC是一种带有可退还现金功能的税收抵免，将支持符合条件的企业在新加坡开展高价值和实质性经济活动，如设立或扩建制造设施、商品贸易、研发与创新以及脱碳活动。

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正如贾法尔女士指出，RIC将增强我们吸引和留住优质投资的竞争力，为新加坡人创造更多机会和优质就业。

我们还将帮助企业乘势全球技术进步浪潮，抓住先进制造、人工智能和可持续发展等新兴增长领域的机遇。通过成为先行者和采用者，我们可以提升企业竞争力，捕捉这些新市场的快速增长，打造世界领先企业。

制造业是我们经济的关键支柱。正如萨克蒂安迪·苏帕特先生所指出，制造业贡献约五分之一GDP，雇佣约八分之一劳动力。我们将加倍发挥机器人和自动化优势，瞄准先进制造中的高价值机会，开辟新增长路径。

例如，在生物医药科学领域，精准医疗这一新兴领域具有强劲增长潜力，2022年全球市场规模达740亿美元，预计到2030年年均增长率为11.5%。我们将识别并培育有潜力的本地初创企业，开发尖端解决方案。

其中一家企业Engine Biosciences开发了专有平台，利用人工智能、机器学习和基因编辑发现基因相互作用，开发有前景的新疗法。该公司目前处于临床前阶段，计划利用新加坡的研发基地拓展国际市场。

人工智能的前所未有增长将在未来几年加速，市场规模预计从2023年的1500亿美元飙升至2030年的1.35万亿美元。我们必须紧跟发展步伐，确保企业能分享人工智能红利。我们将采取企业和行业双重策略推动人工智能应用。我们将与100家公司合作，建立内部人工智能能力，开发和采用人工智能解决方案。希望这些公司各自成为人工智能卓越中心（CoE）。

我们还将设立行业人工智能卓越中心，解决行业范围的应用场景，构建领域专属能力。作为起点，A*STAR将在今年底启动制造业人工智能卓越中心。该中心将召集产业、研究和初创企业利益相关者，开发针对制造业应用场景的人工智能解决方案。

我们将从该试点中学习，并研究如何将此模式推广至其他行业。向低碳和可持续经济转型也将带来新的绿色增长机遇。例如，我们已建立充满活力的碳服务和交易生态系统，利用全球碳市场的增长。

还有开发可持续产品的机会，如生物燃料、可持续航空燃料和绿色化学品，支持我们的绿色增长目标。例如，Neste于2023年扩大了其在新加坡的生物炼油厂，使我们成为全球最大的可持续航空燃料生产国。此外，化工公司Arkema在裕廊岛建造了生物工厂，生产由可持续材料制成的高性能聚合物。

我们还与海洋及离岸工程（M&OE）行业紧密合作，确保其高效、具全球竞争力，并能抓住新增长机遇。这要求行业重新思考运营模式，转向更高技能、更高价值活动，减少对外籍劳动力的依赖。为推动这一转变，我们将调整海事船厂行业的优惠依赖比率上限（DRC），从3.5:1调整至2026年的3:1。我们将密切关注行业发展，再决定是否进一步调整。

我们还将推进2013年宣布但因M&OE行业低迷和新冠疫情推迟的外籍劳工征费上调措施。这些措施将在人力部的国会答问环节中进一步讨论，作为政府更广泛人力策略的一部分。

我们认识到转型虽必要，但从不容易。因此，我们将提供总额约1亿新元的M&OE支持计划，未来五年帮助企业转型，提升工人技能，定位M&OE行业抓住新增长机遇。这将使我们成为全球有影响力且繁荣的枢纽，能在M&OE价值链中提供可持续解决方案。

我们正在探索的一个增长机会是海上风电，全球市场预计到2030年将以每年22%的速度快速增长。一些公司已开始这条路，如Seatrium，正参与多个大型海上风电项目。我们将识别并抓住价值链上的机会，将其锚定于新加坡。

一家有前景的本地初创企业是BeeX，设计、制造并部署悬浮自主水下航行器（HAUVs），用于海上风电场的检测。BeeX利用50万新元的Startup SG Tech资助建造了首个HAUV。其解决方案已获国际验证，目前正开发高规格的第二代HAUV+。

我已概述我们继续吸引优质投资进入新加坡的计划。我们还将支持企业合作，投资创新生态系统。首先，傅美霞女士、李显龙先生和谢伟强先生会高兴地知道，我们将加强能力转型伙伴计划（PACT）。

目前，该计划鼓励大型企业与中小企业之间、跨国公司、大型本地企业与中小企业之间在供应商发展和协同创新方面的合作。未来，我们将扩大PACT涵盖更多行业和模式，包括能力培训、国际化和企业风险投资。

让我分享几个PACT促进的合作案例。GlobalFoundries与其供应商Forefront AM紧密合作，提升其增材制造能力，以修复GlobalFoundries的高价值半导体制造设备。另一个例子是SATS，利用PACT支持组织能力建设研讨会，帮助其中小企业供应商了解并跟踪碳排放。SATS还计划鼓励供应商开展脱碳行动。

我们目标在未来五年促成100个新的PACT合作伙伴关系，为中小企业提供更多提升能力、增强竞争力、融入全球和区域价值链的机会。

我们还将投资创新工作，包括上游研究、转化和商业化。自2016年启动以来，Startup SG Equity计划已催化超过23亿新元的私营部门资金，支持230多家新加坡初创企业，涵盖先进制造、制药与生物制剂（pharmbio）、医疗技术（medtech）和农业食品技术（agri-food tech）等新兴领域。我们正着手进一步完善Startup SG Equity计划，相关细节将于今年晚些时候公布。

第三，虽然我们需要继续利用全球人才来补充本地劳动力以推动经济增长，但我们将加倍努力加强本地人才库，使新加坡人能够从这种增长中受益。正如梁先生所言，在全球对领导人才竞争日益激烈的情况下，我们必须确保企业能够获得符合“前进新加坡”咨询建议的新加坡企业领导人才储备。

我们将推出一项新举措——全球企业领导者计划（GBLP），支持企业派遣具有领导潜力的新加坡中高层管理人员赴海外任职及参与其他发展机会。GBLP参与者将被纳入新加坡领导者网络会员，接受指导并拓展专业人脉。

GBLP将支持企业的区域化努力，培养能够将业务推向新高度的新加坡企业领导人才储备。这将补充人力部在本地劳动力发展方面的工作，支持各级员工的职业韧性、更健康的职业发展和更长的职业轨迹。

主席先生，总结来说，我谈到了通过企业支持计划为企业提供短期支持，帮助他们应对眼前挑战。同时，我们需要投资于长期未来，推动经济增长。我们可以通过利用贸易网络、引领新技术采用和发展人才来实现这一目标。

经济转型一直是我们的重点。副总理王瑞杰早前强调了转型在我们增长历程中的重要性。事实上，转型是这个快速变化世界中的常态。我们必须保持敏捷，抓住新机遇，不断提升生产力、创新力和竞争力，推动经济增长。

未来仍将存在不确定性和挑战，但只要我们作为新加坡团队共同努力——工人、企业、行业协会、商会和工会各司其职，我们就能在全球舞台保持相关性，增强影响力。我们能够抓住新的增长机会，改善所有新加坡人的生活，共同建设我们的未来。[掌声]

主席先生：陈志龙博士。

贸易及工业部第二部长（陈志龙博士）：主席先生，新加坡是一个资源有限的小国。尽管如此，我们已发展成为今天的全球领先城市。但要维持这种增长，我们需要最大化资源潜力，将潜力转化为下一阶段的成功。

我今天的发言将围绕如何继续突破界限，释放资源潜力，并在四个领域带来新机遇：第一，能源与碳排放；第二，研发；第三，人力；最后，土地。

首先，关于能源与碳排放。气候变化对全球所有国家构成不对称的长期挑战。作为一个低洼岛国，新加坡受到气候变化的影响尤为严重。我们的资源限制比许多国家更为明显，这使得脱碳更加困难。

尽管如此，我们坚信新加坡能够克服这些限制，实现并在净零未来中蓬勃发展。今天，我将分享我们在投资新脱碳路径方面的努力，同时确保电力系统稳定。

首先，稳定的电力市场以及可靠安全的电力系统必须成为推动新加坡能源转型的基础。过去一年，能源市场管理局（EMA）实施了多项措施，加强电力市场结构，减少市场波动。这些措施包括：一、引入集中流程，促进和指导私人投资新发电能力；二、对电力零售商施加更严格的监管要求，更好保护消费者；三、实施临时价格上限机制，缓解批发电力市场的极端价格波动。

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今年，我们还将集中采购天然气，确保电厂的长期燃料充足。除了稳定的电力市场，我们还需要可靠的电网。谢伟俊先生问我们的电网是否足够强大以整合多样化能源。虽然主要依赖天然气，我们的电网已接纳太阳能和垃圾发电等其他能源，同时保持高电网可靠性。未来几十年，我们预计更多多样化能源将接入电网，我们正在升级电网管理系统以应对。

展望未来，随着数字化、经济增长和电气化的推进，电力需求将增长，正如谢伟俊先生所提。EMA与相关机构紧密合作，确保有足够容量满足需求。因此，我们已启动新发电能力招标，建设更环保、更高效的电厂。EMA最近授予裕廊电力（YTL Power Seraya）建设、拥有和运营一座联合循环燃气轮机（CCGT）的权利。该CCGT的碳强度比现有CCGT低10%，将成为第三座可使用氢气的CCGT，氢气是一种潜在低碳燃料，计划于2028年投入运营。这是在建的吉宝和胜科的氢能预备电厂之外的项目。

新加坡的能源转型将是一个持续数十年的过程。在此期间，天然气将在未来一至二十年内继续发挥重要作用。因此，新加坡液化天然气公司（SLNG）正在建设第二个液化天然气终端，以满足天然气需求并增强能源安全。

虽然天然气是最清洁的化石燃料，但若要实现净零承诺，我们必须绿色化电力供应。我们正在推进低碳电力进口项目，研究氢气和氨等低碳能源替代方案。Jessica Tan女士会高兴地知道，我们已取得良好进展。低碳电力进口方面，我们目标是到2035年进口多达4吉瓦（GW）的低碳电力，约占当时新加坡电力供应的30%。

针对谢伟俊先生的问题，我们正按计划实现该目标。去年，EMA已授予条件批准，允许从柬埔寨、印度尼西亚和越南进口最多4.2吉瓦的低碳电力。相关企业正在进行可行性研究，并从源头和过境国获取监管批准。项目实现后，也将成为东盟电网的基础。

我们还在研究多种其他低碳能源的潜力。氢气方面，我们将启动小规模先导项目，测试和部署直接氨燃烧电厂及氨燃料补给。该项目的招标正在进行，预计本月底结束。

地热能源也是我们研究的潜在能源。我们将开展全国范围的非侵入性地球物理研究，评估新加坡深层地热资源发电潜力。EMA正在评估招标提案，获奖结果将很快公布。

先进核能技术和聚变能源也是潜在的变革者。我们广泛与国际组织及具备核能深厚能力的国家合作，拓展对先进核能技术（包括小型模块化反应堆）的理解，以评估这些技术一旦被证明安全可行后，是否适合新加坡。

谢耀权先生提到太阳能——聚变能源的潜力。近年来聚变能源领域取得重大突破，但仍存在工程挑战。除目前无示范电厂能发电外，还有其他挑战，包括全球氚供应不足，氚是聚变的重要燃料。因此，专家对聚变何时能安全商业化存在较大分歧。

我们也密切关注聚变能源发展，并与海外研究机构合作，提升该领域能力。我们将继续识别本地生态系统中与聚变相关的能力，探讨在聚变供应链中可能发挥的作用。

同时，低碳能源研究（LCER）计划等研发投资，有助于实现低碳替代方案潜力，支持扩大适合新加坡的技术解决方案范围。

LCER计划下的定向氢能计划支持研究有助于新加坡安全经济地进口和使用氢气的技术。我高兴宣布，我们将拨款约4300万新元支持六个研究项目，这些项目共同解决新加坡在氢能部署中面临的关键挑战，如能效、耐久性和安全性。

除氢能外，我们还支持对有潜力成为重大突破的前沿技术的研究。作为首届新兴技术资助计划的一部分，我们将拨款约1200万新元支持十个研究项目，涵盖多种低碳技术路径，如能量收集。

最后，我们与国际组织的紧密合作帮助我们建立能力，加速能源转型。上月，我们宣布在新加坡设立国际能源署（IEA）区域中心。该中心是IEA总部巴黎外的首个办事处，也是新加坡首个专注能源的国际组织。中心将为政府和区域机构提供技术咨询和政策支持，加速能源转型，例如通过扩大可再生能源和其他清洁能源技术的部署。预计中心今年底投入运营。

各位议员，我已详细介绍了我们转型和脱碳电力部门的计划。尽管缺乏本地可再生能源资源，新加坡仍必须推进能源转型，以保持在迈向净零的世界中的相关性。我很高兴正如李伟铭先生早前指出，已有多家企业在开拓此类清洁能源项目。

但要实现脱碳，我们需要大规模部署清洁能源。这可能涉及新兴技术，伴随重大商业和地缘政治风险，或需高额前期资本支出。所有这些都需要政府和企业的大量投资。

国际可再生能源机构早前估计，全球需在所有能源转型技术上投资约150万亿美元，才能实现2050年净零排放目标。

对于对新加坡脱碳旅程具有战略价值的项目，政府将提供支持，促进此类项目发展。这将帮助新加坡以所需规模和速度确保可靠且更清洁的能源供应，实现气候目标。

基于此，政府将设立新的未来能源基金，正如副总理黄循财所宣布。该基金可支持我们部署低碳技术（如氢能）所需的基础设施投资，前提是这些技术已具备可行性。

我们需要现在开始为这些投资储备资金。基金将设立于EMA，初始注资50亿新元，相关立法修订将在今年晚些时候进行。

谢伟俊先生问是否需要进一步追加资金。我们将在财政空间允许且根据能源转型发展计划时追加。前路不易，我们需灵活应变。但请放心，政府将谨慎规划能源转型，确保在脱碳的同时维护能源安全，并保持成本竞争力。我们特别关注能源转型对电价的潜在影响。

我向家庭和企业保证，我们将尽最大努力调整能源转型进程及其对电价的影响。我们也将继续支持中低收入家庭，减轻转型对电费的影响，并帮助企业降低能耗、提升能效，从而降低能源成本。

各位议员，除了电力部门，我们的工业过程也贡献了新加坡大量排放。我们需要积极探索工业过程脱碳路径。

正如张志贤资政在总理办公室的预算演讲中提到的，我们正在开发的路径之一是碳捕集与封存（CCS）。CCS涉及从点源（如化工厂或电厂）捕集排放的二氧化碳，然后将其运输至适合的地质构造，注入地下深处封存。

我们一直在与有意开展CCS的企业接洽。今天，我想分享政府将与由埃克森美孚和壳牌组成的产业联盟S Hub合作，研究开发跨境CCS项目的可行性，捕集新加坡排放。政府将与S Hub评估技术经济可行性，整合新加坡排放，并与区域伙伴合作研究潜在二氧化碳储存地点。

我们期待与志同道合的伙伴合作，实现跨境CCS项目，发挥整个区域作为CCS枢纽的潜力。新加坡最近与印度尼西亚签署了跨境CCS意向书。根据意向书，双方将成立工作组，推进新加坡与印度尼西亚的CCS合作。

谈到研发，持续投资研发对保持我们的优势和竞争力至关重要。正如预算演讲所述，政府将额外投入30亿新元支持2025年研究创新与企业计划（RIE2025），保持研发势头。

针对Jessica Tan女士、黄少文先生和Neil Parekh先生的问题，贸易及工业部将加大支持研发投资力度，特别是关键和新颖技术的深度技术研发。深度技术通常因技术验证和风险较大，商业化周期较长。投资深度技术将帮助我们巩固研发，发展新产业集群，创造新经济机会，推动创新驱动增长。

我们正在打造新的研发转化平台，提供额外资源，推动四个重点领域。

第一，科学技术研究局（A*STAR）将设立国家半导体转化与创新中心（NSTIC），预算约1.8亿新元，促进平面光学和硅光子学领域的合作与研发转化，这两个领域依赖半导体制造技术。半导体行业因高投资成本（如洁净室和设备）门槛高，NSTIC旨在帮助企业和研究人员获得半导体基础设施，支持原型制作和小批量制造。

我最近访问了MetaOptics Technologies，这是一家本地初创企业，设计和制造平面透镜及光学器件。这些平面透镜比人类头发细数百倍，可大幅缩小光学传感器和摄像头等设备尺寸。MetaOptics计划利用NSTIC的研发专长和制造服务，在本地生产设备，避免外包给成本更高、交付周期更长的海外晶圆厂。MetaOptics还获得了A*STAR派驻的两名科学家支持，通过其企业能力升级技术计划（T-Up），正如朱德明先生早前提问的。

第二，A*STAR启动了9700万新元的核酸治疗倡议（NATi），旨在将新加坡打造为RNA药物和疫苗的区域研发、临床转化和商业化中心。

下午2时30分

大多数人可能在新冠疫情期间听说过RNA疫苗。新加坡多年来通过持续投资生物医学研发，已发展出RNA研究能力。通过NATi，新加坡将加速RNA药物和疫苗开发，提升RNA制造能力。目前，我们至少有10家本地中小企业涵盖RNA治疗价值链，NATi将支持并培育更多本地中小企业和初创企业，吸引更多公司落户。

第三，A*STAR将启动MedTech Catapult——一项耗资3800万美元的计划，旨在通过与公司和产品所有者合作，加速新型生命科学工具和医疗设备的开发，将研究成果转化为商业产品。

该计划将帮助中介机构，如本地合同制造组织，提升价值链地位，使其不仅能够制造，还能开发自己的医疗技术产品设计和能力。通过MedTech Catapult，我们还旨在培训和提升产品工程师的技能，使他们能够服务于行业。

第四，将为国家机器人计划（NRP）提供约6000万美元的新一轮资金。

NRP自2016年启动以来，取得了良好成果，例如开发了机器人中间件框架，该框架通过标准化通信和避免导航路径冲突，使不同品牌的机器人能够无缝协作。

未来，NRP将加强机器人研发能力的转化，特别是在制造、物流、设施管理和医疗保健等领域。它将通过“机器人集群”（RoboClusters）汇聚公共部门研究人员、终端用户和机器人公司，促进合作与共创具有经济潜力的解决方案。NRP还将帮助加速新加坡本土机器人中小企业和初创企业的成长。

Jessica Tan女士询问MTI如何扩大研发人才库。

我刚才提到的四个平台预计将培养超过200名专业研究人才，如产品和机器人工程师及研究科学家。他们还将完成75个以上项目，授权超过40项技术等成果。所有这些将有助于打造一个开放包容的生态系统，使研究、创新和企业能够汇聚，创造对企业具有商业意义的成果，帮助我们的行业伙伴实现规模化。

第三，谈谈我关注的人力资源。我们需要与经济竞争力同步加强劳动力竞争力。正如Gan部长早前所述，我们致力于在经济增长的同时为新加坡人创造良好机会。为了让新加坡人抓住这些机会，我们的劳动力需要具备相关技能。

请继续关注，我将在人力部部长办公厅演讲中分享更多细节，介绍人力部支持各层次工人提升就业能力、强化职业健康及获取海外工作经验的计划；以及如Gan部长早前提及的全球商业领袖计划，如何支持具领导潜力的新加坡中高层管理人员获取相关海外工作经验和领导技能，成为企业领导者。

这将补充MTI与印尼和越南正在开发的双边人力计划。Tech:X计划（与印尼）和创新人才交流（ITX）计划（与越南）启动后，将允许新加坡人在印尼或越南的科技和创新领域进行工作轮换，反之亦然。这将支持我们的公司和新加坡人把握我们快速增长地区的激动人心的机会。

最后，关于优化我们稀缺的土地资源。Saktiandi Supaat先生询问政府如何确保有足够土地满足工业、住房和娱乐的竞争需求。国土发展部将分享政府的总体规划流程及如何在竞争土地用途间取得平衡。

在规划工业区时，JTC公司致力于通过土地集约利用和循环利用，以及将工业用途安排在靠近住宅和娱乐设施的混合用途区内，优化工业用地使用。我们即将推出的新工业区，如榜鹅数字区（PDD）和裕廊创新区（JID），即体现了这一理念。

PDD将设有新加坡理工学院校区及数字科技公司，创造应用学习机会，培养本地技术人才。PDD的主要租户之一是大华银行，将建设30万平方英尺的全球技术与创新中心，容纳约3000名技术人才。JID支持新加坡制造2030愿景，成为先进制造的全球商业、创新和人才枢纽。

企业与A*STAR的先进再制造与技术中心（ARTC）共同入驻，ARTC与约100家行业参与者合作，包括政府机构、研究院和学术界，将加速创新，打造先进制造生态系统。

JTC还将振兴双溪加东、宏茂桥和加冷-哥兰阿耶等重点工业区。JTC的租户将享有更智能、更可持续的设施和基础设施。适合的现有建筑和结构也将被识别用于适应性再利用，成为工人及周边社区的活动节点。更多细节将在城市重建局（URA）2025年总体规划草案中公布。

主席先生，最后总结。我谈到了如何释放能源与碳、研发、土地和人力资源领域的潜力。话虽如此，前路不会轻松。事实上，对于资源有限的新加坡来说，从未轻松过。但正如中国谚语所说，“时势造英雄”，意即“艰难时刻造就英雄与女英雄”。

这就是我们的故事。我们曾小而无自然资源禀赋。但我们的人民齐心协力，凭借有限资源的优化利用及人类智慧和创新，使之成功。通过良好规划和企业及新加坡人的大力支持，我相信我们能够释放资源潜力，争取下一阶段增长。唯有如此，我们的企业才能持续保持竞争力，保持优势，为新加坡和新加坡人带来更多机会和利益，持续数十年。

主席：贸工部国务部长刘燕玲。

贸工部国务部长（刘燕玲女士）：主席，今天我们面临的世界与过去大不相同。早前，Gan金荣部长分享了全球不确定性如何给我们这个小而开放的经济体带来压力。现在已非往日常态。变革、持续转型和创新成为现今常态。

要在新常态中茁壮成长，我们需要积极心态拥抱转型。变革总是充满挑战，我们深知这一点。然而，回想新冠疫情期间，我们的企业，包括社区企业，成功克服了对变革的抵触。我稍后会谈及此。

我们的企业展现了转型以确保更好未来的能力。我想向各位议员保证，贸工部及经济机构，政府致力于长期支持企业的转型之路。

今天，我将详细说明政府如何加大对企业转型和发展的关键支持。正如黄先生早前强调，我们决心帮助企业抓住可持续发展和数字化等新兴增长领域的新机遇。

我还将深入介绍如何推动制造与海事工程（M&OE）行业的部门转型，正如Gan金荣部长早前提及；并持续推动社区企业的积极变革势头。我还将分享政府如何助力新加坡企业加速绿色转型，受益并为未来做好准备。

此外，我将谈及如何帮助企业抓住新兴数字机遇，实现下一阶段增长。最后，我将更新大家关于如何深化与行业咨询委员会（TACs）的合作，正如多位议员在质询中提及，以推动行业转型计划和努力。

主席，为帮助新加坡企业和产业未来做好准备并实现转型，政府已推出23个行业转型地图（ITMs），并更新了2025年计划。这些努力涵盖创新、数字化、就业与技能、国际化、生产力和可持续性等战略领域。许多行业在其路线图上已取得进展，我们将持续支持其转型。

正如Gan部长早前提及，制造与海事工程（M&OE）行业正经历重大变革。我同意黄先生的看法，这一传统劳动密集型行业需转型以保持竞争力。为此，我们旨在加速M&OE行业，抓住海上风电和海事脱碳等新兴机遇。

目前，行业内多家先行者已调整业务，服务于我提及的这些增长市场。

举个例子，Penguin International是一家本土造船商和船东，也是全球最大的铝制船舶制造商之一。该公司过去几年致力于未来准备，提升内部设计、建造和运营绿色船舶的能力。目前，该公司正与壳牌合作建造和运营三艘电动渡轮。

这些环保渡轮预计每年减少约6000吨二氧化碳排放。6000吨相当于约18000次新加坡至曼谷单程公路旅行的环境影响。这就是三艘电动渡轮的减排效果。

未来五年，贸工部将通过1亿美元的企业与劳动力转型支持计划，支持M&OE行业转型。企业可通过生产力解决方案补助金（PSG）提升生产力，并借助企业发展补助金（EDG）强化新能力。

除为M&OE企业提供短期过渡支持以完成既定合同交付外，我们还将更新M&OE行业数字计划，鼓励更广泛采用行业特定的提升生产力数字解决方案。为装备M&OE工人迎接未来，新加坡劳动力发展局和企业新加坡将合作制定M&OE就业转型地图，规划新兴职业路径并突出能力建设机会。

此外，正在识别新的职业机会。新加坡海事与海上能源工业协会（ASMI）、新加坡劳动力发展局和企业新加坡将合作，于今年晚些时候推出海事数字化冠军计划。

该计划将为新加坡人提供新的数字技能，以从事M&OE行业的高价值工作。此外，新加坡劳动力发展局将扩大职业转换计划，涵盖海上风电，培养本地中年职业人才，支持海上风电场的开发与运营。

关键是，我们将通过激发青年对M&OE职业的兴趣，为强大人才管道奠定基础。贸工部将与行业及ASMI紧密合作，提升该行业吸引力，鼓励更多M&OE企业提供行业奖学金。

我很高兴，ASMI与我们的机构共同制定了新的行业计划，明确策略，助力企业抓住绿色增长新机遇，并为长期转型做好准备。ASMI将在未来几个月分享其计划。

主席，在社区层面，我们看到企业转型的积极迹象。Foo Mee Har女士、Saktiandi Supaat先生和黄先生对此话题表达了热情。我想向他们保证，我们的社区企业在数字化和零售创新方面取得了良好进展。

目前，超过17000家社区企业采用了电子支付解决方案，超过九成。超过12000家社区企业拥有线上存在，约占三分之二。拥抱数字转型的企业扩大了客户基础，超越邻里和实体客流，甚至吸引了海外客户。

下午2时45分

Bee Choo Origin是一家发源于宏茂桥的美发产品公司，2007年由一家美发沙龙起步。其创始人谢美珠女士，最初是居家美发师，将谦逊的沙龙发展成全球美发护理公司。2020年因疫情开始在线销售产品，三年内收入增长25%。如今，Bee Choo Origin在11个市场拥有170家门店，正由谢女士34岁的女儿Estee领导，进入下一阶段增长。

零售业快速演变，技术、电商和消费者偏好迅速变化。政府致力支持零售业及企业转型、创新和抓住机遇。

我相信议员们还记得去年贸工部部长办公厅辩论时，我宣布了Sprout@AMK计划——中文名为宏茂桥创新天地，旨在为宏茂桥镇中心的社区引入新零售概念。我很高兴分享，这些新颖的零售亭即将推出。

同时，我们也欢迎首批参与社区创新与转型计划（HIT，创新在邻里计划）的零售商，他们将在宏茂桥展示产品。

我非常欣慰，这些新一波商铺中的一些零售商推出了改善健康与福祉的创新概念和产品，以满足社会需求。我想给议员们预览一些新颖概念。每年我都会带来代表社区企业的产品。例如，这个有趣的拼图。该公司名为Project Enigma，利用3D打印生产拼图及其他玩具，旨在提升人们的学习和健康。除了在宏茂桥的零售亭，Project Enigma还在亨德森社区俱乐部设立了拼图博物馆和图书馆，并举办社区工作坊。他们不仅局限于店铺，还走进社区俱乐部举办活动，提高公众意识。

我的贸工部同事已将许多有趣的拼图和玩具放置在议员休息室，因为我们深知经过一整周的预算和部长办公厅辩论，议员们可能想动动脑筋，锻炼不同脑部肌肉。

另一个有趣例子是Tea Dojo。让我给议员们展示。Tea Dojo提供新鲜冲泡、更健康、无糖浆的珍珠奶茶。我已通知王乙康部长和健康促进局，我将介绍此产品。这款乌龙茶的营养等级为A级。今天我们带来了三种口味：桃子乌龙、葡萄波霸和芒果柚子。我们准备了许多饮品，待澄清时间后，大家可以休息时品尝，议员们可任选三种口味。

主席先生，您工作辛苦。我已在您的办公室为您预留两杯，如需更多，请告知。

这就是我们新鲜冲泡、更健康、无糖浆的珍珠奶茶，由专门发明的茶机制作。许多社区企业正推出新颖概念、商业模式和收入模式。

除了宏茂桥的零售转型，我们将在武吉甘柏和淡滨尼西试点两个社区振兴项目。武吉甘柏邻里中心将转型为现代遗产社区枢纽（邻里特色文化基地）。下月5日至7日，武吉甘柏将举办首届Rasa Gombak Day Out节，展示该受欢迎邻里中心的历史与文化。岛另一端的淡滨尼西邻里中心将转型为社区活动枢纽（新兴社区活动站）。

去年10月，淡滨尼西商户协会与新加坡零售商协会合作举办了Wunderground活动。这是一个结合都市生活品牌的快闪活动，吸引了超过3万名访客，平均每天约3000人。居民未来可期待更多此类活动。

过去三年，我们加大力度转型和振兴社区。我们支持新加坡商户联合会（FMAS）和社区企业中心（HECS）在新加坡各邻里中心举办了60多场场所营造活动，包括三届成功的社区节。

通过这些活动，企业报告客流量增加三分之一，销售额增长20%。整体而言，该举措强化了各区域的身份认同，使企业能够差异化产品并提升价值主张。

在基层，我们很高兴看到社区商店和商家积极提出新想法，共同策划活动，使我们的邻里更加精彩和充满活力。例如，Bold at Work 是裕廊东的一家联合办公空间提供商和青年参与顾问。他们将裕华的停车场变成了一个有趣的空间，举办现场音乐表演、嘉年华游戏和工作坊。这反过来吸引了大量人流，也促进了当地社区商店产品和服务的需求。

我们将鼓励更多创新方式接触基层的观众和顾客。我们将推出“邻里企业社区营造计划”（Heartland Enterprise Placemaking Grant），支持基层企业在组屋区创造愉悦的体验。符合条件的基层企业可获得最高1万新元的资助，用于组织社区营造项目。

我相信有许多好点子等待被发掘。因此，我们希望鼓励基层企业提出令人兴奋的方案。让我们期待共同策划的新可能性。主席，请用普通话。

（普通话）：【请参阅方言发言。】主席，我们的中小企业是经济的支柱。中小企业占新加坡注册公司总数的99%，雇佣了高达70%的劳动力，为我们的经济带来活力和动力。

我们的邻里企业不仅在经济中扮演重要角色，也作为社区的情感中心，承载着许多成长记忆，增强邻里的凝聚力。因此，贸易及工业部致力于支持中小企业和邻里企业，提升它们应对未来经济挑战的能力。这包括多项计划和措施，协助中小企业转型以及振兴邻里企业，为社区注入更多活力。

过去三年，我们支持新加坡商会联合总会和新加坡邻里企业中心组织了60多场社区营造活动，包括年度的邻里节。

在这些活动中，一些企业报告客流量增加了三分之一，销售额增长了20%。通过这一系列活动，新加坡人对各邻里的历史和独特之处有了更深了解，邻里企业也增强了品牌建设的信心，利用科技扩大客户群，甚至拓展海外业务。例如，Bee Choo Origin 从安哥莫基的一个分店扩展到11个海外市场，为公司带来了新的商业和发展机会。

除了政府、商会和行业协会主导的项目外，我们的邻里企业也主动组织活动。这些活动将平凡转变为非凡，为社区带来新的活力。

为鼓励更多此类举措，贸易及工业部宣布设立“邻里企业社区营造计划”，为符合条件的企业提供最高1万新元的资助，支持它们为社区创造独特体验，推动邻里经济发展。

通过这一系列新举措和资助，我们希望鼓励中小微企业和邻里企业释放创造力，把握经济转型机遇，推动新加坡的可持续发展。

（英文）：主席，绿色转型为企业带来机遇与挑战。我想向何庭如女士和尼尔·帕雷克先生保证，政府将继续深化和拓宽对企业在可持续发展各阶段的支持。

首先，我们通过能源效率资助（EEG）加强现有支持，帮助企业实现更可持续发展。2022年，我们推出EEG，帮助企业抵消能源成本上涨。自那时起，嘉伟先生和李伟强先生会高兴地知道，已有近2000家公司使用了EEG。例如，CF F&B 是一家位于美食中心的饮品摊位。我举这个例子是想让议员们知道，EEG不仅被大型中小企业使用，基层商家甚至美食中心摊位也能使用。CF F&B 利用资助采购了三台节能热水器，节省了约80%的成本。我们将帮助更多企业投资节能设备。从4月1日起，本地餐饮、零售和制造企业可继续获得最高70%的增强支持。

EEG将在今年年底向海事、建筑和数据中心等其他行业开放。贸易及工业部正与业界紧密合作，按需纳入更多行业。我们还将通过整合各行业的EEG申请至企业资助门户，简化申请流程。

EEG与企业可持续发展计划（ESP）等现有计划互补，提供全面的端到端支持。例如，企业可先利用ESP的咨询支持，找出效率提升点，再申请EEG购买节能设备。

其次，我们将通过降低碳减排门槛，从每年500吨降至250吨，增强现有的排放资源效率资助（REGE），让更多企业受益。

最后，我们将把企业融资计划（绿色）（EFS Green）延长至2026年3月31日，并扩大范围，涵盖采用绿色解决方案的公司。正如嘉伟先生指出，数据中心和芯片制造商可利用EFS（绿色）等计划减少排放。

受益于EFS（绿色）的公司之一是Koollogix，他们为数据中心提供冷却技术。该公司利用该计划改造并完成了新的实验室设施。结合其他转型努力，两年内收入增长了十倍。

先生，随着全球拥抱可持续目标和实践，客户和投资者将越来越期望企业对其碳足迹保持透明。财政部已宣布，未来几年新加坡将强制大型企业披露气候相关信息。因此，企业需要能力和资源来追踪和报告碳足迹。

为此，我们将为大型企业提供最高30%的资金支持，启动其可持续发展报告之旅。虽然较小企业不受新规影响，但可持续发展报告将帮助它们保持相关性，因为碳足迹数据披露将成为常态。

德里克·吴先生会高兴知道，我们将提供最高70%的资金支持，并与碳服务提供商紧密合作，为小型企业提供基础的可持续发展报告套餐。这将补充资讯通信媒体发展局（IMDA）高级数字解决方案计划下的预设碳核算方案。

此外，为帮助企业在保持健康竞争的同时开展可持续合作，新加坡竞争与消费者委员会（CCCS）制定了《环境可持续合作指引》。先生，为了企业成功实现可持续发展，我相信议会内所有人都会同意，员工也必须跟上步伐。因此，我们加强对劳动力的支持，提升技能和再培训，抓住绿色经济的新机遇。

去年，我们成立了绿色技能委员会，开发旨在促进低碳经济的技能和培训项目。今年，我们将继续聚焦两个领域：（一）可持续发展报告；（二）能源。为发展可持续发展报告技能，我们将为相关服务提供者提供薪资支持，培训实习生。今年，我们将推出能源领域的培训项目，解决该行业识别出的清洁能源技能缺口。

颜部长谈到新加坡如何建立充满活力的碳服务和交易生态系统。我很高兴宣布，经济发展局和企业新加坡正与新加坡国立大学（NUS）和南洋理工大学（NTU）合作，开发碳管理、服务和交易的培训课程。这些课程将帮助员工抓住这一增长领域的潜力。

下午3时

主席，另一个充满前景的新兴领域是数字经济。新加坡企业在数字化方面取得了良好进展。2022年，中小企业采用数字技术的比例达到94%，比2018年增长了20%。我们许多人都同意，COVID-19疫情极大推动了数字工具和技术的采用。

许多议员在您的发言中提到了人工智能。随着生成式人工智能等技术的兴起，数字化变得比以往任何时候都更紧迫和动态。

目前，只有4%的企业使用人工智能和机器学习。我们想分享更多关于如何帮助中小企业采用生成式人工智能的信息，并向德里克·吴先生、蔡伟杰先生、玛丽亚姆·贾法尔女士和尼尔·帕雷克先生保证，贸易及工业部将支持企业迈入数字化转型的下一阶段。

我们鼓励企业开始探索和使用人工智能。有兴趣的企业可以利用企业新加坡和资讯通信媒体发展局新推出的中小企业生成式人工智能沙盒，亲身体验生成式人工智能。该沙盒将提供适用于广泛行业的经济实惠且易用的解决方案。我举两个使用方式的例子。

例如，我们的中小企业可以使用营销和销售解决方案，帮助它们提升收入和利润。它们可以利用生成式人工智能生成独特内容，如定制邮件和产品图片，用于营销活动。

另一个领域是客户互动解决方案，也能让中小企业更大规模、更好地与客户互动。这些由生成式人工智能驱动的聊天机器人可以简化信息搜索过程，释放企业资源，提高生产力，使员工能专注于更高附加值的工作，服务客户，甚至专注于业务发展等职能。我们鼓励中小企业参与沙盒，抢先使用生成式人工智能解决方案。

主席，行业转型、绿色转型和抓住数字机遇，政府无法单独推动这些工作。许多议员谈到了行业协会和商会的重要性。确实，行业协会和商会是我们推动行业转型的重要合作伙伴。让我详细说明。

自2022年以来，我们通过本地企业与协会发展计划（LEAD）支持了30个行业协会和商会，推动行业举措，惠及约14,000家公司。

我们与行业协会合作，在全岛设立中小企业中心，提供能力发展项目。去年，超过30,000家中小企业受益于这些服务。我想向德里克·吴先生保证，中小企业中心将继续支持企业转型工作，特别是在数字化和可持续发展方面。

行业协会和商会还代表各自行业的利益和需求，是行业、私营部门与政府之间的重要桥梁。我们与行业协会的紧密合作帮助我们更好地了解和解决基层的关键问题。

企业成本和竞争力是许多中小企业和企业当前最关心的问题。我们对此非常重视。虽然没有灵丹妙药，但私营和公共部门及工会代表已携手共创解决方案，克服这些挑战。

我们将成立由我和代表新加坡企业联合会的李伟强议员共同主持的企业竞争力行动联盟（AfA）。该联盟将与行业共同制定解决方案，采纳建议，帮助企业长期提升竞争力。这将补充亲企业小组（PEP）现有的优化企业监管流程的工作。

为了使行业协会和商会成为有效的变革推动者，政府已大力投资提升它们的能力。

德里克·吴先生、蔡伟杰先生和黄翔先生会高兴知道，贸易及工业部正与新加坡企业联合会合作，为行业协会和商会及其员工开发更多能力建设项目。

未来五年，企业联合会将为行业协会和商会建设共享资源，支持其会员在数字化、可持续发展和国际化等关键领域。我们将继续与企业联合会合作，提升行业协会和商会秘书处的能力，更好地服务会员。企业联合会将在今年晚些时候分享更多细节。

最后，我们将与行业协会和商会一道，改善商业行为，加强消费者保护。《消费者保护（公平交易）法案》（CPFTA）已为欺骗和虚假宣传等不公平行为提供民事救济。感谢同时担任消费者协会（CASE）主席的杨文辉先生和蔡伟豪先生提出加强消费者保护的建议。

我们感谢与消费者协会的紧密合作，以及消费者协会为支持消费者所做的所有工作。例如，消费者协会的“价格脚印”应用程序让消费者比较多种家庭用品和熟食的价格，单位价格功能使比较更便捷。贸易及工业部、新加坡竞争与消费者委员会（CCCS）及经济机构将继续与消费者协会紧密合作，随着消费者购买习惯演变，保护消费者利益。

主席，私营部门、公共部门和行业协会之间持续的合作精神赋予我们克服挑战的勇气和韧性。

我们拥抱转型的决心将形成强大合力，战胜困难。让我们坚持不懈，保持转型势头，无论是重塑制造业和其他行业，振兴基层企业，还是抓住数字经济和绿色经济的潜力。通过共同承担转型责任，我们将扬帆起航，乘风破浪，驶向新加坡和新加坡人繁荣的未来港湾。[掌声]

主席：贸易及工业部国务部长陈振声。

贸易及工业部国务部长（陈振声）：主席先生，我们已强劲复苏，走出艰难的疫情岁月。在地缘政治和宏观经济紧张、全球通胀压力及投资者不确定性加剧的背景下，新加坡通过经济发展局在2023年吸引了127亿新元的固定资产投资承诺。这些项目将创造20,045个新就业岗位。这超出了经济发展局的中期目标，也部分原因使新加坡成为亚洲最具竞争力的经济体，并根据国际管理发展学院（IMD）排名，位列全球第四。

作为全球亚洲枢纽或文化、理念和商业的中心，我们如何加强作为世界枢纽的地位？首先，通过提升作为企业、游客和居民充满活力的目的地的吸引力；其次，通过深化和拓展国际合作伙伴关系。

让我先谈谈旅游业，该行业已强劲反弹。访客人数回升，城市作为多元体验繁华中心的活力恢复。

2023年，我们的国际访客人数恢复至1360万，达到2019年水平的71%，而2023年前三季度的旅游收入达到2019年同期的98%。我们推出了新的本地体验，抓住复苏的机遇。劳燕玲国务部长是您的基层导游，我将是您的旅游导游。

我们开放了位于万礼野生动物保护区的鸟类天堂、圣淘沙的HyperDrive以及圣淘沙名胜世界的《梵高：沉浸式体验》。我们还举办了丰富的标志性活动，如一级方程式新加坡航空大奖赛和作为新加坡艺术周一部分的首届ART SG。还有现场娱乐活动以无与伦比的活力恢复，新加坡迎来了著名艺人，如Blackpink、Ed Sheeran、张学友，当然还有目前风靡新加坡的特别表演。

我们的会议、奖励旅游、会议及展览业（简称MICE）也强势回归。2023年，我们举办了亚洲科技×新加坡、Gastech和康宝莱亚太盛会等全球最大型MICE活动。我们还迎来了新活动，如第25届世界皮肤病学大会，这是迄今为止最大规模的医学大会；以及东南亚的运输物流和航空货运展，这是该地区的首次举办。

然后，我们还有本土举办的活动，许多朋友都参与过，比如新加坡国际能源周、新加坡国际网络周、新加坡创新科技周（SWITCH），当然还有新加坡金融科技节，这些活动年复一年地吸引了大量参与者。

会议组织者告诉我，他们选择新加坡，是因为我们是人才、创意和商业的全球汇聚点。即使在像新冠疫情这样的大规模冲击期间，新加坡依然安全可靠地举办活动，这些会议组织者对我们未来在遇到干扰时继续举办世界级活动充满信心。因此，大家对我们的信心很强。通过世界级的活动。

同样，我们对旅游业也保持信心。今年，我们预计国际旅游或访客人数将达到1500万至1600万，旅游收入约为260亿至275亿新元。

梁永华先生、尼尔·帕雷克先生和谢伟民先生问我们如何促进旅游业复苏，并在全球竞争加剧的情况下保持吸引力。我们采取两方面措施。

第一，通过投资。我们将向旅游发展基金4注入超过3亿新元，推动旅游业发展。这将开发和推广新产品和体验，包括支持本地企业开发新的知识产权，振兴现有旅游项目，以及提升旅游从业人员技能。

我们加大对基金4的支持，因为它引入了令人兴奋的景点和生活方式活动。我曾参与启动其中一些项目，包括亚洲首个雪地、冲浪和滑板生活方式目的地TRIFECTA，当然还有全年独家停靠的新加坡迪士尼邮轮最新邮轮“迪士尼探险号”，该邮轮将于明年开始在新加坡启航。

过去两年，该基金还帮助了100多家本地旅游企业提升生产力和可持续性。因此，我们鼓励所有旅游公司充分利用这笔追加资金，发展业务。

第二，我们还在新加坡开发一系列高质量且首创的体验项目，计划在未来几年推出。这将帮助我们保持国际关注度，增强作为吸引力目的地的吸引力。让我以你们的专属导游身份分享更多令人兴奋的消息。

首先，我们正在通过Sensoryscape提升圣淘沙的可达性。该新景点将连接圣淘沙名胜世界（RWS）和圣淘沙海滩，设有多感官花园，激发感官体验，并在夜晚展示数字灯光秀。部分人士已提前体验，我们期待本月的软启动。

在圣淘沙名胜世界，我两年前为新加坡环球影城的小黄人乐园破土动工，期待明年开幕。明年，名胜世界还将推出新的新加坡海洋馆，这是现有SEA水族馆的三倍规模扩建。作为名胜世界扩建的一部分，还将建设新的滨水生活方式开发区，以及连接内陆和名胜世界的无人驾驶交通系统。

第三，我们有丰富的休闲和商务活动阵容。配合一系列世界级现场娱乐活动，今年我们将举办高质量的会议、奖励旅游、会议和展览（MICE）活动，如全球可持续旅游理事会全球会议（首次在新加坡举办）和2024年零售盛会亚洲太平洋（NRF 2024: Retail's Big Show Asia Pacific），这是本地区零售业的重要贸易展。

此外，滨海湾金沙扩建工程在本十年后期完成后，将使我们能够举办更多知名的现场娱乐和MICE活动。扩建将包括一个可容纳15,000人的世界级娱乐场馆、更多MICE空间，以及一座标志性的豪华全套房酒店塔楼，配备公共屋顶景点。

下午3点15分

为了继续提升新加坡作为充满活力的生活方式和经济枢纽，我们必须继续建设创意经济，正如乌莎·钱德拉萨斯女士所建议的。我将分享我们的做法。

首先，新加坡举办许多高质量的艺术和文化体验，提升我们作为充满活力的生活方式中心或目的地的吸引力。我们全年艺术文化日历包括新加坡艺术周、新加坡国际艺术节，以及牛车水、小印度和甘榜格南的文化节。

这些活动不仅深受本地居民欢迎，也吸引众多游客，新加坡旅游局将继续与活动组织者合作，提升和扩大活动吸引力，同时寻找具有国际吸引力的新主题、新艺术和文化体验。

设计新加坡理事会是经济发展局下属机构，推动设计行业发展。该理事会为设计研究和产品开发提供资金和辅导，与企业合作推动设计助力业务增长，并培养具备行业能力的设计人才。

施珍女士也强调了利用创意人才重新定义业务的潜力。

除了设计新加坡的努力，广泛的计划如企业发展补助金（EDG）也允许企业聘请创意专业人士，打造战略品牌和营销能力。

还有好消息。新加坡和中国自2024年2月9日起实施互免30天签证政策。我们预计这将促进访客人数和零售、餐饮及旅游相关行业的消费。这项更长的签证免签便利了新加坡人赴中国休闲和商务旅行，促进双向人员流动。

随着我们继续将新加坡推向世界舞台，我们欢迎来自全球的人们——不仅作为旅游目的地，也作为商业枢纽。颜金勇部长分享了我们的贸易网络如何助力经济增长。我将重点介绍我们如何拓展联系，成为更强大、更有活力的商业节点。

尼尔·帕雷克先生强调，鉴于新加坡体量小、国内市场有限，贸易对新加坡至关重要。2005年至2023年间，我们的货物和服务贸易总额翻倍多，从约8900亿新元增至超过2万亿新元，目前约为GDP的三倍。

在地缘政治紧张和保护主义贸易政策日益加剧的背景下，何婷如女士也对此表示关切，我们必须继续增强新加坡的全球贸易竞争力。如何做到？我提出三点：第一，继续推进与合作伙伴经济体的贸易和投资，尤其是增长中的市场；第二，帮助本地企业扩大规模和国际化；第三，鼓励新兴领域的新贸易流。

帕雷克先生问我们如何帮助企业抓住增长市场的新机遇。我的贸易与工业部同事和我一直在全球各地加强经济联系。我们发掘新市场、新商机和新合作伙伴。部分行程单程达30小时，虽辛苦但值得。今年我还将进行更多此类访问，因为颜部长委托我这么做。现在让我从贸易和商业视角带大家环游世界。

第一站：印度，我去年访问过几次。我们持续推进与印度的合作，世界经济论坛预测印度到2030年将成为全球第三大经济体。印度已是世界人口最多且人口最年轻的国家之一。

2012年至2022年间，新加坡对印度的投资增长超过五倍。2022年，印度是新加坡第11大贸易伙伴，印度将继续是新加坡具有战略重要性的关键市场。

在2022年首届印度-新加坡部长级圆桌会议上，双方确定了五个互利合作领域。我们已开始看到部分成果。

例如，在数字领域，印度和新加坡利用信息通信媒体发展局（IMDA）的TradeTrust框架，实现了全球首个无纸化信用证交易，支持可互操作的电子提单（eBLs）。这展示了数字技术如何简化国际贸易并提升可及性。

我们还帮助学生更好地了解印度市场。新加坡企业发展局与印度工业联合会（CII）于2024年2月宣布“印度准备人才”（IRT）实习计划，为大学和理工学院学生提供赴印度实习机会，加深对印度商业环境的理解。

从印度出发，我们前往拉丁美洲——这是我近年频繁访问的地区。

外交部长维文·巴拉克里希南和我于去年12月访问巴西，签署了与南方共同市场（MERCOSUR）的自由贸易协定。南方共同市场包括阿根廷、巴西、巴拉圭和乌拉圭。这是我们与这四个南美经济体的首个自由贸易协定，将加强我们与该地区2.7亿人口市场的联系，带来基础设施建设、农产品贸易、油气及先进制造等商机。

迄今已有150多家新加坡企业在拉丁美洲开展商业活动。这基于我们2022年与太平洋联盟集团签署的自由贸易协定，该集团包括智利、哥伦比亚、墨西哥和秘鲁。通过这两项协议，我们获得了超过5亿人口的拉丁美洲市场准入。

从印度和拉丁美洲，我们继续前往中东和非洲。

2023年10月，李显龙总理访问沙特阿拉伯和阿联酋期间，我们签署了多项协议，包括关于清真认证互认的谅解备忘录。新加坡企业现在可以期待向这两个国家出口清真食品。

非洲也充满机遇。非洲拥有全球最年轻的人口，预计到2050年，全球超过四分之一人口将是非洲人。

去年，我随李总理访问非洲，与南非和肯尼亚签署协议。8月，我们在新加坡举办了第七届非洲-新加坡商务论坛（ABSF），由新加坡企业发展局主办。该论坛吸引了500多名代表，连接了亚洲和非洲的200家企业，探索合作机会，并利用新加坡作为促进亚非贸易的枢纽。

新加坡工商联合会（SBF）带领商务代表团访问了许多这些地区，我们也与他们现场会面。他们前往探索商业机会，我邀请更多企业加入SBF及其他商务代表团，拓展这些极具潜力的新兴市场。

除了自由贸易协定，我们还在新兴增长引擎领域开拓新协议。

我们目前拥有四项数字经济协议（DEA），促进端到端数字贸易，推动数字工具使用，支持开放安全的数据流动，并建立数字系统信任。

我们还制定了绿色经济协议（GEA），支持减排同时促进经济增长和绿色经济就业。与澳大利亚的绿色经济协议推动了科学研究、绿色航运走廊及中小企业共创新项目。我们欢迎更多企业加入绿色发展之路。

通过全球之旅，我们为本地企业发掘了丰富机遇。谢伟民先生问我们如何利用这些协议。这引出第二点：我们如何帮助企业国际化并进入增长市场。

通过新加坡工商联合会，我们积极帮助企业了解并利用已签署的自由贸易协定，包括举办推广会和咨询服务。2023年已有超过1600家公司受益。

过去一年，新加坡企业发展局支持本地企业通过460个海外项目获得订单、开拓市场和海外增长。预计这些企业的年收入将因支持增长52亿新元。

作为开放经济体，我们的企业不可避免地受到全球供应链影响。何婷如女士指出，新加坡企业面临新风险。她提出了关于人力资源的具体问题，我们暂时交由人力部回应。

但关键是，我们无法完全保护企业免受风险，但可以提供融资支持并帮助提升能力。例如，企业可利用市场准备援助（MRA）和企业发展补助金（EDG）抵消开拓新市场的成本。

我们还通过国际化双倍税务扣除（DTDi）计划，对国际市场拓展和投资发展相关合资格支出提供200%的税务扣除。

张德明先生会高兴地知道，我们帮助新加坡企业国际化的工作已有许多成功案例。其中一家是本土金融科技公司iFAST，提供投资产品和服务、数字银行及养老金管理服务。iFAST为英国数字银行iFAST Global Bank（iGB）设计了客户获取和入职策略，并制定市场进入策略以强化区域影响力。iFAST目标到2030年管理资产规模达1000亿美元。我们期待更多此类成功故事，增强新加坡企业的全球影响力。

除了签署协议和鼓励企业国际化，我们还在碳信用和生物燃料等领域开拓新贸易流。我们已建立活跃的碳服务和交易生态系统。目前新加坡有超过120家碳服务和交易公司，较2020年的70家大幅增长。新加入者包括贝恩公司在新加坡设立的全球可持续创新中心，以及去年开设亚洲总部的国际排放交易协会（IETA）。我们也在发展生物燃料生态系统。

我们强大的能源和农产品交易网络使新加坡成为生物燃料及其原料贸易的聚集地，如美华集团全球销售生物柴油。生产生物柴油所用原料包括废弃食用油。

我们将继续与产业伙伴共同发展生态系统，更好支持有助于气候行动的商品和服务贸易，使新加坡成为可持续贸易流的核心。

先生们，今次预算案应对当前挑战，并为我们国家在极不确定的未来指明方向。要实现这些目标，我们需要资源来保障民生并为未来奠定坚实基础。这就是贸易与工业部工作的重要性所在。

贸易与工业部处于经济增长的前沿，尽管增长艰难，但我们发掘能源和人才潜力，利用科技和科学的新发现，推动产业绿色数字转型，应对气候变化，并在各国趋向内向时更广泛深入地连接世界。

先生们，贸易与工业部将继续努力，因为建设强大、充满活力和创新的经济，将帮助新加坡在更动荡的世界中保障未来。[掌声]

主席：我们还有时间进行澄清。梁永华先生。

下午3点30分

梁永华先生：谢谢您，主席。虽然我很想品尝罗燕玲国务部长推荐的乌龙茶，但我有一个问题要问陈志凌部长，关于第二个液化天然气终端。我理解我们需要这个终端来增强能源韧性。我们已经高度依赖管道气，因此也需要液化天然气作为备份。

但我想请问部长，贸易与工业部如何看待第二个液化天然气终端的规划时间表？我之所以问，是因为我们总体上正朝着更绿色、更清洁的能源方向发展。那么，这个第二个液化天然气终端在我们整体能源战略中，尤其是在实现更绿色、更清洁能源方面，将扮演什么角色？

陈志凌博士：感谢梁先生的补充提问。主席先生，目前我们约95%的发电需求来自天然气。我们有两大主要来源——来自邻国的管道天然气和液化天然气。

正如我在部长职务演讲中提到的，随着新兴产业的电气化需求、外资直接投资的增长以及中小企业的发展，能源需求将持续增长，而非减少。

如果各位看时间表，我们已批准的4.2吉瓦进口容量，到2035年将占我们整体能源需求的约30%。

因此，随着我们从现在到2035年的逐步推进，我们需要考虑建设第二个液化天然气（LNG）终端，部分原因是出于我们自身对能源安全的需求，因为第二个LNG终端将使我们能够，配合现有的LNG终端，完全不依赖管道天然气，所有通过船舶等方式进口的LNG就可以满足我们100%的天然气能源需求。这为我们提供了额外的安全保障。

此外，正如我在COS演讲中早先分享的能源转型内容，我们正在推进的其他多条路径和举措，无论是氢能的低碳能源研究（LCER）计划，还是氨和氢的先导项目，这些实际上仍处于相对初期阶段。我们还在考察其他措施，无论是地热能，还是其他类型的先进核能技术，包括聚变能。因此，对我们来说，能源安全、可靠性和韧性至关重要。

当我们根据消费增长进行预测时，即使我们完全转向可再生能源（这不太可能发生），第二个LNG终端也不会面临重大资产搁浅风险。我希望这能回答议员的疑问和担忧。

主席先生：傅美霞女士。

傅美霞女士：谢谢主席。我有两个澄清问题。第一个是给颜部长的。在促进大型企业与中小企业合作方面，我曾问政府是否考虑将新加坡本地中小企业的参与作为跨国企业（MNE）和大型企业申请政府资助时的积极考量标准。这主要是为了确保，特别是在高价值投资领域，如研发和创新相关资助，政府支持的项目能够覆盖更广泛的生态系统。部长能否说明我们是否可以加入这一小要求？

第二个澄清是给劳燕玲国务部长。我和梁永华议员一样，祝贺她在推动基层创新方面的热情。但我想问一个更具体的问题。鉴于政府连续发放的社区发展理事会（CDC）购物券，我想具体了解有多少支持资金流向了基层企业。

颜锦勇先生：感谢傅女士的澄清，这非常重要。我听了议员的发言，并在我的COS演讲中解释过，像PACT这样的具体计划，合作对象是本地中小企业。因此，这已经是方案设计中自然而然的一部分，我们鼓励大型企业、跨国公司，甚至本地大型企业与其供应商合作。这些跨国公司和大型企业现在也开始走向海外，并且非常希望带着他们的供应商一起出海。

他们也需要提升能力，以便在海外市场与合作伙伴协作。因此，这个项目对于培养大型企业与本地中小企业的合作非常有用。但也有其他项目侧重于引进技术和战略投资，这些可能是本地产业尚无能力承担的。

因此，我们需要评估每个项目的特点和背景，判断是否适合纳入本地企业合作。有时这样做可能适得其反，反而会失去引进技术、专家、网络和机会的机会，因为我们本地可能没有能力支持他们。

但在可能的情况下，我们始终鼓励跨国公司在这里投资时与本地企业合作。我们的所有计划都考虑到这一点。在适当的情况下，我们会与申请资助者沟通，看看本地中小企业是否能发挥作用，这也是我们一直推动和鼓励的。

事实上，许多来新加坡的投资者也在考察本地中小企业的能力。这是我们正在打造的整个生态系统，也是我们的重要卖点之一。很多时候，当我与投资者交谈时，他们选择新加坡不仅因为我们的资助，更因为我们建立的生态系统，他们可以利用中小企业的能力来增强业务，这也是他们选择在这里的原因。

但正如我所说，通过PACT，我们希望提升中小企业的能力，使他们能够随着跨国公司的成长而持续发展。我们理解议员的观点，在可能和适用的情况下，我们肯定会考虑与本地企业的合作。

劳燕玲女士：主席，我感谢傅美霞女士的提问。我想她注意到这是贸易及工业部（MTI）的COS辩论，我介绍了企业新加坡同事推出的新计划，即基层营造资助（HEPG）。我记得她和许多其他议员都非常热情地谈到了基层企业在新加坡的独特作用，我完全赞同他们的看法。

这就是为什么我们总是积极支持基层企业，尤其是在新冠疫情期间。我们都同意，基层商店不仅离我们家很近，也贴近我们的心。

首先，它们提供便利和丰富的产品与服务，通常是日常必需品和基本服务。其次，它们为许多不愿远行上班或兼职的居民提供就业机会，他们只想在附近工作。

更重要的是，它们为我们的社区注入活力，体现了村落精神和社区精神。这就是为什么贸易及工业部和企业新加坡总是尽力支持基层商店数字化、拥抱转型，并拓展新客户，不仅是无法亲访的客户，还有海外客户，通过线上或数字平台。

同样，我们也在寻找志同道合的政府合作伙伴。坦白说，如果议员们记得CDC购物券的由来，是因为疫情封锁。封锁结束后，我们觉得支持低收入家庭非常重要，同时基层商店关闭了两个月，长时间关闭可能让这些商店生死攸关。那时是恒总理推出了2000万元的纸质购物券，因为我们当时认为纸质券更有效，反响热烈。

六个月后，即2021年1月，又发放了2000万元。随后，我们转为数字化。李显龙总理推出了首个全国数字CDC购物券。我们虽称数字券，但也保证没有智能手机的居民可以在社区中心打印购物券，方便他们使用。

议员的问题是有多少资金流向了基层商店。2021年12月13日，李总理推出了第一批，每户122万户发放100元。五个月后，黄总理推出第二批，同样是每户100元。去年2023年1月3日，黄总理推出第三批，每户300元。不到两个月前，黄总理又推出第四批，每户500元。

几天前我查了数据，前三批共促使我们的2.3万个基层商店和小贩摊位消费达4.07亿元。如果加上正在进行的第四批，基层商店和小贩摊位的消费总额达1.33亿元。也就是说，前三批完成和第四批进行中，共促使基层商店和小贩摊位消费达5.4亿元。

关键是，这不仅仅是贸易及工业部和企业新加坡在支持基层商店创新、转型和数字化未来。我们欢迎政府各机构参与，也与新加坡商会联合总会（FMAS）、基层企业中心（HECS）合作。我们欢迎各位以不同身份分享如何协同支持基层商店，因为它们离我们家近，贴近我们的心。

主席先生：时间不多了。想提问和回应的议员请简短。蔡庆伟先生。

蔡庆伟先生：知道了，主席。我有两个澄清。第一个给劳燕玲国务部长。我在发言中提到“柠檬法”，即二手车寄售不受保障的漏洞。政府是否打算堵住这个漏洞，因为二手车可能是家庭最大价值的物品？

第二个给陈博士。我听部长提到即将建设的发电厂将具备氢能适应能力。我想了解它们运营时使用氢气的目标比例是多少？类似LNG采购，政府是否考虑集中采购氨或氢气以实现规模经济？

劳燕玲女士：主席，我会简短，让您享用桃乌龙茶。感谢蔡议员。我先问，您说的柠檬法漏洞，是指车主卖给车主，还是商家卖给车主？

蔡庆伟先生：基本上是二手车经销商代车主卖给买家。

劳燕玲女士：谢谢澄清。经销商代车主卖的二手车称为寄售车，属于车主与买家之间的消费者对消费者（C2C）交易。柠檬法只覆盖商家对消费者（B2C）交易，不涵盖C2C交易。但我保证，如果经销商将C2C交易误导为B2C交易，可依据现行《消费者保护（公平交易）法》（CPFTA）追究不公平交易行为。如果议员知道类似情况，请告知，我们会跟进。同时提醒消费者购买时多加谨慎。

主席先生：陈思凌博士。抱歉，陈部长。

陈思凌博士：感谢蔡议员提问。三台联合循环燃气轮机（CCGT）——来自吉宝、胜科和我刚提到的YTL PowerSeraya——都能使用最高30%的氢气。这是新一代CCGT，未来如有氢气供应，预计能实现转型。

下午3点45分

关于氢气，某些拥有有利地理条件（如太阳能、风能、潮汐能）的国家能生产绿色氢气。氢气物流运输成本目前非常高，因为液态氢的沸点极低，需大量能量维持低温，经济上不划算。

不过，我们不满足现状，开展了氨先导项目，尝试小规模试点。我们也在推动供应链技术进步，降低氢气运输成本。

关于集中采购，技术成熟时我们会考虑。但目前即使有核能用于水电解制氢，也不算绿色氢气，这涉及技术标准。希望解答了您的疑问。

主席先生：尼尔·帕雷克先生。

尼尔·帕雷克·尼米尔·拉吉尼坎特：感谢阿尔文·陈国务部长回答旅游和国际化的众多问题，以及3亿新元的旅游发展基金增拨。我想问，旅游发展基金中哪些计划效果最好？另外，带来泰勒·斯威夫特来新加坡的策略是什么？我认为这对提升国际品牌形象非常成功。

阿尔文·陈：谢谢尼尔·帕雷克先生提问。我回答会很快。下周有几项议会质询会详细针对这个问题。

旅游发展基金包含多种计划，已成功举办600多个活动，增强新加坡作为休闲和商务目的地的吸引力。大家要知道，我们旅游业在疫情期间受创严重。2022年我们注入5亿新元支持旅游发展基金，帮助旅游业复苏。现在他们已恢复，我在主答复中提到，这3亿增拨将继续支持，吸引高质量生活娱乐和世界级会议展览（MICE）活动，提升新加坡作为生活和商务目的地的吸引力。

主席先生：目前休会时间是下午4点15分，包括20分钟休息。我看到还有很多举手。如果议员们不介意，我们先短暂休息。我会允许更多澄清，但这会占用休息时间。何亭如女士。

何亭如女士：谢谢主席。我有两个澄清给颜部长。我听到部长提到精准医疗，想了解贸易及工业部对精准医疗作为新加坡经济增长领域潜力的评估。

第二，贸易及工业部是否正与卫生部和健康促进局合作，解决精准医疗目前成本高昂、可能影响低收入者可及性的问题？能否分享相关工作？

颜锦勇先生：谢谢。我在演讲中已大致介绍精准医疗市场潜力，您可参考。具体潜力方面，精准医疗是新兴技术的早期阶段。正如一些议员所说，若不及时行动，将永远没有机会。

我们必须抓住机会，与该领域公司合作开发新技术。潜力在于通过基因组学研究基因相互作用，结合人工智能，使精准医疗更有前景。我们有条件与全球领先者合作发展该领域。

关于第二个问题，我们确实与卫生部讨论。公司进行临床试验时需与卫生部合作，确保获得患者参与。疗法可用后，我们将与卫生部讨论如何确保资金充足，适当疗法惠及新加坡人。临床指南和适应症会存在，这是持续工作，我们会继续与卫生部合作，涵盖临床疗法和资金需求。

主席先生：施珍女士。

施金丽女士：谢谢主席。问题请教陈振声国务部长。我认为我们对旅游业的积极消息感到非常振奋。我只是想指出，我们确实有不少来自大学和学校的年轻人，他们在创意专业方面非常有才华。我想他们很多人都渴望有机会与这些不同的表演团队一起登台。

所以，我向贸工部提出建议，是否可以与支持创意人才和年轻人的其他机构密切合作，给予他们机会参与一些进入新加坡的节目和表演，从而积累他们的作品集。

陈振声先生：主席，我感谢施金丽女士的澄清。简短的回答是肯定的。在旅游业方面，我们有多种计划，通过我之前提到的旅游发展基金，不仅仅是基础设施建设和引进这些表演及会展活动，还包括帮助建设我们的旅游业。我发起了无数奖学金项目，与高等院校（IHLs）、理工学院、工艺教育学院（ITE）等合作，帮助提升人才储备。

戴上文化、社区及青年部（MCCY）的帽子，我再多解释一点。新加坡艺术计划非常重视各类人才，不仅仅是地方营造，正如汤恩伯部长之前提到的，还包括提升艺术家的能力，以便当我们引进这些表演和活动时，他们有良好的机会参与其中。

主席：李显龙先生。

李显龙先生：主席，我感谢颜国兴部长对傅美霞议员的深刻回应。我想继续追问，并希望对她关于培育本地中小企业的问题获得进一步澄清。

我认为许多企业，包括我们自己，在拓展国际业务和参与政府提供税收优惠及其他激励措施的项目投标时，实际上有明确政策和做法要求我们必须与本地合作伙伴合作，即使这些合作伙伴能力有限或几乎没有现有能力。我猜测这类政策旨在促进本地参与和技能转移。我想知道贸工部是否可以考虑对此进行研究，看看如果强制执行此类合作会有哪些权衡。

我的第二个澄清是关于能源效率设备（EEG）的问题，想请教罗国务部长。是否可以允许或考虑让部分EEG批准的设备跨行业使用？例如，电动叉车价格几乎是柴油叉车的两倍，而这些设备几乎适用于所有行业。

最后，我想问是否会允许对商业和工业用途的电动车辆采用给予援助。

颜国兴部长：谢谢。为了珍珠奶茶的缘故，我简短回答。答案是肯定的，我们肯定会考虑本地企业的机会以及为本地工人创造就业的因素。我们需要权衡利弊，有时必须考虑潜在投资。如果投资对我们具有战略意义，带来市场、技术和机会，这最终会溢出到本地产业。与其强制要求所有项目必须有本地合作伙伴，最终可能会失去更多机会而非获得。因此，我认为应采取审慎的方式。

我们非常注意确保本地能够获得显著价值，无论是通过直接的增值贡献，还是通过与本地企业的合作。即使他们已经进入新加坡并投资，我们也会通过不同计划，如我提到的PACT计划、研发计划，鼓励他们与本地产业合作。

同时，我们也为本地产业提供计划和支持，提升他们的能力，使他们能够与大型企业合作，增加价值。

归根结底，经济效益必须对双方都有意义。政府补助和计划只是促进和推动他们合作的手段，最终双方愿意“结婚”，这段“婚姻”必须合理。我们是媒人，努力促成并给予适当鼓励，但最终经济效益必须双方共同实现。

罗燕玲女士：谢谢主席。我简短发言。感谢李显龙先生的提问和请求。我向他保证，我们肯定会帮助中小企业投资节能设备。正如我提到的，两年前推出该计划时，批准的行业包括食品制造、餐饮服务和零售，因为电费是它们运营开支的重要组成部分。我们希望继续将此支持扩展到其他行业。因此，从4月1日起，本地食品服务、零售和制造企业将享有70%的增强支持，最高限额为3万元。

我向他保证，我们将继续与贸工部外的其他主导机构合作，了解其他行业和部门的需求。EEG计划将在今年年底向海事、建筑和数据中心等行业开放。我欢迎新加坡工商联合总会（SBF）和贸易协会（TACs）与我们合作，成为行业的声音，促进与贸工部及经济机构的沟通。

主席：像你们许多人一样，我也口渴且有点饿了。那么，梁先生，您是否愿意撤回您的修正案？

梁荣华先生：主席，在撤回修正案之前，请允许我祝贺贸工部和能源市场管理局成功促成国际能源署在新加坡设立区域办公室。这是一个伟大的成就。我相信陈振声部长的个人魅力也起到了作用。

同时，我也感谢颜国兴部长、陈振声部长、罗燕玲国务部长和陈振声国务部长对我们的提问给予全面答复。我请求撤回我的修正案。

[(程序文本) 修正案，经许可，撤回。 (程序文本)]

[(程序文本) 头V项下金额1,628,845,400元被批准列入主要预算。 (程序文本)]

[(程序文本) 头V项下金额7,179,458,100元被批准列入发展预算。 (程序文本)]

主席：秩序。我建议现在休息一下。

[(程序文本) 随后议长离开委员会主席席，回到议院主席席。 (程序文本)]

下午4时

议长：国家发展资政陈杰厚先生。

国家发展资政（陈杰厚先生）：主席，我为未能在质询时间早些时候回答黄振辉议员的国会质询表示歉意。我弄错了议程和时间，因此在质询提出时正在参加另一场工作会议。我已向黄议员道歉，并邀请他如果书面答复未能充分回答问题，可提交补充质询。

议长：秩序。会议休会，下午4时15分恢复会议。秩序，秩序。

会议休会

下午4时02分至4时15分。

会议于下午4时15分恢复。

[副议长（陈淑莹女士）主持]

英文原文

SPRS Hansard 原始记录 · 抓取日期：2026-05-02

The Chairman : Head V, Ministry of Trade and Industry. Mr Liang Eng Hwa.

Growing Our Economy

Mr Liang Eng Hwa (Bukit Panjang) : Mr Chairman, I beg to move, "That the total sum to be allocated for Head V of the Estimates be reduced by $100."

Sir, having a growing and vibrant economy is very much a part of our efforts to build a strong social compact. We need a growing economy to create good, fulfilling jobs for Singaporeans and to generate the resources to tackle our social and longer-term challenges. If our economy stagnates, it will dampen aspirations and hopes for a better future and may lead to unease and insecurity among our people.

Sir, we know that growing our economy is going to get even more difficult in the years ahead. The inherent constraints facing us – land, labour and carbon – will become more acute. We have also got to content with a more fractured and contested world, with greater willingness of countries to use economic leverage to exert their interests.

12.30 pm

There are also profound shifts in the economic landscape. The rapid rise of new disruptive technologies such as generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) and the wider adoptions of big data analytics, cloud computing, e-commerce and automation technologies present both challenges and opportunities to Singapore.

All these may sound daunting but fortunately, we are able to respond from a position of strength.

So, how do we grow the economy going forward? Allow me to just touch on three areas.

Firstly, Singapore must continue to be a choice destination for high value-adding investments, investments that put us at the forefront of cutting-edge of technology. Having state of the art companies' hub and base here helps overcome our scale limitations and enable the proliferations of technologies and the development of skilled talents here.

To achieve that, we must tick the boxes in the list of checklist that investors look for. Among the key requirements are excellent infrastructure and connectivity, diverse talent pool, trusted and innovative hub, strong financial standing and political stability.

Despite being a small economy, Singapore is the fourth largest recipients of foreign direct investments (FDIs) in the world. However, the implementation of Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) Pillar Two will reset the playing field in the competition for investments and would have implications in our efforts to attract high-quality and high-value investments.

And that is why we must keep working on enhancing our overall propositions; continue to invest heavily into our workforce, in infrastructure and also innovation; as well enhancing our connectivity, our economic fundamentals; and to have sound and consistent policies.

Secondly, we must continue to strengthen the two wings of our economy – manufacturing and services. The Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) has in earlier Budget Committees of Supply (COS) outlined our manufacturing and services strategies. Although manufacturing now accounts for less than 30% of our gross domestic product (GDP), it remains a very important pillar in our economy.

Singapore is the eighth largest exporter of high-tech goods in the world and home to many high-value industries like precision engineering, MedTech, aerospace, semiconductors and so on. Besides the jobs and value-add that it creates, the manufacturing sector helps add further resilience to our economy and also helps contribute to the growth in the services sectors. Other than attracting and anchoring frontiers global manufacturers to base here, we should also keep working on developing and growing the manufacturing capabilities of our local enterprises, with the aim grow them into regional champions in their own right.

Sir, I will now move on to the services sector. Our services sector covers a wide spectrum of businesses, including both outward-oriented sectors like financial services, logistics, trade as well as domestic-facing ones like food and beverages (F&B) and retail trade.

At last year's MTI COS, Minister Gan shared that our Services 2030 vision seeks to harness the growth opportunities in the areas of digitalisation and sustainability and to anchor Singapore as a leading, vibrant hub for businesses, lifestyle and tourism. This strategy and the focuses would play to our strengths and minimise our shortcomings.

The one services sector that plays to our strengths and not easily replicable by others is our premiere position as a financial hub and as the international financial centre of the East. I am glad we are not resting on our laurels and have announced another $2-billion injection into the Financial Sector Development Fund to further up our game in this year's Budget.

To continue to be the service hub of choice for global businesses, we need to make our city the among the most business-friendly and among the most liveable city in the world. Hence, the longer-term urban planning such as the Masterplan by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) and the infrastructure upgrades in transport, recreational facilities, healthcare, convention facilities and so on – all adds to making us a conducive hub to offer services to the consumers and businesses of the world.

Thirdly, we grow our economy by continually investing in new technologies and capabilities. Last year, we saw the rapid emergence of AI powered applications and systems, and the momentum is likely to continue and increase this year. We need to develop homegrown AI technologies, grow the AI talent pool and encourage adoption of AI technologies among enterprises.

Besides AI, we would also need to sustain our investment in research and innovations to deepen our scientific capabilities and bolster the startup ecosystem here to capture value.

Sir, Budget 2024 also took a major step to safeguard our energy security which has a bearing on our longer-term economic competitiveness. Some of the major moves include building a second liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal as well as the setting up of the Future Energy Fund with an initial $5-billion injection to further develop the critical infrastructure and to transit to clean energy.

Sir, to do all the above, Singapore must have the requisite skills and talent pool. We are investing big time to grow our own timber, such as the SkillsFuture Level-Up, Career Health and others; but we have also got to be open to have external workforce that complements and strengthens our overall proposition.

Sir, in that context, allow me to frame a few questions for the Minister.

First, given these unsettling times, how is the Government ensuring that Singapore will remain globally competitive and relevant?

Second, how does MTI plan to continue supporting our enterprises, to capture future growth opportunities in the region and in growth sectors such as AI and the green economy?

Third, can the Government share more about its plans to enhance the competitiveness of the manufacturing sector?

Fourth, to strengthen our connectivity and international linkages, can the Minister share more details on our international collaboration efforts and how Singapore companies can benefit from these partnerships?

Fifth, in the Deputy Prime Minister's Budget Statement and in his round-up speech as well, he mentioned about developing local pipeline of corporate leadership talent and more support to help Singaporeans gain overseas experience. Can I ask for more details of this plan?

Finally, sixth, on tourism, MTI announced that the Government has earmarked half a billion dollars to support tourism recovery. So, can I seek an update on our tourism revitalisation effort? What more can we do to ensure that Singapore remains an attractive tourist destination amidst the intense global and regional competition?

Sir, I Iook forward to the Minister's response.

[(proc text) Question proposed. (proc text)]

Supporting Growth of SMEs

Ms Foo Mee Har (West Coast) : Chairman, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) forming the majority of our business landscape are currently navigating a myriad of challenges that threaten their growth and sustainability.

The rise in manpower costs is a major concern. This, combined with the increased costs of raw materials, rents, utilities and other operational expenses is exerting immense pressure on their already thin margins. The heightened interest rates environment also adds further pressure on financing costs, adding challenges to SMEs' access to capital for growth and innovation.

Sir, adding to all this, the manpower shortage has left many SMEs in a dire situation, unable to fill essential roles and sustain their operations, let alone the capacity to innovate and transform. The need for digital transformation has shifted from being a luxury to a necessity for survival and growth.

Another pressing issue is the environmental impact and the increasing demand for green compliance. Many SMEs lack the knowledge and resources to transform towards greener practices, even as they face increasing pressure from counterparts and regulations requiring adherence to green standards. This gap further hinders their ability to compete effectively and sustainably.

Sir, Budget 2024 Enterprise Support Package will provide SMEs with some relief immediately. But the most significant support measures are those tilted towards firms that can restructure and transform. Therefore, to support SMEs to embark on this transformation journey, I would like to ask the Government to double down on three fronts.

First, we must strongly promote collaborations between larger companies and SMEs in the area of supplier development and co-creation. Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong rightly pointed out that, "We cannot force MNEs to choose only local suppliers, but we can and we will help Singapore enterprises to meet the high standards and to form win-win partnerships with MNEs."

I welcome the expansion of the Partnerships for Capability Transformation scheme to encompass broader areas of collaboration. However, to further enhance this initiative, I propose that the Government consider an additional step – and this is an important step – by integrating the involvement of Singapore-based SMEs as a positive criterion for multinational enterprises (MNEs) and larger corporations when they access Government grants.

This inclusion – to include SMEs in the application – should be particularly emphasised for high-value investments such as research and development (R&D) and innovation related grants. By doing so, it will not only incentivise large entities to collaborate with SMEs, but also ensure the benefits of such Government-backed programmes extend across the broader business ecosystem.

Secondly, the Government Enterprise Financing Scheme (EFS) is designed to assist SMEs with various financing needs. A key feature is its risk sharing component, where Enterprise Singapore shares the loan default risk with participating financial institutions in the event of enterprise insolvency. The Government's risk sharing can reach up to 70%, therefore providing a significant safety net for banks. This arrangement should enable banks to take on more risk and provide more favourable terms to our SMEs.

By offering this level of support, the Government is really in a good position to expect participating financial institutions to improve loan conditions for our SMEs. How can the Government support SMEs to secure more favourable interest rates, more flexible security requirements and more favourable payment terms for those that are on EFS loans versus those that are on standard bank loans?

Growing the Economy Over the Next Decade

Mr Desmond Choo (Tampines) : Mr Chairman, Singapore has been bracing itself for a period of slow growth and high inflation as Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat has pointed out in his Budget Speech this year.

Our population is rapidly ageing, our local workforce growth will eventually slow down to zero. An ageing population will lead to increase in social spending, decreased consumption and decreased labour output. There are also constraints of land, power and carbon.

How will our GDP look like over the next decade? Studies have shown that super ageing Japan's GDP was expected to drop by about 5% relative to the baseline scenario of a stationary population. We must not let this happen to Singapore.

Could the Ministry share what are its overarching plans over the next 10 years to grow our GDP despite our constraints?

I have three suggestions for the Ministry to consider.

First, we must increase the amount of capital and adoption of innovation and technology by our SMEs. Singapore is already amongst the world's leaders in automation, especially in industrial robots. It was just behind South Korea in 2021.

For our growth to continue, we need to intensify automation and innovation in our SMEs. What is the current progress and plans to intensify capital investment and adoption of innovation by SMEs? Could the Ministry provide an update on the take-up of the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) T-UP programme and how can we continue to improve take-up by SMEs?

Next, we need to have more of our companies operating abroad to bring in income and job opportunities. Economically, we need to focus on our gross national income (GNI) per capita as much as GDP per capita. Singapore is fortunate to be in Southeast Asia, one of the fastest growing regions in the world. With a young and still-growing population of 650 million, Singapore can have access to a large market and pool of talent.

Our companies must seize the limited window to expand in the region. How has MTI helped our Singapore companies to expand in the region? What are the future plans to help SMEs go regional?

Lastly, we must seize the opportunity provided by AI for Singapore to continue to punch above our weight. AI has the potential to improve our workers' productivity tremendously.

Yet, AI will require significant resources, especially power and talent, for R&D. How is the Ministry ensuring that Singapore has the requisite infrastructure and talent for companies to keep pace and deepen AI work?

12.45 pm

Supporting Industry Transformation

Mr Shawn Huang Wei Zhong (Jurong) : Chairman, in an era where global economies are increasingly interconnected and digital technologies are rapidly evolving, the need for our businesses to stay competitive has never been more critical. As we navigate through the complexities of the 21st century – including the pressing challenges posed by climate change – the imperative for digital innovation, global market expansion and sustainable practices is paramount to not only surviving but thrive in the global marketplace.

Digitalisation and sustainable practices are essential pillars for resilience and growth in the complex web of global supply chains and commerce. Digitalisation by enabling seamless integration of technologies, facilitates unparalleled efficiencies, agility and connectivity among businesses worldwide, thereby enhancing competitiveness and access to markets. Concurrently, sustainability practices address the urgent need to minimise environmental impact and promote responsibility sourcing and production methods.

As such, what are some of the key measures that MTI is undertaking to support our sectors and firms in their transformation efforts, particularly in digitalisation, internationalisation and sustainability?

Staying Competitive in a BEPS 2.0 World

Ms Mariam Jaafar (Sembawang) : Sir, with the impending implementation of BEPS 2.0, many jurisdictions around the world are grappling with the need to strike a balance between attracting investments and ensuring fair taxation. Several countries have implemented various policies, including new tax incentives and credits, enhanced investment allowances, targeted sectoral support and direct subsidies to individual companies.

Mr Speaker, those of us who have worked in the frontline in organisations, like the Economic Development Board (EDB) as well as those of us in country teams of MNEs, know the sheer effort it takes to anchor good investments in Singapore. This land scarce little red dot, with no domestic market to speak of, where wages and living costs are higher than in many other jurisdictions. We cannot be complacent and a competitive tax regime is critical.

The Refundable Investment Tax Credit is therefore very welcome. It directly alleviates the tax burden for businesses while allowing EDB and Enterprise Singapore to target the companies and sectors that will best contribute to economic growth; as well as opportunities and jobs for our people and our local enterprises. A good understanding of how the scheme will be implemented and its potential benefits for the Singapore economy and Singaporeans is therefore helpful for both businesses and the public. To that end, I have a few questions for the Minister.

One, how will the scheme keep Singapore attractive as an investment destination when taking into account the measures that other jurisdictions are putting into place? Two, the list of economic activities and qualifying expenditures appear to be quite broad; can the Minister give more specifics on the sectors and qualifying expenditures that can be expected? Three, how can we ensure that the tax credit will incentivise capital investment and drive desired outcomes, such as higher productivity or decarbonisation targets; and help MNEs achieve those targets? And lastly, how else is the Government supporting businesses to stay competitive?

The Chairman : Ms Jessica Tan, please take your two cuts together.

Business Transformation

Ms Jessica Tan Soon Neo (East Coast) : Thank you, Mr Chairman. With geopolitical uncertainties, rapid technology development, structural disruptions and inflationary pressures, Budget 2024 signals the urgency for businesses to transform. It is no longer a good-to-do but a must-do if businesses want to stay relevant, continue to do business and grow.

Business transformation is not easy as it involves business process and operational changes; the adoption of relevant digital technology; as well as the need to build new and deep capabilities of employees to address the structural disruptions. With climate change, we see increasing legislation of sustainability standards and disclosures. This will require that companies commit to and transition to sustainable ways of doing business, if they want to do business.

With the Industry Transformation Roadmaps and the myriad of support measures to help businesses transform, can MTI share the progress of companies in Singapore, including SMEs, in their business transformation?

How will the various measures announced in Budget 2024 come together to support businesses, including SMEs, in their transformation efforts especially in digitalisation, cybersecurity, sustainability as well as growing internationally? How many Singapore companies have taken on the support measures to transform?

Position as Global Business Node

Mr Chairman, Singapore has retained our position as the world's leading business hub. But Singapore's hub status is challenged with increasing geopolitical uncertainties, emerging disruptive technologies and BEPS 2.0. What efforts is the Government making to ensure that Singapore continues to be attractive and competitive globally? As the hon Ms Mariam Jaafar has said, for MNEs to anchor their investments here, in Singapore, it is not an easy decision and it is extremely competitive. And in today's world, even more.

What strategies are we exploring to continue to make Singapore a place that the best global companies will choose to locate their regional and global businesses? This is important for Singapore to have good growth as well as bring investments in cutting-edge technologies, know-how and good jobs.

Can more details be shared on international partnerships and how these partnerships can ensure that Singapore remains at the centre of global trade? Leveraging on Singapore's status as a global business node, how can Singapore companies tap on the enhanced support measures announced in Budget 2024 to expand and capture growth opportunities to play an important role in regional and global value chains?

The Chairman : Mr Neil Parekh, please take your two cuts together.

Capturing Future Growth Opportunities

Mr Neil Parekh Nimil Rajnikant (Nominated Member) : Chairman, in the Asia Pacific region, the digital economy, including AI and the green economy, present immense growth opportunities. Southeast Asia's Internet economy is forecasted to reach US$1 trillion by 2030 and over five to six million new jobs are expected to be created through the green economy.

In Singapore itself, we expect to create more than 50,000 green jobs by 2030. In 2023, MTI announced enhanced support under the Enterprise Development Grant for sustainability projects to support more firms in capturing new growth opportunities in sustainability as we transition to a green economy.

Sir, there is no doubt that both the digital and green economies are growing in importance and Singapore's enterprises must seize these opportunities in these growth areas to further progress in these spaces.

My question for the Ministry is: how does MTI plan to continue supporting our enterprises and capture future growth opportunities in the region and growth sectors, such as AI and the green economy? At the same time, given the promising growth potential in Southeast Asia, how does MTI plan to strengthen Singapore's links and collaborations with the region for new growth opportunities in green economy and AI, so that our businesses and people can tap on the opportunities beyond our shores?

Facilitating Internationalisation

Chairman, as we navigate through an increasingly interconnected global economy, we must recognise that our nation's growth is intricately linked to our ability to venture beyond our shores. Singapore, although small in size, possesses boundless potential. But to fully unlock it, internationalisation becomes not just a choice but a necessity for sustained economic growth.

However, the lingering effects of the pandemic, geopolitical tensions and the macroeconomic uncertainty have given rise to an increasingly fragmented world. There are headwinds to economic growth with high inflation rates and increasing volatility in the world.

In Singapore, we have achieved quite a bit thus far. Today, we have forged an extensive network of 27 implemented Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) along with being a signatory to many regional agreements in the Asia Pacific like the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement.

On its part, MTI, Enterprise Singapore and the Singapore Business Federation (SBF) also offer several schemes and programmes, such as the Global Innovation Alliance, to support companies' internationalisation efforts. Moving forward, Singapore needs to identify new opportunities and build new engines of growth as well as continue to build on our international partnerships.

My question for the Ministry is: how can MTI continue facilitating our companies' endeavours to seize new economic opportunities in the fast-growing markets in Southeast Asia, South Asia, Latin America, Central Asia, the Middle East and Africa? Also, how do we protect the investments of Singaporean companies in these emerging markets?

FTAs and Singapore's Competitiveness

Mr Sharael Taha (Pasir Ris-Punggol) : Mr Chairman, in his Budget speech, Deputy Prime Minister Wong shared that the international environment has darkened dramatically – major powers are prioritising national security over economic interdependence in this current geopolitical climate and there are other potential headwinds, like BEPS 2.0, that may affect Singapore's competitiveness to attract investments.

In light of this, how do our global FTAs remain relevant and create conditions for cross-border investments and boost Singapore's competitiveness?

The Chairman : Ms He Ting Ru, please take your two cuts together.

Anti-economic Coercion Effects

Ms He Ting Ru (Sengkang) : Sir, today's world is increasingly uncertain and contentious, not least because of growing United States (US)-Chinese competition. With these, come greater risk of Singapore facing economic coercion. Not necessarily because of anything we may have done but because major powers and others believe that it is possible to force us into certain positions.

We have seen US limits on technology transfers helm in some of the world's ability to export. During the Trump Administration, Singapore was placed on a list of potential currency manipulators that could face sanction. China has published a list of countries from Australia to Czechia from Canada to Japan and South Korea for acting in ways that it does not like.

Economic coercion can be arbitrary and sudden. This may get worse of shifts and domestic politics in China and the US. What are the concrete efforts being taken to prepare for and mitigate economic pressure that may come our way, both on our own and in conjunction with partners? After all, any such plans must involve active public and business participation, sooner rather than later, to be effective.

Reputation Risk for Singapore Companies

The European Union (EU) is currently proposing a law, which requires larger companies to identify actual or potential negative impacts on human rights and their supply chain; and to prevent, mitigate and remedy these impacts. This is on top of existing laws that already require large companies to perform due diligence on supply chains to ensure that they have a plan of vigilance to identify risks relating the labour practices, health and safety or environmental issues.

Our policies relating to recruitment fees have an impact in Singapore's ability to attract investment and business, particularly in sectors like the maritime industry, where companies have to employ many migrant workers. What are the reputational and legal risks for companies in the development of the Ministry of Manpower's (MOM's) policies and allocation of resources for enforcement?

Agreement has been reached between the European Parliament and Council and we are likely to see further progress on rules enforcing labour rights in global supply chains soon. These are seen to foster a business environment with legal certainty, a level playing field and sustainable competition that does not benefit from worker exploitation.

Germany has already enacted similar laws. In 2019, the International Labour Organization (ILO) governing body approved the definition of recruitment fees and related costs, emphasising that recruitment fee should not be borne by workers or jobseekers, as workers must not be required to pay for access to employment or it takes time for workforce structures to change.

There are international standards ready for adoption by EU legislators and EU-based MNCs. Migrant workers continue to pay high recruitment fees of up to $12,000 to have the opportunity to work in Singapore. This is an area of concern, given the risk of debt bondage to workers' rights as well as their practical ability to make economic decisions, such as a choice to leave a job with poor working conditions. Specifically, what are our recruitment fees? The Workers' Party reiterates our call for the creation of a Government jobs' portal that advertises all open positions for migrant workers to cut fees workers pay to agents in Singapore and overseas.

I note the response to a Parliamentary Question last year that we are considering facilitating direct recruitment channels for returning workers. Are there any updates? It is also said that we have no legal jurisdiction to influence the recruitment fees migrant workers pay in their home countries. But are MOM and MTI engaging with source countries on the recruitment fee issue, given the impact that it will have on MNCs' supply chains in Singapore?

The Chairman : Mr Mark Lee, you can take both your cuts together.

Offshore Grant Schemes

Mr Mark Lee (Nominated Member) : Sir, as Singapore looks towards new engines of growth while overcoming domestic resource constraints like for example, the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone, a portion of development efforts may need to be conducted outside Singapore utilising offshore resources. These offshore activities will ultimately contribute to tangible and intangible assets that benefit Singapore, enabling our businesses to reduce costs and maximise value capture.

Will MTI consider revising current grant schemes to include coverage for business expenses incurred during offshore development activities? This adjustment can significantly aid local companies in leveraging international resources while ensuring the resulting benefits bolster Singapore's economy.

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Partnerships for Capability Transformation (PACT) Scheme

Sir, I support the PACT scheme for its role in promoting collaborations between MNEs and SMEs and now ask, how MTI intend to incentivise participation in the PACT Scheme to facilitate the creation of beneficial partnerships between SMEs and MNEs?

Local businesses have shared their struggle to retain and develop talent because MNEs and aiming to swiftly expand their operations, often offer high and yet unsustainable wages to fulfill their foreign worker quotas, disadvantage SMEs in talent development and acquisition. Given these concerns, how does MTI plan to nurture our local SMEs to navigate these challenges effectively?

Support for SMEs

Mr Shawn Huang Wei Zhong : Chairman, in recent years, particularly in the wake of the global pandemic, SMEs have faced unprecedented challenges that have tested their resilience, adaptability and sustainability.

MTI has been instrumental in introducing various support measures to aid these enterprises as they navigate the complexities of recovery and seek new opportunities for growth. As such, how will the Government continue to support these SMEs?

Enterprise Growth Support and Tourism

Mr Edward Chia Bing Hui (Holland-Bukit Timah) : Mr Chairman, Sir, before the onset of the pandemic, considerable efforts were dedicated to assisting our local enterprises in seizing opportunities abroad and expanding their global footprint. As we transition from the pandemic, the external landscape and supply chains have undergone significant shifts due to the heightened emphasis on resilience and geopolitical tensions, leading to increased polarisation and "friend-shoring".

In light of these changes, how is MTI adapting its programmes – such as Scale-up – to align with this evolving external environment, ensuring that support for regionalisation remains effective?

Moreover, considering MTI's success in securing Foreign Direct Investments in recent years and the presence of MNEs, how will these factors empower local businesses to capitalise on emerging opportunities? Will this integration be part of the enhanced PACT programme and if so, what is the synergy between Scale-up and PACT?

Furthermore, MTI's proactive approach to signing FTAs with various jurisdictions presents additional opportunities for local enterprises to expand its overseas revenues. How does MTI facilitate local businesses in seizing these opportunities? What contributions do trade associations and chambers (TACs) make in this regard and how is MTI enhancing its support to TACs to bolster secretariat manpower and capabilities further?

Another area that has changed post-pandemic is the tourism landscape. Businesses operating within the tourism and related sectors are encountering notable challenges stemming from several factors. One, escalating manpower costs due to tight labour markets. Two, increased energy expenses. Three, sluggish recovery of tourism arrivals from key traditional markets. And four, strengthening of the Singapore dollar against key tourism markets.

What are MTIs strategies to mitigate these challenges?

Despite efforts, tourism arrival figures and projections have yet to rebound to pre-pandemic levels of 19 million per year. While the sector witnessed a robust resurgence in the past two years – largely attributable to schemes like the Jobs Support Scheme (JSS) that retains capabilities and capacities – other global tourism hubs have regained momentum and competitiveness. Competing markets have also unveiled substantial new initiatives and attractions, vying for a share of the tourism market.

In light of these circumstances, what are MTI's specific strategies to restore our tourism sector to pre-pandemic levels? Furthermore, within these strategies, what specific initiatives are in place to enhance local content; empowering local enterprises to cultivate robust Intellectual Properties (IPs) instead of solely relying on imported IPs?

Support SMEs – Digital, AI and Green Economy

Mr Derrick Goh (Nee Soon) : Sir, digitalisation remains an imperative for our SMEs in a rapidly evolving technology space, to thrive and capture opportunities in the new economy. The year 2023 saw the breakthrough of AI and its use cases in the real world. But as is always said, AI will not replace humans but the person using AI will. In essence, SMEs who will succeed better are those that can adapt and transform quicker, by viewing digitalisation and AI as a friend instead of a foe.

As a practitioner using various forms of AI, including GenAI, in my work to sharpen effectiveness and productivity in risk management and auditing, I can understand why SMEs may face and see AI as intimidating. There is a need to help SMEs dispel a "fear of the unknown" and the notion that AI is reserved only for MNEs.

In this regard, can MTI share its plans to help SMEs further accelerate their digitalisation so that more local businesses can harness AI to transform and increase productivity?

On sustainability, I am glad that Budget 2024 has covered key aspects of going green as a competitive advantage, because MNEs have started on their sustainability journey earlier and would expect the same for our own SME suppliers. I am also glad to learn that SMEs in more sectors will benefit from green loans and the Energy Efficiency Grant, which I had asked for at last year's Committee of Supply debate and Government support to be more inclusive.

Yet, while advancing in the green journey is essential and more Government funding is available, a DBS study in 2023 found that only 37% of SMEs had a clear roadmap on how to achieve their sustainability goals. Many cite having to navigate complex reporting standards as a hurdle.

On this note, what is MTI's assessment of the progress and effectiveness of existing grants and initiatives, such as the Enterprise Sustainability Programme and how may they be enhanced to help our SMEs be more ESG-savvy?

While opportunities in the digital and green economy are aplenty, we know that transformation is not easy and more funding on its own is not sufficient. What matters more fundamentally, is for SMEs to shift their mindsets and be willing to accelerate their efforts. For those who are, they should be provided with ready-access to expertise. This is where SME Centres and TACs, as critical nexus for engagement and advisory, can play a more proactive role to nudge and help SMEs digitalise and go green.

In my engagement with the industry, a feedback suggested by SMEs was for such Centres to go beyond the marketing of grant options and providing generic guidance; and offer more in terms of business development advice and more customised expertise and guidance.

As such, can MTI share on three areas.

One, whether there are plans to boost the effectiveness of SME Centres by enhancing its advisory capabilities and sharpening its own key performance indicators (KPIs) from Level 1 or baseline targets, such as number of SME visits, to be more aligned with the outcomes, such as SME productivity and customer growth of the portfolio of SMEs they cover?

Two, whether TACs can be guided to deepen understanding of their own members' profile to provide more targeted facilitation and support as well as more effective cross-learning between its members?

Thirdly, whether we can build a more comprehensive support ecosystem for SMEs, such as by (a) synergising the roles of SME Centres and TACs with the enhanced Partnerships for Capability Transformation Scheme for SMEs to connect more easily to learn digital and green strategies; (b) deepening collaborations with Institutes of Higher Learning for training; and (c) leveraging clan associations with wide business connections for advocacy.

Supporting AI Transformation

Ms Mariam Jaafar : Sir, rapid developments in AI are transforming businesses and industries. Yet, businesses struggle to scale up AI beyond pilots and POCs and therefore fail to derive value and impact from their efforts.

As I spoke about in my Budget debate speech and again, I would like to declare my interest as a Managing Director and Senior Partner of a consulting firm that does the work of AI. Scaling AI requires more than just buying a platform and hiring a few data scientists. I spoke about the 10-20-70 rule: 10% of the effort is in the algorithms; 20% in the technological and IT foundations – the infrastructure, the data architecture; 70% though, is about people and processes – ways of working, business-process reinvention, how to drive adoption at scale, organisation, talent strategy and change management.

Businesses therefore need to move beyond experimentation and POCs. They need to have a clear strategy and roadmap of how they will build the AI platform, data, process, organisation and other enablers and sequence the development of use cases so that they are able to fund their AI transformation journey and win in the medium-term.

MTI has launched a number of good initiatives, such as AI Innovation sandboxes and hands-on workshops aimed at identifying AI and GenAI use cases; and the AI Trailblazers initiative, which helps organisations to identify GenAI use cases and build solution prototypes.

How will the Government now help organisations take the next steps to implement AI at-scale, beyond POCs and pilots?

Encouraging Entrepreneurial Spirit

Mr Keith Chua (Nominated Member) : Mr Chairman, retrenchments and redundancies are expected to continue. MNEs, Lazada, Amazon and Google in the technological sector have reduced staff. The closure of Tetra Pak will affect 300 workers. From time to time, local enterprises also succumb to changing conditions and downsize or cease operations.

Such realties are not new. We need to continually find new foreign investments and also keep building up and strengthening local businesses. The local business sector was built over the decades, possibly centuries, by individuals with the entrepreneurial spirit. While the majority are classified SMEs, we also have large successful local enterprises and collectively, these employ many Singaporeans.

My question to the Ministry and to all of us is: what will we do to keep the entrepreneurial spirit thriving, especially in challenging times and when business conditions may not be conducive? Also, with Forward Singapore (Forward SG), there may well be a resurgence in social entrepreneurial initiatives. How can we support these agents of change?

Supporting our SMEs

Ms He Ting Ru : Sir, the enhancement of the Enterprise Financing Scheme and the Energy Efficiency Grant is welcome. Incentives and grants are critical in providing seed support and are crucial in driving SME growth and are important signals in the industrial strategy we are developing, especially for our green transition. Yet, a DBS survey found that 63% of SMEs in Asia identified as their top challenge transitioning to a sustainable business model.

In a survey reported in the Singapore Business Review last month, 58% of small and microbusinesses polled are less confident about prospects in 2024. The survey also said that apart from grants, SMEs feel they need more support in areas ranging from subsidies for talent and acquisition schemes, indicative of the tight labour market, more support for international expansion and rental assistance and rental support.

The same survey also found that a streamlined grant application process was on the wishlist. We should continue to simplify the adoption process for grants and in particular, green grants.

For many SMEs, daily operations are a priority and not grant applications and associated administrative work. Perhaps, one way to improve the system would be for Enterprise Singapore to provide a one-stop web page offering advice and guidance to SMEs on how they can green their business and what the associated grants are. Also important, are the money itself and the time value of money. Could the Government provide some of these grants on a cash rather than a reimbursement basis, to help firms who would not normally look at environmental matters in their cashflow planning?

Additionally, in order to properly understand whether our grants are properly supporting our SMEs, we should publicly announce how we track their success. For example, alongside how much has been disbursed for green grants, we should state how many tonnes of emissions have been mitigated per dollar spent, so that the public, civil society and Members of Parliament can be sure that these taxpayer-paid subsidies are working; and to measure how they have achieved their goals. Other commentators have noted that the lack of standardised measurement in reporting standards have made the environmental, social and governance (ESG) compliance efforts challenging for SMEs.

Finally, a conversation article reproduced in the Business Times last year also stated that workers and managers in SMEs often have less resources and know-how to understand and properly tackle mental health challenges, partly because most research about mental health and well-being at work is usually undertaken in larger organisations. I hope that we would study how to tackle mental health and well-being at work in the context of our smaller enterprises in order to understand the particular challenges that they face and to ultimately develop interventions that are targeted to work to raise the well-being of our workers in SMEs; and see if any interventions can be made beyond those which currently form part of MOM's Total Workplace Safety and Health programme.

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Cut Energy Efficiency Grant

Mr Mark Lee : Sir, as SMEs navigate the challenges of integrating sustainable practices within an evolving regulatory framework, the Enhanced Energy Efficiency Grant (EEG) aims to bridge this gap, especially for sectors like food services, manufacturing and retail, with plans to extend it to reach new sectors. Could MTI provide insights into EEG’s effectiveness in these areas, highlight successful strategies and share lessons to encourage broader uptake across newly included sectors?

Furthermore, in recognising beyond financial and technical hurdles SMEs encounter in adopting energy-efficient practices, is there a consideration from MTI to expand EEG to encompass a more holistic support package, covering consultancy, execution and training costs, to facilitate in this transition?

Moreover, in the context of shifting towards clean energy and the high associated costs, can MTI outline any assistance for SMEs, particularly in adopting electric vehicles for commercial and industrial use? Lastly, could MTI explain the exclusion of crucial sectors like Process and Logistics from EEG, given their importance in decarbonisation, and are there plans to integrate these sectors into the programme?

Heartlands 2025 Initiative

Mr Shawn Huang Wei Zhong : The vitality of our heartland enterprises is indispensable to the socio-economic fabric of our nation, serving not just the backbone of our local economy but also the heartbeat of our community life.

In 2022, MTI and Enterprise Singapore launched "Our Heartlands 2025" initiative to revitalise local neighborhoods. As such, can MTI provide an update on the support measures for heartland enterprises under this initiative?

Supporting Heartland Enterprises

Ms Foo Mee Har : Chairman, in today's world, where large retail chains and online shopping platforms dominate the market, our neighborhood shops are facing unprecedented challenges. Yet, these small establishments offer something invaluable that transcends mere commerce – they are the lifelines of our localities. Our heartland enterprises provide a unique social value that nurtures the spirit of our communities. These are places where personal connections are made, where the shopkeepers know your name, family and preferences.

These businesses, often run by families and local entrepreneurs, are deeply rooted in the community. They contribute to the local community, create jobs and frequently offer personalised services that larger stores cannot. Therefore, it is crucial that the Government proactively step in to support these vital community assets.

I applaud the Government in launching various initiatives to energise and support our heartland shops. So, I would like to ask the Minister to share the progress of "Our Heartlands 2025" and "Heartlands Go Digital". These initiatives are crucial in helping our neighborhood shops sharpen their competitive edge and carve out a distinct role for them to thrive in the years to come.

Support for Heartland Enterprises

Mr Saktiandi Supaat (Bishan-Toa Payoh) : Mr Chairman, coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2022, MTI and Enterprise Singapore launched the "Our Heartlands 2025" initiative to boost the growth and efficiency of our heartland shops which had demonstrated “incredible resilience and mettle to transform and thrive” during the pandemic.

There are a fair number of heartland F&B and retail shops in my constituency of Toa Payoh East, most notably around the Lorong 8 Market and Hawker Centre, and Kim Keat Food Centre. The charm of these open, ground floor establishments cannot be replicated by our shopping malls and complexes, not to mention the convenience that they offer to the seniors living in the neighbourhood.

May I ask the Ministry what are the KPIs to be met in 2025 under the initiative and would the Ministry be able to provide an update on the support measures for heartland enterprises under "Our Heartlands 2025"?

Strengthen Trade Associations

Mr Keith Chua : Mr Chairman, trade associations played a valuable role during COVID-19. These included closely working with the Government and Members, providing input on business realities and proposing ways to ride through the pandemic and to retain jobs.

Historically, trade associations have brought like-minded businesses by sector to work cooperatively, share best practices, improve productivity and, in many instances, to internationalise. Recovery from COVID-19 has been patchy for some sectors and many continue to face the recent challenges of higher costs across many fronts. Tr ade associations will remain relevant, though some sectors may face consolidation while others see opportunities for growth. The broad-based Budget support measures will help many companies.

How will MTI best support trade associations in this challenging phase of global and domestic business disruption? How will MTI approach those sectors and their trade associations that see consolidation but still remain viable?

Uplifting Businesses

Mr Shawn Huang Wei Zhong : Chairman, in the intricate tapestry of our nation's economy, trade associations and chambers (TACs) stand out as pivotal enablers that bolster the capabilities, reach and resilience of our businesses across various sectors. By offering a platform for advocacy, sharing best practices and facilitating collaborations, TACs play a crucial role in the upliftment and sustainability of businesses, particularly SMEs that form the backbone of our economy. As such, what are we doing to ensure that TACs are sufficiently equipped to play this role effectively?

Plans to Enhance the Manufacturing Sector

Mr Saktiandi Supaat : Mr Chairman, our manufacturing sector is a key part of our Singapore Economy 2030 vision. After all, manufacturing accounts for approximately one-fifth of our annual GDP and around 11% to 14% of jobs in the last 10 years. Our strategy is to attract frontier investments into Singapore to create good manufacturing jobs for Singaporeans. Dyson, Hyundai and GlobalFoundries are just some of the big names that have recently opened or announced plans to open advanced manufacturing plants in Singapore.

However, in the past decade, companies, such as IBM, Coca Cola and display maker AU Optronics, have closed their multi-million-dollar manufacturing facilities here as well. Being a country with natural resource constraints, our higher land, labour and transport costs make it challenging for global manufacturers. We do not want to draw a manufacturing giant in only to lose them five to 10 years later to cheap countries which have caught up in technology and know-how. Can the Government share more about its plans to enhance the competitiveness of the manufacturing sector, keep them here, and how our local companies can benefit from these plans?

Transformation of the Marine Offshore Sector

Mr Shawn Huang Wei Zhong : Chairman, the marine and offshore engineering sector has long been a cornerstone of our nation's industrial landscape, contributing significantly to our economic development and global trade capabilities. However, in the face of evolving global energy demands, technological advancements and the urgency for sustainability, there is a pressing need to transform and future-proof this vital sector. As such, can the Government share more on how the industry transformation plans to assist the marine and offshore engineering sector?

Revitalisation of Tourism

Mr Neil Parekh Nimil Rajnikant : Chairman, the tourism industry is vital for our economy. As a key pillar of our economy, the tourism industry, besides creating jobs and opportunities for our citizens, also enhances our international brand as a global business hub with a vibrant lifestyle.

The pandemic had impacted tourism flows across the world and also affected Singapore. However, with support from the Singapore Tourism Board, tourism receipts have bounced back to an estimated $14 billion in 2023. As we move into a new world after the pandemic, it remains crucial for Singapore to continue to capture the tourism market.

In 2022, MTI announced that the Government had earmarked half a billion dollars to support tourism recovery. Can MTI please provide an update on the tourism revitalisation efforts? What will MTI do to ensure that Singapore remains an attractive tourist destination amidst growing global competition?

Support Firms and Creatives to Create Value

Ms See Jinli Jean (Nominated Member) : Chairman, taking deliberate steps to infuse Singapore firms with the capabilities of Singapore’s creative professionals in arts, culture, media and design is the game changer that can bring forth an industry renaissance. Like how the advent of the printing press led to unprecedented change, digital technology and AI are initiating new ways to produce and trade. Thus, if technology and AI are the tools that a firm uses to reimagine its operating model, then a creative lens must be what a firm applies to redefine its business model.

To engender the meeting of minds between progressive firms and creative freelancers, I offer three possibilities for the Minister’s consideration.

First, would the Ministry work closely with NTUC’s Visual, Audio, Creative Content Professionals Association (VACCPA) and relevant sector agencies to develop and share use cases of when and how firms could tap Singapore's different creative forms to create new value? For instance, retailers could tap freelancers to create novel, virtual shopping experience using 3-D digital asset creation. Economic funding schemes could be expanded to cater for such creative use cases.

Second, could the Ministry expand the SkillsFuture Enterprise Credit to cater to creative micro-firms of one to two persons?

Last, could the Ministry facilitate opportunities for creative freelancers to work and learn on international projects supported by the economic agencies? For instance, opportunity could be created for Singaporean freelance lighting designers to augment international touring acts courted to Singapore. Such stints can be underpinned by robust hiring and accreditation and the relevant Tripartite Standards. Freelancers would appreciate the boost to their development and portfolio.

Through these three possibilities, Singapore businesses and creative freelancers can unlock synergies and develop new competitive advantage to stay ahead of change and global competition.

Plans for Creative Economy

Ms Usha Chandradas (Nominated Member) : Mr Chairman, Singapore has a vibrant and flourishing creative economy which includes sectors, such as the arts and culture, media and design. According to the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY), in response to a Parliamentary Question filed by me earlier this year, the nominal value added from these three sectors increased by close to 50% over the past five years and the increase was from $7.9 billion in 2017 to $11.7 billion in 2022.

MCCY has also stated that in the coming years, the outlook for the creative economy in Singapore is positive. According to MCCY, while the growth of the sector depends on many factors, there are opportunities for creative practitioners, especially if they are able to capitalise on growing demands and trends. This includes the leveraging of technology and working with regional and international partners to reach audiences beyond Singapore. MCCY also provided assurance that the Government will continue to provide support to help the sector grow by injecting funding, providing skills development opportunities and brokering partnerships with the private sector to open up opportunities for creatives.

Could MTI clarify how much of its own development or other expenditure will be allocated to the growth and development of Singapore's creative economy in the coming financial year? For example, will any significant expenditure be incurred by the Singapore Tourism Board for the promotion of tourist consumption of Singapore arts? Can we expect to see more expenditure in the profiling of Singapore as a premier destination for creative and cultural consumption? We saw this very recently with the Taylor Swift Eras Tour concert and the Government's outreach to Swift's team.

Will EDB and Enterprise Singapore be working on any specific projects or plans in the coming financial year that are related to the development and growth of our creative economy? If there are any specific plans underway related to the creative economy, can the Ministry share the particular areas of focus?

RIE2025 – Singapore's R&D Efforts

Mr Shawn Huang Wei Zhong : Chairman, R&D fuels the creation of new products, services and processes, enabling businesses to innovate and stay ahead of competition. This continuous innovation is essential for sustaining long-term economic growth, as it leads to the development of unique offerings that meet emerging consumer needs and adapt to changing market conditions. Through R&D, companies and economies can find new methods of production, utilise resources more efficiently and improve operational processes. It also encourages entrepreneurship by providing the knowledge base and technological advancements necessary for the creation of startups. As such, what are some R&D initiatives and sectors that MTI will be focusing on to grow our Singapore economy?

R&D Investments and Priorities

Ms Jessica Tan Soon Neo : Mr Chairman, to enhance Singapore's R&D efforts, Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong announced additional investments of $3 billion to the Research, Innovation and Enterprise 2025 Plan (RIE2025) in Budget 2024. The additional funding will go towards research and related investments in national priorities, which include deepening our capability in advanced manufacturing, sustainability, the digital economy and healthcare.

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Can MTI share the progress of the RIE2025 plan since its launch in 2020? What initiatives will MTI be focusing on to build Singapore's innovative capability to grow our economy? How will we grow the talent pool in Singapore to help bring these innovations to market and strengthen the capabilities of our enterprises?

During the Budget debate, Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat spoke about the importance of building greater linkages and collaboration at all levels and of the innovation ecosystems. Can more be shared about these innovation ecosystems and the impact for Singapore as an innovation and business hub?

RIE2025

Mr Neil Parekh Nimil Rajnikant : Chairman, science and technology are instrumental to Singapore's survival and success and has helped us overcome the constraints of our small size and somewhat limited resources. The RIE ecosystem remains a cornerstone of Singapore's development into a knowledge-based, innovation-driven economy and society.

The RIE's ecosystem is also a key enabler in creating new avenues of growth and raising Singapore's economic competitiveness.

Under the RIE, local enterprises' business expenditure on R&D increased from $1.1 billion in 2010 to $1.6 billion in 2020, while the number of local enterprises involved in research and development grew from approximately 450 to almost 600 now. The recent announcements by Deputy Prime Minister Wong during the 2024 Budget have underscored our Government's commitment to fostering innovation and driving research and development initiatives to propel our economy forward.

A key area of Singapore's research and development efforts would be unlocking new economic opportunities and helping Singapore's economy and businesses transform to remain competitive.

This could include new opportunities in advanced manufacturing, health technology and emerging areas, like AI. R&D can also enable companies' green transition and our push towards greater sustainability. Sir, during the 2024 Budget, the Government announced additional investments to RIE2025 to step up research and development efforts.

My questions for the Ministry are: first, can MTI share some of the research and development initiatives and sectors the Ministry will focus on to grow our economy? Also, how does MTI plan to leverage on research and development to tap into promising growth sectors and facilitate Singapore's transition to a low-carbon economy?

Optimising Our Land Resource

Mr Saktiandi Supaat : Mr Chairman, besides labour, capital and enterprise, land is an important scarce resource for Singapore as a small country.

It is difficult to imagine that the land where Marina Bay Sands (MBS) stands today was all sea until the Marina Bay area was reclaimed from 1992 to 2004. Three months ago, it was announced that we will reclaim and create a new "Long Island" off Singapore's eastern coast, expected to be double the size of Marina Bay.

But our maritime boundaries and our shipping hub status means there is a limit to how much we can claim further land from the sea. Hence, we have been deliberate about allocating scarce land to our competing land needs, through our Concept Plan and Master Plan. In 2021, it was announced that the review of Singapore's long-term land use plans will also need to cater for uncertainties, such as land buffers, which can be quickly converted for contingency uses.

May I ask the Ministry, how does the Government ensure that we have sufficient land for our many competing land needs, such as industrial, housing and recreational needs? How can we optimise our land use and unlock our resource potential?

Energy Transition

Ms Jessica Tan Soon Neo : Mr Chairman, Singapore's power sector makes up 40% of our emissions. Singapore has set very ambitious plans to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.

As a small country with limited renewable energy potential, it is challenging to balance delivering sustainable, secure and affordable energy. The Singapore Energy Transition (SET) was launched in 2021 as a blueprint laying out the broad plans for the power sector to decarbonise and help Singapore achieve its climate commitments. The SET involves using natural gas more sustainably, maximising solar deployment, introducing regional power grids and electricity imports; and preparing for deep decarbonisation using hydrogen and emerging low-carbon alternatives.

Can MTI share the progress of Singapore's plans to decarbonise our power sector? Is Singapore making other investments to green our power sectors with sources of low-carbon alternatives?

In Budget 2024, Deputy Prime Minister Wong announced the new Future Energy Fund with an injection of $5 billion to help the nation transition towards cleaner energy sources. What are the key initiatives that will be invested in to catalyse Singapore's transition to clean energy?

Nuclear Fusion

Mr Xie Yao Quan (Jurong) : Chairman, all the energy that powers life on Earth today ultimately comes from the Sun. And so, what if we can replicate that energy production in the core of the Sun, here on Earth?

This, simplistically, is the promise of fusion energy.

I must clarify that nuclear fusion is completely different from nuclear fission. Fusion does not produce the same radioactive waste; does not risk meltdowns; and does not entail dependence on other countries for fuel, such as uranium. Given the advantages of fusion, I hope that when we say we are studying the option of nuclear energy in our future clean energy mix, our bet is weighted towards fusion energy.

And I will go further, to say that while we can and will import clean energy, through regional grids and/or hydrogen, ultimately, energy imports may not be enough and not secure enough for Singapore.

And so, I think we will need domestically produced fusion energy to secure our clean energy future in the long term.

But fusion technology is not yet mature. Furthermore, our net-zero target is 2050 and Deputy Prime Minister Wong has also said that we will take the next 20 years to build our clean energy mix. So, one could argue that we have some time, and should take some time, to decide if we want to adopt fusion. But that is only considering the energy security standpoint.

From an economic standpoint, because fusion does also presents tremendous economic opportunities for Singapore and the world, we actually have a lot less time to decide. And paradoxically, precisely because the technology is not yet mature, we should move fast.

To paraphrase my Jurong colleague, Dr Tan Wu Meng, we can be the first mover or we can find ourselves too late to move. Fusion technology has made major strides in the last two years and the real breakthroughs could come in the next five years with what the industry calls "net energy production".

This will put on track the first utility-scale plants to be constructed in the early-to-mid 2030s. Countries around the world have started to make serious moves in fusion.

The United Kingdom (UK) has announced an additional $1.1 billion equivalent, in additional funding for its fusion programme. President Biden has set a "Decadal Vision" for the US to produce commercial fusion energy by 2032. China has invested more than $1 billion dollars in fusion research and Japan has recently launched the world's biggest experimental fusion reactor.

So, if we start now, there is already catching up to do with the leaders. But if we do it right, Singapore could become the Asia-Pacific manufacturing hub for fusion machines. This would mean a whole suite of new, exciting jobs for Singaporeans – the next generation of fusion scientists, engineers and operators, all designing and making the technology that will power the world in future.

To get there, we need to do three things now.

First, lead and support our universities, research institutes and local SMEs to build capabilities to get into the fusion supply chain, get into the fusion supply chain now for prototypes and pilot plants; second, work with leading countries to design fusion-specific regulations; and third, importantly, we need to feature fusion energy in our 2050 energy roadmap to formally set the ambition for ourselves and to signal to the global fusion community that Singapore wants to be a player and wants to contribute.

On nuclear fusion, we should dream big, start now and signal strong.

Future Energy Fund

Mr Mark Lee : Chairman, the business community welcomes the Government's commitment through the $5 billion Future Energy Fund aimed at bolstering clean energy initiatives. As Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong highlighted, transitioning to green energy necessitates substantial investments in infrastructure and technology, supported by Government-led catalytic funding.

Yet several businesses are already pioneering projects to import clean energy into Singapore, such as building a high-voltage subsea cable between Singapore and our neighbour. Given this context, I am seeking clarification is the Government planning to work with these businesses who are engaged in these initiatives and will the Ministry consider leveraging the Future Energy Fund to enhance the financial viability of these ongoing projects?

Addressing Our Energy Constraints

Mr Edward Chia Bing Hui : Mr Chairman, I would speak on addressing our energy constraints while meeting our climate commitments. This is crucial for our economy and environment.

Firstly, it is crucial for our national grid to efficiently integrate diverse energy sources without significant loss during transfer. In addition, it is essential to improve the efficiency of electricity generation, storage and transmission. Hence, what are MTI's plans to modernise our energy grid to efficiently integrate diverse sources of energy and improve overall efficiency? In addition, how will the modernisation of the energy grid be financed and what are the cost implications to consumers and businesses?

Secondly, as we secure our position as a data and AI centre, there will undoubtedly be a need for more energy to run the data centres and chip manufacturing facilities. So, what is MTI's projection of future energy needs to support the growth of our digital economy, especially in the domain of AI?

As the cooling demands in data centres and chip manufacturing facilities contribute significantly to the overall electrical consumption, what measures are being taken to optimise cooling in Singapore? Furthermore, with the escalating temperatures induced by climate change, Singapore faces heightened electricity usage for cooling purposes. I have highlighted in this Chamber – Singapore's strides in developing District Cooling Systems and their advantages. Are there plans to intensify efforts in this domain and cultivate local enterprises to bolster their capabilities in this sector and export this expertise to other global regions?

In Budget 2024, the Government announced an expansion of the Energy Efficiency Grant (EEG). However, we need to evaluate the effectiveness of such programmes.

Earlier this month, I asked a Parliamentary Question on the status of the EEG and the Minister shared that Enterprise Singapore has approved nearly 5,000 applications for the EEG. What is the total projected energy savings from equipment purchases supported by the grant thus far? Also, what is MTI's target for the total energy savings with the expanded EEG?

Furthermore, considering the potential for significant systemic impact, I would like to ask whether there is room for additional upstream energy efficiency grants targeting plants, buildings and districts. Such upstream savings could have substantial benefits to the overall energy conservation efforts.

The $5 billion FEF is a positive step towards cleaner energy. However, it may not suffice for our clean energy transition. Will there be future top-ups or will the fund collaborate with borrowings, such as through the SINGA bonds? How will it catalyse private-sector investments?

As we aim to reduce our carbon footprint and promote sustainable growth, our limited access to clean energy stands as a key limiting factor to economic growth. This could impact the real income growth and living standards of Singaporeans. Hence, we must address our clean energy constraints.

Strengthening Consumer Protection

Mr Chua Kheng Wee Louis (Sengkang) : Despite transformative changes in how consumers engage with businesses, the approach to safeguarding consumer rights in Singapore has not evolved, appearing to maintain a somewhat indifferent stance toward consumer protections.

We only need to look at the many high-profile and recent consumer incidents in Singapore – from the Sentosa Sky Lantern Festival, the abrupt closure of gym franchises, the chronic overbooking of cruises and flights, errant renovation contractors, "lemons" in the used car trade and the unsatisfactory customer service that has become synonymous with certain carsharing and food courier operators. These are just a few of the specific areas which are found wanting when it comes to protecting the interests of consumers.

The Consumers Association of Singapore (CASE) reported a 24% year-on-year increase in prepayment losses in 2022, with consumers reporting more than $645,000 in losses. In many of these cases, you should not need a consumer association to tell you that businesses cannot just sell subscriptions and then shut down, leaving consumers with no recourse, or that a refund with "platform credits" is not quite the same as cash payments in kind, or that if an airline overbooks and is unable to accommodate your trip, it is solely on them to provide an acceptable alternative to the customers' satisfaction. Moreover, even though many used cars are sold by dealers on a consignment basis, unbeknownst to many consumers, such purchases do not fall under the "lemon law" – ironic, given the prevalence of lemons in the used car industry.

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While the Government has undertaken some initiatives to address unfair trading practices, it falls short of the robust protection framework that a first-world economy like Singapore should have. We need to transform the prevailing mindset of caveat emptor or buyer beware into one where individuals can confidently stand against the might of big business and know that the customer is not always right, but at least we will always be treated fairly.

Enhancing Consumer Protection

Mr Melvin Yong Yik Chye (Radin Mas) : Chairman, I declare my interest as President of CASE. Price transparency is a core principle that safeguards our consumers and ensures that we make well-informed purchasing decisions.

To address the issue of shrinkflation, where retailers seemingly maintain the price of a product but secretly reduces the portion size, can MTI work with CASE to examine the prevalence of this practice in Singapore and encourage local retailers to deploy unit pricing in-store? Since 1 January 2023, CASE has rolled out unit pricing on more than 6,000 items listed on the Price Kaki app. With MTI's support, CASE is prepared to assist retailers to implement unit pricing.

According to CASE's annual complaint statistics, the number of complaints relating to e-commerce transactions surged by 47% in 2023. The most frequent issues pertain to failure to receive orders within delivery timeframes and failure to receive refunds. This is deeply concerning. We must take urgent actions to better protect our consumers, particularly as purchasing behaviour has shifted and many consumers now rely on e-commerce.

The Consumer Protection (Fair Trading) Act was last reviewed in 2016, a time when e-commerce had yet to boom in Singapore. I urge MTI to review the Act to account for the evolution in consumers' purchase habits. CASE stands ready to partner MTI on this so that we can all better protect consumers.

The Chairman : Minister Gan Kim Yong.

The Minister for Trade and Industry (Mr Gan Kim Yong) : Chairman, let me first thank Members for their thoughtful comments.

The past few years have been very challenging. As a small and open economy, Singapore felt keenly the impact of uncertainties arising from the pandemic and structural shifts in the global economy. But we did not let this put us down. We pressed on with our transformation journey and helped our businesses turn challenges into opportunities.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, we experienced our worst recession since Independence. Our top priority then was to support our companies through this unprecedented crisis and protect jobs for Singaporeans.

Even before the pandemic was over, new challenges surfaced. Global food and energy prices rose sharply due to supply chain disruptions, which then led to global inflation. Interest rates were raised, as central banks around the world sought to counter inflationary pressures. Geopolitical contestation and strategic competition between major powers, such as the US and China intensified. Conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East erupted and there is a growing urgency to address climate change.

Amidst these challenges, our economy grew 1.1% in 2023. For 2024, we expect our GDP to grow by between 1% and 3% and inflation to moderate.

Nonetheless, our external environment remains volatile and uncertain, as several Members have pointed out. Many businesses, especially SMEs, are concerned about increased business costs and access to financing. They have also asked for more support to pursue transformation and training to stay competitive and capture new opportunities.

Mr Shawn Huang asked about support for enterprises. We are setting aside $1.3 billion for the Enterprise Support Package to address these near-term challenges. The Package has three components: Corporate Income Tax Rebate to help with cash flow; adjustments to the Enterprise Financing Scheme to help businesses access loan financing; and an extension of the SkillsFuture Enterprise Credit to support transformation and skills training efforts.

First, let me explain the Corporate Income Tax Rebate. Companies due for corporate income tax in Year of Assessment 2024 will receive a 50% rebate, subject to a cap of $40,000. To ensure that smaller companies, even those that pay little or no income tax, can also benefit from the rebate, companies that employed at least one local employee in 2023 will receive a minimum cash payout of $2,000. The corporate income tax rebate will benefit many enterprises, especially the SMEs.

Next, we will adjust the Enterprise Financing Scheme (EFS) that facilitates access to loan financing. During the pandemic, we significantly enhanced the EFS to provide stronger support for businesses. We have since reviewed and adjusted the EFS to better suit current business needs. For example, internationalisation plans were significantly disrupted during the pandemic when global markets came to a standstill. To help companies sustain their efforts, we doubled the maximum loan quantum for the EFS-Trade Loan to $10 million and increased the Government's risk-share to 70%.

One company that has used the EFS to internationalise is Apeiron Bioenergy, which produces clean fuel from waste products. The company tapped on the EFS-Trade Loan and EFS-Green to deliver its first contract of used cooking oil, a clean biofuel feedstock to the US market and expand its facilities in Asia and the United Arab Emirates.

As the global markets are still recovering, we will extend the enhanced maximum loan quantum of $10 million for one year until 31 March 2025, but at a 50% risk-sharing. This is in line with Mr Mark Lee's call to support Singapore businesses as they expand overseas.

During the pandemic, we had also expanded the EFS-Project Loan scheme to include domestic construction projects which were badly affected. Most construction projects are now back on schedule and the sector is generally recovering, although some companies are still facing challenges. Hence, we will extend the support for domestic construction projects under EFS-Project Loan (Domestic) by one year until 31 March 2025 to help the industry, but at a lower maximum loan quantum of $15 million instead of $30 million.

In addition, we will permanently increase the maximum loan quantum of the EFS-Working Capital Loan to $500,000. We temporarily increased the cap during the pandemic when businesses were facing severe cash flow constraints. Since then, while cash flow has improved, the working capital needs of SMEs have, in fact, increased, amidst the increased business volumes and costs. Making the higher maximum loan quantum permanent will better support our SMEs.

Since 2020, more than 30,000 enterprises have utilised the SkillsFuture Enterprise Credit (SFEC) to support the training and upgrading of their employees and to pursue enterprise transformation.

This includes Aux Media Group. This is an event and concert organiser. It used SFEC to offset costs of their digital workflow transformation project. The company also used SFEC to send their employees for SkillsFuture training courses, ranging from human resource to drone piloting, to meet the company's needs.

To allow businesses to benefit more from SFEC, we will extend the claims submission deadline by one year to 30 June 2025. We will continue refining our support for enterprises to deepen workforce and enterprise transformation.

Minister of State Low Yen Ling will also speak about additional measures to specifically support our heartland enterprises.

While we tackle near-term challenges, we must continue to invest in our longer-term future and build a resilient and vibrant economy. To achieve this, we need to be GUTC. By GUTC, we mean four strategies: Grow our economy; Unlock our resource potential; Transform our businesses; and Connect to strengthen our status as a global business hub and, therefore, GUTC.

Let me focus on our strategy to grow our Singapore economy, while each of my colleagues will elaborate on the other three strategies.

We will grow our economy through three key thrusts: leveraging our trade networks; promoting investment and the adoption of new technologies; and developing our talent.

First, on leveraging our trade networks. Singapore is well-placed to benefit from growth in our region and beyond. Our extensive connectivity has been and will continue to be our key competitive advantage. Singapore has established a strong reputation as a well-connected, reliable and trusted logistics and transportation hub. Amid shifts in global supply chains, businesses and investors continue to be attracted to Singapore due to our robust infrastructure, pro-business policies and skilled workforce. FDI has grown by over 50%, from $1.9 trillion five years ago, to reach approximately $2.9 trillion as at end of 2023. This trajectory is expected to continue.

To sustain our economic growth, Singapore, as a small economy, cannot afford to turn away from the global market; nor can we have the global market turn away from us.

Mr Liang Eng Hwa, Ms Jessica Tan and Mr Sharael Taha asked what the Government is doing to ensure Singapore will remain competitive and attractive to global investors. For a start, we must expand international and regional connectivity by continuing to strengthen the rules-based trading architecture, to widen our economic space and tap on global opportunities. This will allow us to evolve innovative trade cooperation models across different geographies, enlarge our community of trading partners and establish connections with new markets.

We will continue to deepen cooperation with our global partners to grow trade and attract investments. We will engage our partners through current platforms, like the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity, as well as via bilateral partnerships, like the US-Singapore Partnership for Growth and Innovation, China-Singapore FTA and the India-Singapore Ministerial Roundtable.

Closer to home, the Southeast Asian region is projected to grow more quickly than the global economy over the next five years.

Within ASEAN, trade in goods grew by about 30% from US$645 billion in 2018 to US$857 billion in 2022. ASEAN, as a grouping, is also strengthening external relations with our partners. Under Indonesia's Chairmanship last year, ASEAN concluded negotiations to upgrade the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand FTA. We are currently negotiating an FTA with Canada, as well as upgrading and reviewing ASEAN's Agreements with China and India.

We have also stepped up cooperation with our immediate neighbours. For example, we are exploring the establishment of a Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone to bolster our economic cooperation with Malaysia and Johor. We signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in January this year and agreed to work towards improving cross-border flows in goods, people and investments.

Mr Liang Eng Hwa, Ms Foo Mee Har and Mr Neil Parekh asked how MTI intends to capture future growth opportunities.

First, as announced by Deputy Prime Minister Wong, we will enhance our investment promotion toolkit by introducing a new Refundable Investment Credit (RIC). This is a tax credit with a refundable cash feature. RIC will support qualified firms in developing high-value and substantive economic activities in Singapore, such as the setting up of manufacturing facilities or an expansion of these facilities, commodity trading, R&D and innovation as well as decarbonisation activities.

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As pointed out by Ms Mariam Jaafar, the RIC will bolster our competitiveness in attracting and anchoring quality investments to create more opportunities and good jobs for Singaporeans.

We will also help our companies ride the global wave of technological advancement and pursue opportunities in new growth areas, such as advanced manufacturing, AI and sustainability. By being early movers and adopters, we can sharpen our companies' competitive edge, capture the rapid growth of these new markets and develop world-leading enterprises.

Manufacturing is a key pillar of our economy. As Mr Saktiandi Supaat has noted, it contributes about one-fifth of our GDP and employs about one-eighth of our workforce. We will double down on our strengths in robotics and automation to target high-value opportunities in advanced manufacturing and secure new growth pathways.

In the biomedical sciences sector for example, the nascent field of Precision Medicine has strong growth potential, with a global market size of US$74 billion in 2022, which is expected to grow at an average rate of 11.5% a year up to 2030. We will identify and nurture potential promising local startups, with the potential to develop cutting-edge solutions.

One such company, Engine Biosciences, has developed a proprietary platform which uses AI, machine learning and gene editing to discover gene interactions to yield promising new therapies. Engine Biosciences is currently in the pre-clinical stage and intends to leverage its R&D base in Singapore to expand into the international market.

The unprecedented growth of AI will accelerate in the coming years, with its market size projected to rocket from US$150 billion in 2023 to US$1.35 trillion in 2030. We must stay abreast of these developments and ensure that our businesses can reap the AI dividend. We will take both a company and sectoral approach to drive AI adoption. We will partner 100 companies to build internal AI capabilities, develop and adopt AI solutions. We hope that each of these companies will become a Centre of Excellence (CoE) for AI in its own right.

We will also set up sectoral AI CoEs to address sector-wide use cases and build domain-specific capabilities. As a start, A*STAR will launch a manufacturing sector AI CoE by the end of this year. The CoE will convene stakeholders from industry, research and the startup scene to develop AI-enabled solutions that addresses use cases in the manufacturing sector.

We will learn from this pilot and study how we might expand the same thing to the other sectors. The transition to a low-carbon and sustainable economy will also present new green growth opportunities. For instance, we have established a vibrant carbon services and trading ecosystem to take advantage of the growth in the global carbon market.

There are also opportunities to develop sustainable products, such as biofuels, Sustainable Aviation Fuel and green chemicals, which support our green growth objectives. For example, Neste expanded its biorefinery in Singapore in 2023, making us the world's largest producer of Sustainable Aviation Fuel. In addition, chemicals company Arkema has built its bio-factory on Jurong Island to produce high-performance polymers made from sustainable materials.

We are also working closely with the marine and offshore engineering (M&OE) sector to ensure that it is productive, globally competitive and well-positioned to leverage new growth opportunities. This requires the sector to rethink its operating model, pivot to higher-skilled, higher-value activities and reduce its reliance on foreign manpower. To catalyse this shift, we will adjust the marine shipyard sector's concessionary Dependency Ratio Ceiling (DRC), from a ratio of 3.5:1 to 3:1 in 2026. We will monitor developments in the sector before making further adjustments.

We will also proceed with the increase in foreign worker levies announced in 2013, but deferred in view of the M&OE downturn and COVID-19 pandemic. These moves will be discussed further in MOM's COS segment, as part of the Government's broader manpower strategy.

We recognise that transformation, while necessary, is never easy. We will thus provide the M&OE Support Package, totalling around $100 million over the next five years – to help companies transform, uplift our workers and position the M&OE sector for new growth opportunities. This will enable us to become a globally impactful and thriving hub that can deliver sustainable solutions in an M&OE value chain.

One growth opportunity that we are exploring is offshore wind, with a global market which is projected to grow rapidly at an average rate of 22% per year until 2030. Some companies have already embarked on this journey, such as Seatrium, which is working on several large offshore wind projects. We will identify and capture opportunities along the value chain and anchor them in Singapore.

One promising local startup is BeeX, which designs, builds and deploys hovering autonomous underwater vehicles (HAUVs) to conduct inspections of offshore windfarms. BeeX built its first HAUV with a $500,000 Startup SG Tech grant. Its solutions have been validated internationally and it is currently working on a high-specification, second-generation HAUV+.

I have outlined our plans to continue attracting quality investments into Singapore. We will also support enterprise collaborations and invest in our innovation ecosystem. First, Ms Foo Mee Har, Mr Mark Lee and Mr Edward Chia will be happy to know that we will enhance the Partnerships for Capability Transformation scheme, or PACT scheme.

Today, the scheme encourages partnerships between larger and smaller enterprises, between MNCs, large local enterprises (LLEs) and the SMEs, on supplier development and co-innovation. Going forward, we will expand PACT to more industries and modalities, including capability training, internationalisation and corporate venturing.

Allow me to share a few examples of collaborations facilitated by PACT. GlobalFoundries was able to work closely with its supplier, Forefront AM, to scale up its capability in additive manufacturing, so that it can repair some of GlobalFoundries' high-value semiconductor manufacturing tools. Another example is SATS, which has organised capacity building workshops with PACT support, to help its SME suppliers understand and track their carbon emissions. SATS also intends to encourage its suppliers to embark on decarbonisation initiatives.

We aim to facilitate 100 new PACT partnerships over the next five years. This will provide more opportunities for SMEs to level up their capabilities, enhance their competitiveness and plug into global and regional value chains.

We will also invest in innovation efforts, including upstream research, translation and commercialisation. Since its launch in 2016, the Startup SG Equity Scheme has catalysed over $2.3 billion in private-sector funding for over 230 Singapore-based startups, including in new growth areas, such as advanced manufacturing, pharmaceuticals and biologics or pharmbio, medical technology or medtech, and agriculture-food technology or agri-food tech. And we are working on further enhancements to the Startup SG Equity Scheme and will announce details later this year.

Third, while we will need to continue tapping on global talent to complement our local workforce to grow our economy, we will redouble our efforts to strengthen our local talent pool, so that Singaporeans can benefit from this growth. As Mr Liang commented, amidst this intensifying global competition for leadership talent, we will have to ensure that our companies have access to a pipeline of Singaporean corporate leaders in line with recommendations from the Forward SG consultation.

We will introduce a new initiative, the Global Business Leaders Programme (GBLP), to support companies in sending their Singaporean middle to senior managers with leadership potential, for overseas postings and other developmental opportunities. GBLP participants will be inducted as Singapore Leaders Network Fellows, where they will receive mentoring and grow their professional networks.

The GBLP will support companies in their regionalisation efforts and in growing a pipeline of Singaporean corporate leaders who can take their businesses to new heights. This will complement MOM's local workforce development efforts to support career resilience, better career health and longer career trajectories for all levels of workers.

Sir, in summary, I spoke about providing near-term support to our enterprises via the Enterprise Support Package, to help them address immediate challenges. And at the same time we need to invest in our longer-term future and drive economic growth. We can achieve this by leveraging our trade networks, spearheading the adoption of new technologies and developing our talent.

Economic transformation has always been a key priority for us. Deputy Prime Minister Heng earlier underlined the importance of transformation in our growth journey. Indeed, transformation is the constant in this fast-changing world. We must remain agile and continue to grow our economy by seizing new opportunities, making ourselves ever more productive, innovative and competitive.

While there will still be uncertainties and challenges in the future, if all of us work together as Team Singapore – with workers, businesses, trade associations and chambers and unions each playing our part, we can remain relevant on the global stage and enhance our heft. We can seize new opportunities for growth, improve the lives of all Singaporeans and build our shared future together. [ Applause. ]

Mr Chairman : Dr Tan See Leng.

The Second Minister for Trade and Industry (Dr Tan See Leng) : Mr Chairman, Singapore is a small nation with limited resource endowments. Despite so, we have grown to become a leading global city that we are today. But to sustain this growth, we will need to maximise our resource potential and turn these potentials into the next bound of success.

My speech today would touch on how we can continue to push boundaries, to unlock our resource potential and to bring in new opportunities in four areas: first, energy and carbon; second, research and development ; third, manpower; and last but not least, land.

First, on energy and carbon. Climate change poses an asymmetric, long-term challenge to all countries across the globe. As a low-lying island-state, Singapore is disproportionately impacted by climate change. Our resource constraints are more stark compared to many other countries, which makes decarbonisation even more challenging.

But even so, we firmly believe that Singapore can rise above these constraints and achieve and thrive in a net-zero future. Today, I will share more about our efforts to invest in new decarbonisation pathways, while ensuring a stable power system.

First and foremost, a stable electricity market along with a reliable and secure power system must be the foundation upon which we advance Singapore's energy transition. Over the past year, the Energy Market Authority (EMA), has implemented guardrails to strengthen our electricity market structure and reduce market volatility. These include: one, introducing a centralised process to facilitate and guide private investments in new generation capacities; two, placing more stringent regulatory requirements on electricity retailers to better protect consumers; and three, implementing a Temporary Price Cap mechanism to mitigate extreme price volatilities in the wholesale electricity market.

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This year, we will also centralise the procurement of natural gas to ensure longer-term fuel adequacy for our power plants. Alongside a stable electricity market, we need a reliable grid. Mr Edward Chia asked whether our power grid is robust enough to integrate diverse energy sources. While largely fueled by natural gas, our grid today already takes in other energy sources, such as solar power and waste-to-energy, while maintaining high grid reliability. Over the next few decades, we expect more diverse energy sources to enter our grid and we are upgrading our grid management systems in preparation for this.

Looking ahead, we expect electricity demand to grow with increasing digitalisation, economic growth and electrification, as Mr Edward Chia mentioned. EMA works closely with agencies to ensure that we have sufficient capacity to meet this demand. That is why we have launched tenders for new generation capacity in the form of greener and more energy-efficient power plants. EMA recently awarded YTL Power Seraya the right to build, own and operate a Combined Cycle Gas Turbine (CCGT). This CCGT will have a carbon intensity 10% lower than that of existing CCGTs in the system. It will be the third CCGT to be built that can run on hydrogen, which is a potential low-carbon fuel and will be up by 2028. This is in addition to Keppel's and Sembcorp's hydrogen-ready plants which are currently under construction.

Singapore's energy transition will be a multi-decade journey. In the meantime, natural gas will still play an important role over the next one to two decades. SLNG is, therefore, developing a second Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) terminal to meet our gas needs and to strengthen our energy security.

While natural gas is the cleanest fossil fuel, we have to green our power supplies if we want to achieve our net-zero commitments. We are working on realising low-carbon electricity import projects and studying low-carbon energy alternatives, such as hydrogen and ammonia. Ms Jessica Tan would be glad to know that we have made good progress. For low-carbon electricity imports, our target is to import up to four gigawatts (GWs) of low-carbon electricity by 2035, making up around 30% of Singapore's electricity supply then.

To Mr Edward Chia's question, we are on track to achieve this target. Last year, EMA granted Conditional Approvals to import up to 4.2 GW of low-carbon electricity from Cambodia, Indonesia and Vietnam. Companies are currently conducting feasibility studies and securing regulatory approvals from source and transit countries. When realised, these projects will also form the building blocks of an ASEAN Power Grid.

We are also studying the potential of various other low-carbon energy sources. For hydrogen, we will start with a small-scale pathfinder project to test and to deploy a direct ammonia combustion power plant, alongside ammonia bunkering. The Request for Proposal (RFP) to select a lead developer for this project is ongoing and we will close this later this month.

Geothermal is another potential energy source that we are studying. We will be conducting a nationwide non-invasive geophysical study to assess Singapore's deep geothermal resource potential for power generation. EMA is evaluating the RFP proposals and we will also announce the award soon.

Advanced nuclear energy technologies and fusion energy are also potential game-changers. We engage international organisations widely and countries with deep capabilities in nuclear energy to broaden our understanding of advanced nuclear energy technologies, including Small Modular Reactors. This is so that we can assess the suitability of these technologies for Singapore, once they are proven to be safe and viable.

Mr Xie Yao Quan spoke about the potential of the energy from the sun – fusion energy. While there have been significant breakthroughs in the fusion energy space in recent years, there still remain engineering challenges. Beyond the fact that there are no demonstrator plants today that can generate electricity, there are also other challenges, including the low global supply of tritium, which is an important fuel for fusion. As such, there is a big difference in opinions among experts on when fusion can be commercialised safely.

We are also keeping a close watch on the development of fusion energy and we are collaborating with overseas research entities to build up capabilities in this field. We will continue to identify capabilities in our local ecosystem that are fusion-relevant and where we could potentially play a role in the fusion supply chain.

At the same time, R&D investments, such as those under the Low Carbon Energy Research, or LCER Programme, can help us realise the potential of low-carbon alternatives and support efforts to expand the range of technological solutions suited for Singapore.

The Directed Hydrogen Programme under the LCER Programme supports research into technologies that can help Singapore import and use hydrogen safely and economically. I am pleased to announce that we will be awarding around $43 million to support six research projects. These projects collectively seek to address key challenges that Singapore faces in deploying hydrogen in areas, such as energy efficiency, durability and safety.

Beyond hydrogen, we also want to support research into emerging technologies with the potential to sprout into needle moving solutions. As part of the inaugural Emerging Technology Grant Call, we will award around $12 million to support 10 research projects, which span a range of low-carbon technology pathways, such as energy harvesting.

Lastly, our close relationships with International Organisations help us to build capabilities to accelerate energy transition. Last month, we announced the establishment of the International Energy Agency (IEA) Regional Centre in Singapore. This Centre is the IEA's first office outside of its headquarters in Paris and is also Singapore's first energy-focused international organisation. The Centre will provide technical advice and policy support to governments and regional bodies to accelerate the energy transition, for example, through scaling up the deployment of renewable energy and other clean energy technologies. We expect the Centre to be operational by the end of this year.

Members, I have spoken at length on our plans to transition and decarbonise our power sector. Despite our lack of indigenous renewable energy resources, Singapore must still embark on the energy transition to stay relevant in a world that is moving towards net-zero. I am glad that several businesses are already pioneering such clean energy projects, as Mr Mark Lee pointed out earlier.

But to decarbonise, we will need to deploy clean energy at scale. This will likely involve nascent technologies, come with significant commercial and geopolitical risks, or require high upfront capital expenditures. All these would require substantial investment from governments and companies alike.

The International Renewable Energy Agency earlier estimated that the world would require an estimated US$150 trillion worth of investments across all energy transition technologies to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.

In instances where projects are of strategic value to Singapore's decarbonisation journey, the Government will provide support to catalyse the development of such projects. This will help Singapore secure reliable and cleaner energy supply, at the scale and speed required to meet our climate goals.

It is with this in mind that the Government will set up the new Future Energy Fund, as announced by Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong. The Fund can support the infrastructure investments we need to deploy low-carbon technologies, such as for hydrogen, when they are viable.

And we need to start saving for these investments now. We will establish the Fund within EMA, with an initial injection of $5 billion and we will make legislative amendments to establish the Future Energy Fund later this year.

Mr Edward Chia asked if we would need to top up the Fund further. We will do so when our fiscal space allows for it and depending on our development plans for the energy transition. The path ahead is not straightforward and we will need to adapt and be nimble when circumstances change. But rest assured that the Government will take great care in charting our energy transition, to ensure that even as we decarbonise, we maintain our energy security and we will remain cost-competitive. In particular, we are mindful of the potential impact of energy transition on electricity prices.

I would like to assure households and businesses that we will do our utmost best to calibrate the trajectory of our energy transition and its impact on electricity prices. We will also continue supporting our lower- and middle-income households to mitigate the impact that the transition will have on electricity costs and we will continue helping our businesses reduce energy consumption, improve energy efficiency and, in turn, lower their energy costs.

Members, other than the power sector, our industrial processes also contribute a significant portion of Singapore's emissions. We will need to actively pursue pathways to decarbonise our industrial processes.

As mentioned by Senior Minister Teo Chee Hean in Prime Minister's Office's COS, one such pathway we are developing is carbon capture and storage (CCS). CCS involves the capture of emissions from point sources, such as chemical plants or power plants. The carbon dioxide is then transported to suitable geological formations where they are injected and stored deep underground.

We have been engaging companies interested to pursue CCS. Today, I would like to share that the Government will be working with S Hub, an industry consortium comprising ExxonMobil and Shell, to study the viability of developing a cross-border CCS project capturing emissions from Singapore. The Government will work with S Hub to evaluate the techno-economic feasibility of aggregating emissions from Singapore and collaborate with regional partners to study potential carbon dioxide storage sites.

We are keen to work with like-minded partners to make cross-border CCS projects a reality and realise the potential of our entire region as a CCS hub. Singapore recently signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) on Cross-Border CCS with Indonesia. Under the LOI, both countries will set up a workgroup to advance CCS cooperation between Singapore and Indonesia.

Moving on to R&D. Continued investment in R&D is critical in ensuring that we maintain our edge and competitiveness in other areas. As mentioned in the Budget speech, the Government will invest an additional S$3 billion to our RIE2025 efforts to keep up our momentum in research.

To Ms Jessica Tan's, Mr Shawn Huang's and Mr Neil Parekh's questions, MTI will double down on our efforts to support R&D investments, particularly in deep tech R&D for critical and novel technologies. Deep tech typically requires a long development in commercialisation period due to the extent of tech validation and the risks involved. Investments in deep tech would enable us to entrench R&D that diversifies our economy by growing new industry clusters, thereby generating new economic opportunities for Singapore, propelling us towards innovation-led growth.

We are creating new R&D translation platforms and providing additional resourcing to catalyse four key sectors.

First, A*STAR will establish a National Semiconductor Translation and Innovation Centre (NSTIC) at a budget of about $180 million to foster collaboration and boost R&D translation outcomes in the areas of flat optics and silicon photonics, both of which are emerging areas relying on semiconductor fabrication technologies. Semiconductor is a sector with significant barriers to entry due to high investment costs, with clean rooms and machines that can cost millions of dollars. NSTIC aims to help companies and researchers overcome this by providing them access to semiconductor infrastructure and supporting prototyping and small volume manufacturing.

I recently visited MetaOptics Technologies, a local startup that designs and fabricates flat lens and optical devices. These flat lenses are hundred of times thinner than a human hair, allowing for size reduction for devices like optical sensors and cameras. MetaOptics intends to leverage NSTIC's research expertise and fabrication services to make devices locally, instead of having to outsource to overseas foundries which have higher costs and longer turnaround times. MetaOptics is also being supported by two scientists seconded to the company from A*STAR, through its Technology for Enterprise Capability Upgrading Programme (T-Up), which Mr Desmond Choo asked about earlier.

Second, A*STAR has launched a $97-million Nucleic Acid Therapeutics Initiative (NATi) to position Singapore as the regional node for research, clinical translation and commercialisation of RNA drugs and vaccines.

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Most of us would have heard about RNA vaccines during COVID-19. Singapore has actually been developing capabilities in RNA research over the years through sustained investments in biomedical research and development. Through NATi, Singapore will accelerate the development of RNA drugs and vaccines and grow our RNA manufacturing capabilities. We currently have at least 10 local SMEs across the value chain for RNA therapeutics, and NATi will support and grow more local SMEs and startups and attract more companies here.

Third, A*STAR will launch MedTech Catapult – a $38 million initiative to accelerate the development of novel Life Science Tools and Medical Devices, by working with companies and product owners to translate research into commercial products.

This initiative will help intermediaries, like local contract manufacturing organisations, to move up the value chain so that they can not only manufacture but also develop their own MedTech product design and capabilities. Through MedTech Catapult, we also aim to train and upskill product engineers who can then go on to serve in the industry.

Fourth, a new tranche of about $60 million funding will be provided to the National Robotics Programme (NRP).

Started in 2016, the NRP has delivered good outcomes, such as the development of the Robotics Middleware Framework, which enables different brands of robots to work seamlessly with each other by standardising communications and de-conflicting navigation routes.

Moving forward, the NRP will step up translation of our robotics research and development capabilities, particularly in sectors, such as manufacturing, logistics, facilities management and healthcare. It will do this through “RoboClusters”, bringing together public sector researchers, end-users and robotics companies to foster collaborations and co-development of solutions with economic potential. NRP will also help to accelerate the growth of promising Singapore-based robotics SMEs and startups.

Ms Jessica Tan asked how MTI will grow the talent pool in research and development .

Together, the four platforms that I just mentioned are expected to train over 200 specialised research talent, such as product and robotics engineers and research scientists. They will also deliver more than 75 projects and licence out over 40 technologies, amongst other outcomes. All these will contribute to the development of an open and inclusive ecosystem where research, innovation and enterprise can come together to create commercially meaningful outcomes for businesses and help our industry partners to scale-up.

Third, on my pet topic, manpower. We need to strengthen our workforce competitiveness in tandem with our economic competitiveness. As Minister Gan shared earlier, we are committed to creating good opportunities for Singaporeans as we grow our economy. To empower Singaporeans to seize these opportunities, our workforce will need to be equipped with the relevant skillsets.

So stay tuned, I will share more details in my MOM COS speech on MOM's plans to support workers at all levels to enhance their employability, strengthen their career health and acquire overseas work experience; and how the Global Business Leaders Programme, as mentioned earlier by Minister Gan, will support Singaporean middle to senior managers with leadership potential to acquire the relevant overseas work experience and leadership skills to become corporate leaders.

This will complement the bilateral manpower programmes MTI is developing with Indonesia and Vietnam. When launched, the Tech:X programme with Indonesia and Innovation Talent Exchange (ITX) programme with Vietnam will allow Singaporeans to pursue work stints in the areas of technology and innovation in Indonesia or Vietnam respectively, and vice versa. This will support our companies and Singaporeans to tap on exciting opportunities in our fast-growing region.

Finally, on optimising our scarce land resource. Mr Saktiandi Supaat asked about the Government's efforts in ensuring that we have sufficient land to meet our competing industrial, housing and recreational needs. The Ministry of National Development will share more on the Government's master-planning process and how we balance across competing land use needs.

In planning for industrial estates, the JTC Corporation seeks to optimise industrial land usage through land intensification and recycling, as well as the siting of industrial uses within mixed-use districts near to housing and recreational facilities. Our upcoming new industrial districts like Punggol Digital District (PDD) and Jurong Innovation District (JID) are designed to embody this philosophy.

PDD will house the new Singapore Institute of Technology campus alongside digital tech companies to create opportunities for applied learning and to build a robust pipeline of local technological talent. One of PDD's anchor tenants is United Overseas Bank, which will be building its 300,000 square foot global technology and innovation centre to house around 3,000 technological talents. JID supports Singapore's Manufacturing 2030 ambition to become a global business, innovation and talent hub for advanced manufacturing.

The anchoring of companies alongside A*STAR's Advanced Remanufacturing and Technology Centre (ARTC), which has collaborations with about 100 industry players – inclusive of Government agencies, research institutes and academia; will help to accelerate innovations to create an advanced manufacturing ecosystem.

JTC will also rejuvenate key industrial estates in Sungei Kadut, Ang Mo Kio and Kallang-Kolam Ayer. JTC's tenants can look forward to smarter and more sustainable facilities and infrastructure. Suitable existing buildings and structures will also be identified for potential adaptive reuse and will serve as activity nodes for workers and the surrounding community. More details will be provided within the Urban Redevelopment Authority's (URA's) Draft Master Plan 2025.

Mr Chairman, to conclude. I spoke about how we would unlock potential in the areas of energy and carbon, research and development , land and manpower. That said, the path forward would not be easy. In fact, it has never been easy for a resource-constrained nation like Singapore. But as the Chinese saying goes, "时势造英雄", which translates to "tough times create not just heroes, but also heroines".

That has been our story. We were small, with no natural resource endowment. But together, our people managed to make it work, by carefully optimising whatever resources we have coupled with human ingenuity and innovation. With good planning and strong support from businesses and Singaporeans, I am confident we can and we will be able to unlock our resource potential to strive for the next bound of growth. Only through this way, our businesses can continue to stay competitive, keep our edge and bring more opportunities and benefits to Singapore and Singaporeans for many more decades to come.

The Chairman : Minister of State Low Yen Ling.

The Minister of State for Trade and Industry (Ms Low Yen Ling) : Chairman, the world we face today is vastly different from what it used to be. Earlier, Minister Gan Kim Yong shared how the global uncertainties have strained our small and open economy. It is no longer business as usual. Change, continual transformation and innovation form the present order of things.

To thrive in the new normal, we need a positive mindset to embrace transformation. Change is always challenging. We know that. However, if you recall, during the COVID-19 pandemic, our businesses managed to overcome the resistance to change, including the heartland enterprises. I will touch on that later.

Our enterprises have shown the ability to transform to secure a better future. I want to assure all the Members that MTI and our economic agencies, the Government is committed to supporting our businesses' transformation journey for the long haul.

Today, I will elaborate on how the Government is ramping up critical support for companies to transform and thrive. As highlighted earlier by Mr Shawn Huang, we are determined to help businesses seize fresh opportunities in new growth areas, such as sustainability and digitalisation.

I will also delve into how, for instance, we will drive sectoral transformation for the M&OE industry as mentioned by Minister Gan Kim Yong earlier; and continue the momentum of positive change in our heartland enterprises. I will also share how the Government will help accelerate the green transition of our Singapore enterprises to benefit and to future-proof our business.

In addition, I will touch on how we will help companies capture emerging digital opportunities for their next bound of growth. Finally, I will update you all on how we will deepen our partnerships with TACs, as mentioned by many Members in their cuts, to drive industry transformation plans and efforts.

Sir, to help Singapore companies and our industries future-proof themselves and transform, the Government has rolled out 23 Industry Transformation Maps (ITMs) and refreshed the plans for 2025. These efforts cover strategic areas such as innovation, digitalisation, jobs and skills, internationalisation, productivity and sustainability. Many sectors have shown progress in their roadmap and we will not let up our efforts to support their transformation.

The M&OE sector, as Minister Gan has mentioned earlier, is undergoing substantial changes. I agree with Mr Shawn Huang that this traditionally labour-intensive sector will need to transform to stay competitive. To this end, we aim to turbocharge the M&OE sector to capture emerging opportunities in areas, like offshore wind and maritime decarbonisation.

Today, several trailblazers in the sector have pivoted their businesses to serve in these growing markets that I mentioned.

I will give you a quick example. One company that really stands out for raising their green capabilities is Penguin International. Now, this is a homegrown shipbuilder, homegrown ship owner and one of the world's largest aluminium shipbuilders. Penguin International has spent the past few years future-proofing themselves, building up their in-house capabilities in designing, constructing and operating green vessels. Currently, the company is working with Shell to build and operate three electric ferries.

These eco-friendly ferries are expected to cut carbon dioxide emissions by about 6,000 tonnes annually. How much is 6,000 tonnes? This is comparable to the environmental impact of roughly 18,000 one-way road trips from Singapore to Bangkok. That is the impact of three electric ferries.

In the next five years, MTI will support the M&OE industry's transformation with a $100-million Support Package for enterprise and workforce transformation. Companies can raise their productivity with funding support from the Productivity Solutions Grant (PSG) and also strengthen their new capabilities with the help of the Enterprise Development Grant (EDG).

Besides offering near-term transitional support for M&OE companies to fulfil their pre-committed contract deliveries, we will refresh the M&OE Industry Digital Plan to encourage greater adoption of sector-specific productivity-boosting digital solutions as well. To equip our M&OE workers for the future, Workforce Singapore and Enterprise Singapore will work together and develop an M&OE Jobs Transformation Map that charts emerging career pathways and highlights capability-building opportunities.

In addition, new career opportunities are being identified. The Association of Singapore Marine and Offshore Energy Industries (ASMI), Workforce Singapore and Enterprise Singapore will work together and launch the Marine Digitalisation Champion Programme later this year.

This will equip Singaporeans with fresh digital skills for higher-value work in the M&OE sector. Furthermore, Workforce Singapore will expand its Career Conversion Programme to include offshore wind to develop local, mid-career talents for offshore wind farm development and operations.

Crucially, we will lay the foundation for a strong talent pipeline by nurturing interest in M&OE careers amongst our youth. MTI will work closely with the industry and ASMI to enhance the sector's attractiveness and encourage more M&OE companies to offer industry scholarships.

I am glad that together with our agencies, ASMI has developed a new Industry Plan that sets out the strategies to enable the businesses to seize new green growth opportunities and get equipped for longer-term transformation. ASMI will share their plans in the next few months.

Sir, over in the heartlands, we are see encouraging signs of growing business transformation. Ms Foo Mee Har, Mr Saktiandi Supaat and Mr Shawn Huang they spoke very passionately about this topic. I want to assure them that our heartland enterprises are making good progress in digitalisation and retail innovation.

Today, more than 17,000 heartland enterprises have adopted e-payment solutions. More than nine in 10. Today, more than 12,000 heartland enterprises now have online presence, about two-third. Those who have embraced digital transformation have gained a bigger customer base, beyond their neighbourhoods, beyond footfall, to even online customers and some shops have even attracted overseas customers as well.

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Bee Choo Origin, a hair product company that started in Ang Mo Kio as a hair salon in 2007, is a good example. Its owner, Mdm Cheah Bee Chew, who began as a home-based hairdresser, grew her humble salon into a global hair treatment company. It began selling its products online in 2020, again due to COVID-19, and then saw their revenue rise by 25% in just three years. Today, Bee Choo Origin has 170 stores spanning 11 markets and is entering its next lap of growth under the leadership of Mdm Cheah's 34-year-old daughter, Estee.

The retail sector is evolving rapidly, with the growth of technology, e-commerce and fast-changing consumer preferences. The Government is committed to supporting the retail sector and businesses to transform, innovate and capture opportunities.

I think Members will remember last year, during the MTI-COS debate, I announced the Sprout@AMK initiative – the Chinese name is 宏茂桥创新天地, or to introduce fresh retail concepts to heartlanders in Ang Mo Kio Town Centre. I am happy to share that these novel retail kiosks will be rolled out very soon.

Alongside this, we also welcome the first batch of retailers under the Heartland Innovation and Transformation (HIT) Programme, or 创新在邻里计划, who will be unveiling their products in Ang Mo Kio.

I am very heartened that some of these retailers from these new waves of shops have come up with concepts and innovative products for better health and well-being to meet the needs of the society. I thought I would give Members a preview of some of these novel concepts. Every year, I will bring something representing the heartland enterprises. For example, this fun puzzle. This company is called Project Enigma, and they use 3D printing to produce this puzzle and many other puzzles as well as toys to improve people's learning and health. Besides their retail kiosk in Ang Mo Kio, Project Enigma has started a puzzle museum and library at Henderson Community Club (CC) and it is also running community workshops. So, they do not just confine their presence to their shop. They went out beyond that to the CCs to do events to raise awareness.

My MTI colleagues have placed many of their interesting puzzles and toys in the Members' room because we are keenly aware that after one whole week of Budget and COS debates, Members might want to tinker with this and exercise different parts of your brain muscles.

Another interesting example is Tea Dojo. Now, let me show Members. Tea Dojo offers freshly brewed, healthier, syrup-free bubble tea. I alerted Minister Ong Ye Kung and the Health Promotion Board that I am going to do this. The nutri grade of this oolong tea, the peach oolong tea, is grade A. Today, we brought three flavours: peach oolong as well as grape boba, and the third flavour is mango pomelo. We have prepared many of these drinks and after we have the clarification time, we can all have our break soon and Members can choose from any of the three flavours.

Mr Chairman, you work very hard. I have set aside two cups for you in your office and, if you need more, you can let us know.

So, this is our freshly brewed, healthier, syrup-free bubble tea made from a specially invented tea machine. Many of our heartland enterprises are coming up with novel concepts, business models and revenue models.

Besides the retail transformation in Ang Mo Kio, we will pilot two heartland rejuvenation projects in Bukit Gombak and Tampines West. Bukit Gombak Neighbourhood Centre will be turned into a Modern Heritage Heartland Hub or 邻里特色文化基地. From 5 to 7 April next month, Bukit Gombak will hold the Rasa Gombak Day Out, a first of its kind festival that will showcase the history and heritage of the popular neighbourhood centre. Over at the other side of the island, Tampines West Neighbourhood Centre will be transformed into a Heartland Events Hub, or 新兴社区活动站.

Last October, Tampines West Merchant Association worked with the Singapore Retailers Association (SRA) to organise Wunderground. This was a pop-up event featuring collaborations between urban city lifestyle brands. The event at the heartlands attracted more than 30,000 visitors in just 10 days, an average of 3,000 a day. Residents can look forward to more such events in the future.

In the past three years, we have ramped up our efforts to transform and to revitalise the heartlands. We supported the Federation of Merchant Associations Singapore (FMAS) and Heartland Enterprise Centre Singapore (HECS) to hold more than 60 placemaking activities all over Singapore in different neighbourhood centres, including the three successful runs of the Heartland Festival.

Through these campaigns, businesses have reported a one-third increase in footfall and a 20% increase in sales. Collectively, this initiative strengthens each precinct's identity and allows businesses to differentiate their products and also enhance their value proposition.

On the ground, we are glad that heartland shops and merchants are stepping up with fresh ideas to co-curate events to make our neighbourhoods more exciting and vibrant. For example, Bold at Work is a co-working space provider and a youth engagement consultant in Jurong East. They turned parking lots in Yuhua into an interesting space for live music performance, carnival games and workshop. That, in turn, drew a lot of people to that whole place, also catalysing demand for the products and services of the heartland shops there.

We will encourage more creative ways to reach out to audiences and customers in the heartland. We will launch the Heartland Enterprise Placemaking Grant, or 邻里企业社区营造计划, to support our heartland enterprises in creating delightful experiences in the housing estates. We will make available funding of up to $10,000 for eligible heartland enterprises to organise placemaking projects.

I am sure many good ideas are out there waiting to be explored. So, we want to encourage our heartland enterprises to come forward with exciting proposals. Let us look forward to new possibilities that we can co-curate together. Chairman, in Mandarin, please.

( In Mandarin ) : [ Please refer to Vernacular Speech .] Chairman, our SMEs are the backbone of our economy. SMEs account for 99% of the total number of registered companies in Singapore, employing up to 70% of the workforce, bringing dynamism and vitality to our economy.

Our neighbourhood businesses, besides playing an important role in the economy, also serve as emotional hubs for the community, carrying many of our growing-up memories and enhancing the cohesion of our neighbourhoods. Therefore, MTI is committed to supporting our SMEs and neighbourhood businesses, equipping them with the capabilities to address the challenges of the future economy. This includes various plans and measures to assist SMEs in their transformation as well as to revitalise neighbourhood businesses, injecting more vitality into these communities.

Over the past three years, we have supported the Federation of Merchants’ Association Singapore and Heartland Enterprise Centre Singapore in organising over 60 neighbourhood placemaking activities, including the annual Heartlands Festival.

During these events, some businesses reported a one-third increase in footfall and a 20% growth in sales. Through this series of activities, Singaporeans have gained a deeper understanding of the history and unique aspects of each neighbourhood, while neighbourhood businesses have gained confidence in building their brands, using technology to expand their customer base, and even expanding their businesses overseas. For example, Bee Choo Origin, which expanded from one outlet in Ang Mo Kio to 11 overseas markets, providing the company with new business and development opportunities.

In addition to projects led by the Government, business associations and Chambers of Commerce, our neighbourhoods, businesses have also taken the initiative to organise events. These activities transform the ordinary into the extraordinary, bringing new vitality to the neighbourhood community.

To encourage more of such initiatives, MTI has announced a Heartland Enterprise Placemaking Grant to provide eligible businesses with grants of up to $10,000 to support them in creating unique experiences for the community, driving the development of the neighbourhood economy.

Through this series of new initiatives and grants, we hope to encourage SMEs, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, and neighbourhood businesses to unleash their creativity, seize the opportunities for economic transformation and drive sustainable development for Singapore.

( In English ): Chairman, the green transition presents both opportunities and challenges to enterprises. I want to assure Ms He Ting Ru and Mr Neil Parekh that the Government will continue to deepen and widen our support for businesses through the different stages of their sustainability journey.

First, we are enhancing our existing support to help businesses to become more sustainable through the Energy Efficiency Grant (EEG). In 2022, we launched the EEG to help our enterprises defray rising energy costs. Since then, Mr Edward Chia and Mr Mark Lee would be glad to know that almost 2,000 companies have used EEG. For example, CF F&B, a drink stall in a food court. I want to give Members examples like that so that you know that EEG is not just used by bigger SMEs but can be used by heartland merchants or even a food stall in a food court. So, CF F&B is a drink stall in a food court. They used the grant to procure three energy-efficient water heaters that led to cost savings of about 80%, 80% cost savings. We will help more businesses invest in energy-efficient equipment. From 1 April, local food services, retail and manufacturing companies can continue to receive enhanced support of up to 70%.

EEG will be open to other industries, such as maritime, construction and data centres by the end of this year. MTI is working closely with the industry to onboard additional sectors as necessary. We will also streamline the application process by consolidating all the EEG applications from different sectors on the Business Grants Portal.

EEG complements existing schemes like the Enterprise Sustainability Programme (ESP) to provide holistic end-to-end support. For example, companies can tap into ESP for consultancy support to pinpoint areas for efficiency gains before applying to buy the energy-efficient equipment under EEG.

Secondly, we will enhance the existing Resource Efficiency Grant for Emissions (REGE) by lowering the qualifying carbon abatement threshold from 500 tonnes to 250 tonnes per annum. This will enable more businesses to tap into the grant for their projects.

Finally, we will extend the Enterprise Financing Scheme (Green) or EFS (Green) till 31 March 2026 and expand its scope to cover companies adopting green solutions. As Mr Edward Chia pointed out, data centres and chip manufacturers would do well to use schemes like the EFS (Green) to reduce their emissions.

A company that has benefited from EFS (Green) is Koollogix. They provide cooling technologies for data centres. It tapped into this scheme to transform and complete a new lab facility. This, together with other transformation efforts, led to a tenfold increase in their revenue just within two years.

Sir, as the world embraces sustainable goals and practices, customers and investors will increasingly expect businesses to be more transparent about their carbon footprint. The Ministry of Finance has announced that climate-related disclosures will be mandated for large companies in Singapore in the coming years. Therefore, businesses need capabilities and resources to track and report their carbon footprint.

To this end, we will provide funding support of up to 30% to large companies to kickstart their sustainability reporting journey. While smaller companies will not be affected by the new regulations, sustainability reporting will help them to stay relevant as disclosure of carbon footprint data becomes commonplace.

Mr Derrick Goh would be pleased to know that we will provide funding support of up to 70% and work closely with carbon service providers to offer a basic sustainability reporting package for small businesses. This will complement the pre-scoped carbon accounting solutions offered under the Infocomm Media Development Authority's (IMDA) Advanced Digital Solutions Scheme.

In addition, to help businesses pursue sustainability-related collaborations while maintaining healthy competition, the Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore (CCCS) has developed an Environmental Sustainability Collaboration Guidance Note. Sir, for businesses to be successfully sustainable, I think all of us in the House will agree workers must also keep pace. Hence, we are boosting our support for the workforce to upskill and reskill to seize new opportunities in the green economy.

Last year, we set up the Green Skills Committee to develop skills and training programmes aimed at fostering a low-carbon economy. This year, we will continue to build on two focus areas: (a) sustainability reporting; and (b) energy. To develop skills in sustainability reporting, we will provide salary support to sustainability reporting service providers to train interns. This year, we will launch training programmes for the energy sector to address clean energy skills gaps identified by the sector.

Minister Gan spoke about how Singapore is establishing a vibrant carbon services and trading ecosystem. I am glad to announce that EDB and Enterprise Singapore are working with the National University of Singapore (NUS) and Nanyang Technological University (NTU) to develop training programmes in carbon management, services and trading. These courses will certainly help workers capture their potential in this growth sector.

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Chairman, another emerging area which offers exciting prospects is the digital economy. Singapore companies have made good progress in digitalisation. In 2022, digital technology adoption by SMEs reached 94%, a 20% jump from 2018. Many of us will agree that the COVID-19 pandemic has really catalysed the adoption of digital tools and technology.

Many Members spoke during your cuts about AI. With the rise of technologies, like Generative AI, digitalisation has become more urgent and dynamic than ever before.

Currently, only 4% of businesses use AI and machine learning. We want to share more about how we are helping our SMEs to adopt GenAI and I want to assure the Members, Mr Derrick Goh, Mr Keith Chua, Ms Mariam Jaafar and Mr Neil Parekh, that MTI will support businesses in the next lap of enterprise digitalisation.

We encourage businesses to start exploring and using AI. Interested firms can tap on Enterprise Singapore and IMDA's newly-launched Generative AI Sandbox for SMEs to gain hands-on experience with GenAI. The Sandbox will feature affordable and easy-to-use solutions applicable to a broad spectrum of sectors. I will cite two ways they can use it.

For example, our SMEs can use marketing and sales solutions. This will really them to grow their topline and bottom-line. They can use GenAI to help them use marketing and sales solutions to generate unique content, such as customised emails and product images for their marketing campaigns.

Another area is customer engagement solutions, which can also allow the SMEs to engage customers on a much larger scale better. These GenAI-powered chatbots can simplify the information search process and then allow businesses to free up their resources and become more productive, so they can allow their staff to focus on higher value-add work, serve customers and maybe allow them to focus on the business development kind of functions. We want to encourage our SMEs to participate in the Sandbox and get a head start in using GenAI solutions.

Chairman, sectoral transformation, the green transition and seizing digital opportunities. The Government cannot drive these efforts alone. Many Members talked about the importance of trade associations and chambers (TACs). And indeed, TACs are critical industry multipliers we work with to drive industry transformation. Let me elaborate.

Since 2022, we have supported 30 TACs to spearhead industry initiatives benefitting some 14,000 companies through the Local Enterprise and Association Development Programme (LEAD).

We partnered with TACs to set up SME Centres island-wide to offer SMEs capability development programmes. Last year, more than 30,000 SMEs benefitted from these services. I want to reassure Mr Derrick Goh that the SME Centres will continue supporting business transformation efforts, particularly in digitalisation and sustainability.

TACs also represent the interests and needs of the respective industries and form a vital bridge between the industry, the private sector and the Government. Our close partnerships with TACs help us to better understand and address critical concerns on the ground.

Business costs and competitiveness are top-of-mind issues for many SMEs and many businesses today. We are very cognisant of that. While there is no magic bullet for these pain points, the private and public sectors and the union representatives have come together to co-create solutions to overcome these challenges.

We will form an Alliance for Action (AfA) on Business Competitiveness co-chaired by myself and hon Member Mr Mark Lee, who represents SBF. The AfA will forge solutions with the industry and adopt recommendations to help businesses become more competitive in the long term. This complements existing efforts by the Pro-Enterprise Panel (PEP) to enhance the regulatory journey for businesses.

To enable TACs to be effective change agents, the Government has invested significantly in developing their capabilities.

Mr Derrick Goh, Mr Keith Chua and Mr Shawn Huang would be glad to know that MTI is working with SBF, our apex business chamber, to develop more capability programmes for the TACs, including their staff.

Over the next five years, SBF will build shared resources for TACs to support their members in critical areas like digitalisation, sustainability and internationalisation. We will continue to work with SBF to boost the capabilities of TACs' secretariats to serve their members better. SBF will share more details on this effort in the later part of this year.

Finally, with the TACs and the industry, we will improve business practices and strengthen consumer protection. The Consumer Protection (Fair Trading) Act, or CPFTA, already provides for civil remedies for unfair practices, such as deception and false claims. Thank you to Mr Melvin Yong, who is also the President of CASE, and Mr Louis Chua for their suggestions on enhancing consumer protection.

We appreciate the close partnership with CASE, and all the work that CASE has done to support consumers. For example, CASE's Price Kaki app allows consumers to compare the prices of many different household items and cooked food and the unit pricing features makes it even easier to compare. MTI, the Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore (CCCS) and the economic agencies will continue to work closely with CASE to protect consumer interests as consumer purchasing habits evolve.

Chairman, this sustained spirit of collaboration and cooperation between the private sector, public sector and industry associations gives us the grit, give us the resilience to overcome challenging circumstances.

Our gumption to embrace transformation will set a formidable front against the odds. Let us stay the course. Let us keep up the momentum of transformation, from reshaping industry, whether it is M&OE or heartland enterprises, energising our heartland shops as well and also seizing potential in digital economy as well as the green economy. Because by taking shared ownership of our transformation path, we will set sails of positive change and ride new waves of opportunities to reach the harbour of a thriving future for Singapore and Singaporeans. [ Applause .]

The Chairman : Minister of State Alvin Tan.

The Minister of State for Trade and Industry (Mr Alvin Tan) : Mr Chairman, we have recovered robustly from the difficult pandemic years. Amidst geopolitical and macroeconomic tensions, global inflationary pressures and heightened investor uncertainty, Singapore, through EDB attracted $12.7 billion in Fixed Asset Investment commitments in 2023. These projects will create 20,045 new jobs. This exceeded EDB's medium-term goals and is partly why Singapore remains Asia's most competitive economy and the world's fourth most competitive, according to the International Institute for Management Development (IMD).

As the world's Global-Asia or Singapore as a hub for cultures, ideas and commerce, how can we strengthen our position as the world's hub? First, by strengthening our appeal as a vibrant destination for both businesses and tourists alike and residents; and second, by deepening and widening our international partnerships.

Let me begin with our tourism sector, which has rebounded strongly. There has been a resurgence in visitor arrivals and an energetic revival of our city as a bustling hub of eclectic experiences.

In 2023, our international visitor arrivals recovered to 13.6 million, which is 71% of our 2019 levels, while our tourism receipts for the first three quarters of 2023 reached 98% of the same period in 2019. We have launched new local experiences to capture the winds of recovery. Minister of State Low Yen Ling was your heartland guide. I will be your tourism guide.

We opened the Bird Paradise at the Mandai Wildlife Reserve, HyperDrive at Sentosa and Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience at Resorts World Sentosa. We also enjoyed a vibrant calendar of signature events, like the Formula 1 Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix or the inaugural edition of ART SG as part of Singapore Art Week. Then, we have live entertainment which resumed with unparalleled vitality, as Singapore played host to prominent acts, such as Blackpink, Ed Sheeran, Jacky Cheung and, of course, a particular act that is currently taking Singapore by storm.

Our Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Exhibitions industry, or MICE for short, have also made a very strong comeback. In 2023, we hosted some of the world's largest MICE events, like Asia Tech x Singapore, Gastech and Herbalife APAC Extravaganza. We also welcomed new events, like the 25th World Congress of Dermatology, which is our largest medical congress to date; and the transport logistic and air cargo for Southeast Asia, with the first in the edition for the region.

Then, we have also our homegrown events, which many of you have participated in, such as Singapore International Energy Week, our Singapore International Cyber Week, the Singapore Week of Innovation and Technology (SWITCH) and, of course, the Singapore Fintech Festival, which continued year after year to attract a significant turnout.

Conference organisers tell me that they choose Singapore because of our position as a global meeting point for talent, ideas and for business. Even during massive disruptions like COVID-19, Singapore continued to deliver, safely and reliably and these conference organisers are bullish about our prospects to continue to play host to world-class events if there are disruptions in the future. So, confidence in us is strong. through world class events.

Similarly, we remain confident in our tourism sector. This year, we expect international tourism or visitor arrivals to reach between 15 and 16 million visitors and to bring approximately $26.0 to 27.5 billion in tourism receipts.

Mr Liang Eng Hwa, Mr Neil Parekh and Mr Edward Chia asked how we plan to facilitate tourism recovery and ensure we remain attractive despite intensifying global competition. We are doing so in two ways.

First, through investments. We will provide a boost to our tourism sector, through an injection of over $300 million to our Tourism Development Fund 4. This will develop and market new products and experiences, including supporting local enterprises as they develop new intellectual properties, rejuvenate existing tourism offerings and also upskill our tourism workers.

We are boosting this Fund 4 because it has introduced exciting attractions and lifestyle events here. And I got to launch some of these, including TRIFECTA, which is Asia's first snow, surf and skate lifestyle destination and also, of course, the year-round exclusive homeporting of Disney Cruise Line's latest cruise ship, Disney Adventure, which will start in Singapore next year.

Over the past two years, this fund has also helped over 100 local tourism businesses become even more productive and more sustainable. So, we encourage all of our tourism companies to make full use of the top-up to grow your business.

Second, we are also developing a pipeline of high quality and first-of-its-kind experiences here in Singapore, that we will launch in the coming years. This will help us to maintain international mindshare and strengthen our appeal as a compelling destination. Let me share some more exciting news as your in-house tour guide.

First, we are improving accessibility in Sentosa with Sensoryscape which is a new attraction that will connect Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) and Sentosa's beaches. It has multi-sensorial gardens that pique the senses and showcase digital light displays in the night. Some of us had a sneak peek and we look forward to the soft launch this month.

Staying at Sentosa at RWS, I broke ground on Universal Studios, Singapore's Minion Land just two years ago and we look forward to the launch next year. Next year, RWS will also launch the new Singapore Oceanarium which is an expansion of the current SEA Aquarium but three times its size. As part of RWS' expansion, there will also be a new waterfront lifestyle development and a driverless transport system between the mainland and RWS.

Third, we have a strong line-up of leisure and business events. Together with the suite of world-class live entertainment events, we will host high quality MICE events this year, such as the Global Sustainable Tourism Council Global Conference, which is the first in Singapore and NRF 2024: Retail's Big Show Asia Pacific, which is a significant tradeshow for our region’s retail industry.

Also, when MBS' expansion is completed in the later part of this decade, it will allow us to host more notable live entertainment and MICE events. The expansion will include a 15,000-seat world-class entertainment arena, more MICE spaces, and an iconic, luxury all-suite hotel tower with a public rooftop attraction.

3.15 pm

To continue enhancing Singapore as a vibrant lifestyle and economic hub, we must continue to build our creative economy, as Ms Usha Chandrasdas suggested. I will share how we are doing so.

First, Singapore hosts many high-quality arts and cultural experiences that enhance our attractiveness as a lively lifestyle hub or lifestyle destination. Our year-round arts and cultural calendar features events such as Singapore Art Week and Singapore International Festival of Arts, as well as cultural festivals in Chinatown, Little India and Kampong Gelam.

These events which many of you have attended are popular not just with our locals but also our visitors alike, and STB will continue to work with event organisers to improve and grow their appeal and also look for new themes, new arts and cultural experiences which have international appeal.

The DesignSingapore Council, which is a subsidiary under EDB, drives the growth of our design sector. This council provides funding and coaching for design research and product development, partners with companies to adopt design for business growth, and nurtures industry-ready design talent.

Ms Jean See also highlighted the potential of harnessing creative talent to redefine businesses.

In addition to DesignSingapore’s efforts, broad-based schemes such as our Enterprise Development Grant (EDG) will allow businesses to engage creative professionals to build their strategic brand as well as their marketing capability.

There is more good news. Singapore and China implemented a mutual 30-day visa exemption starting on 9 February 2024. We expect this to boost arrivals and spending across our retail, F&B, and tourism-related sectors. This longer visa exemption has made it more convenient for Singaporeans to travel to China for leisure and business, boosting two-way traffic.

As we continue to put Singapore on the world map, we welcome people from all around the world – not just as a tourist destination, but also as a business hub. Minister Gan shared how our trade networks help grow our economy. I will focus on how we are extending our connections to be a stronger and more vibrant business node.

Mr Neil Parekh emphasised the importance of trade to Singapore given our very small size and small domestic market. Between 2005 and 2023, our total trade in goods and services more than doubled, from around S$890 billion to more than S$2 trillion; and currently stands at around three times our GDP.

Amidst growing geopolitical tensions and protectionist trade policies, which was also a concern raised by Ms He Ting Ru, we must continue to strengthen Singapore’s global trade competitiveness. How? Let me suggest three ways: first, we must continue to advance our trade and investment with partner economies, especially in the growing markets; second, we must help our local companies to scale up and internationalise; and third, we must encourage new trade flows for in-demand areas.

Mr Parekh asked how we are helping companies to seize new opportunities in growing markets. Well, my MTI colleagues and I have been travelling the world to strengthen these economic ties. We are uncovering new markets, new business opportunities and new partners for our many companies. Some of these journeys are 30 hours one way, but they are worth doing even though they are very tiring. And I will be making more of these trips this year because Minister Gan has asked me to. But let me take you around the world from a trade and also a business lens.

First stop: let us go to India, a country I visited a few times last year. We continue to advance our collaborations with India, which the World Economic Forum projects to be the world’s third largest economy by 2030. It is already the world’s most populous nation and one of its youngest too.

Between 2012 and 2022, Singapore’s investments into India grew by more than five times. In 2022, India was Singapore’s 11th largest trading partner and India will remain a key market of strategic importance to Singapore.

At the inaugural India-Singapore Ministerial Roundtable in 2022, our countries identified five mutually beneficial areas of collaboration. And we have started to see some fruits of success from this work.

For example, on the digital front, India and Singapore operationalised the world’s first paperless Letter of Credit transaction backed by interoperable electronic Bills of Lading (eBLs) using IMDA’s TradeTrust framework. This showcases how digital tech can make international trade easier and also more accessible.

We are also helping our students gain greater exposure to India’s markets. Enterprise Singapore, in partnership with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) announced the India Ready Talent (IRT) internship programme in February 2024. IRT offers our University and Polytechnic students internship opportunities in India to deepen their understanding of India’s business environment.

From India let us travel to Latin America – a region I have been travelling to extensively over the last few years:

Minister Vivian Balakrishnan and I were just in Brazil in December to sign a new FTA with the MERCOSUR. MERCOSUR is the Common Market of the South comprising Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. This is our first FTA with all four South American economies, which will strengthen our ties with this market comprising over 270 million people and business opportunities in infrastructure development, agri-food trade, oil and gas, as well as advanced manufacturing, just to name a few.

To date, more than 150 Singapore companies have commercial interests in Latin America. This builds on the FTA we signed with the Pacific Alliance bloc in 2022, which comprises Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru. With these two agreements, we have combined access to a market in Latin America of more than 500 million people, half a billion people.

From India and Latin America, let us now travel to the Middle East and Africa.

During Prime Minister's visit to Saudi Arabia and the UAE in October 2023, we signed several agreements including MOUs on recognition of halal certifications. Singapore companies can now look forward to exporting halal food products to both countries.

Africa also presents many opportunities. Africa is the most youthful population in the world and by 2050, more than a quarter of the world’s population will be African.

Last year, I joined Prime Minister Lee on his visit to Africa, where we signed agreements with South Africa and Kenya. In August, we hosted African business and political leaders at the 7th Africa Singapore Business Forum (ABSF) organised by Enterprise Singapore. This business forum attracted over 500 delegates and connected 200 businesses from Asia to Africa to explore collaborations while using Singapore as a node to facilitate Asia-African trade.

SBF led business delegations to many of these regions and we met with them on the ground. They were there to explore commercial opportunities and I invite more companies to join SBF and other business delegations to expand their reach into these very promising and high potential emerging markets.

Beyond FTAs, we are also pioneering new agreements in new growth engines.

We now have four Digital Economy Agreements (DEAs), to facilitate end-to-end digital trade by promoting the use of digital tools, enabling open and secure data flows and building trust in digital systems.

We also developed Green Economy Agreements (GEAs) to support emissions reduction while spurring economic growth and also create jobs in the green economy. Our GEA with Australia has catalysed collaborations in scientific research, green shipping corridors, and co-innovation programmes for SMEs and we invite more companies to join us along this green journey.

Through our journey around the world, we explored abundant opportunities for our companies back home. Mr Edward Chia asked how we are using these agreements. This leads me to my second point of how we are helping our companies internationalise and also enter these growth markets.

Through SBF, we actively reach out to help companies understand and to use FTAs that we have signed, including through outreach sessions and consultations. And more than 1,600 companies have benefited from these efforts in 2023.

In the past year, Enterprise Singapore also supported Singapore companies to secure deals, access new market opportunities and grow overseas through 460 overseas projects. These companies are expected to grow their annual revenue by $5.2 billion based on Enterprise Singapore’s support.

As an open economy, our firms are inevitably exposed to global supply chains impact. Ms He Ting Ru pointed out that Singapore companies are therefore having to deal with new risks. We note that she has asked specific questions on manpower which we will defer to the Ministry of Manpower to address at this point.

But the point is we cannot fully shield our companies from these risks, but we can provide financing for them and help them to build their capabilities. For example, they can use our Market Readiness Assistance (MRA) and the Enterprise Development Grant (EDG) to defray the cost of venturing outside and exploring these new markets.

We also offer a 200% tax deductible on eligible expenses for international market expansion and investment development activities through our Double Tax Deduction for Internationalisation (DTDi) scheme.

Mr Desmond Choo would be pleased to know that there are many success stories from our work in helping Singapore companies internationalise. One such company is iFAST, which is a homegrown fintech firm that provides investment products and services, digital banking and pension administration services. iFAST designed a customer acquisition and onboarding strategy for iFAST Global Bank (iGB), a UK-based digital bank and developed a go-to-market strategy to strengthen its regional presence. iFAST aims to reach $100 billion of assets under administration by 2030. We look forward to more of such success stories to strengthen Singapore companies’ presence worldwide.

Beyond signing agreements and encouraging companies to internationalise, we are also pursuing new trade flows in areas such as carbon credits as well as biofuels. We have built a vibrant carbon services and trading ecosystem for our companies. Today, there are over 120 carbon services and trading firms in Singapore, an increase from 70 since 2020. There are new entrants including firms like Bain & Company which has established its Global Sustainability Innovation Centre here in Singapore, and the International Emissions Trading Association (IETA) which opened its Asia hub here last year. We are also growing our biofuels ecosystem.

Our strong network of energy and agri-commodities traders makes us home to a growing pool of companies that trade biofuels and its feedstock, such as Mewah, which sells biodiesel globally. To produce the bio diesel they use various raw materials including used cooking oil.

We will continue to grow our ecosystem with our industry partners to better support the trade of goods and services that contribute to climate action – and make Singapore the heart of sustainable trade flows.

Sir, this year's Budget addresses the present challenges we face and charts the directions for our nation in a very uncertain future. To do all that we set out to do, we need the resources to provide and care for people and set them on a strong footing for the future. That is why the work that MTI does is so important.

MTI is at the forefront of growing our economy in a time where growth is elusive, unlocking the potential in resources like energy and our people, in light of new and exciting discoveries in tech and science, transforming our sectors to grow green and digital as we are confronted with climate change and connecting more widely and deeply to the world when instincts compel countries to look inward.

Sir, MTI will continue to do all this because building a strong, vibrant, innovative economy will help secure Singapore's future in a more tumultuous world. [ Applause. ]

The Chairman : We have some time for clarifications. Mr Liang Eng Hwa.

3.30 pm

Mr Liang Eng Hwa : Thank you, Sir. Much as I would like to sample the oolong tea that Minister of State Low Yen Ling recommended, I do have one question for Minister Tan See Leng. This is on the second LNG terminal. I can understand that we need this terminal to strengthen our energy resilience. We already depend heavily on piped gas and, therefore, we will need also to have, as a backup, LNG.

But can I ask the Minister how MTI sees the planned time horizon for this second LNG terminal? I ask this because, directionally, we are heading towards greener and cleaner energy. So, how would this second LNG terminal feature in our overall energy strategy, in terms of having greener and cleaner energy?

Dr Tan See Leng : I thank Mr Liang for his supplementary clarification. Today, Mr Chairman, about 95% of our power generation needs come from natural gas. And we have two main sources – piped natural gas, which is from our neighbours, and LNG.

As I have shared earlier on in my COS speech, the energy needs, the electrification needs, with the newer industries, FDIs coming in with the growth of our industries, as well as the SMEs' growth, these energy needs will continue to increase and not decrease.

If Members look at the time horizon, our imports – at 4.2 GW for the conditional approvals that we have given – would constitute about 30% of our overall energy needs, and that is by 2035.

So, as we ramp up from now to 2035, we will need to factor in the building of a second LNG terminal, in part, due to our own need for energy security, because that second LNG terminal would then allow us, supplemented by the existing LNG terminal that we have today, to be completely non-dependent on piped natural gas, and all of the LNG that comes in through ships and so on, can then fulfil 100% of our gas energy needs. So, that gives us an added measure of security.

On top of that, as I have also shared earlier on energy transition in the COS speech, a number of the other pathways and initiatives that we are pursuing, whether it is the Low Carbon Energy Research (LCER) programme for hydrogen, or embarking on pathfinder projects for ammonia and hydrogen, these are actually still relatively nascent. There are also the other measures that we are looking at whether it is geothermal, or also other types of advanced nuclear energy technology, including fusion energy. So, for us, energy security, reliability and our resilience are of utmost importance.

And when we did the projection with the increase in terms of our consumption, the second LNG terminal would not run a significant risk of asset stranding, even if we were to completely transition into all renewable energy, which is unlikely to be the case. I hope that answers the Member's query and his apprehensions as well.

Mr Chairman : Ms Foo Mee Har.

Ms Foo Mee Har : Thank you, Chairman. I have two clarifications. The first one is for Minister Gan. In the area of promoting collaboration between larger companies and SMEs, I had asked whether the Government would consider integrating the involvement of Singapore-based SMEs as a positive criterion for MNEs and also the large corporations when they access Government grants. This is really to make sure that, especially in the area of high-value investments, such as R&D and innovation-related grants, the Government-backed programmes can extend to a broader ecosystem. So, if Minister can say whether we can insert that little requirement.

My second clarification is to Minister of State Low Yen Ling. I join Member Liang Eng Hwa in congratulating her for her enthusiasm in promoting innovation in the heartlands. But I want to ask a more pointed question, specifically. I would like to ask the Minister of State, in light of the CDC Vouchers that the Government has been giving in successive tranches, I want to know, specifically, how much has the support gone to supporting heartland enterprises.

Mr Gan Kim Yong : Let me thank Ms Foo for the clarification, which is very important. I heard the Member's speech. I explained in my COS speech, that actually for the specific schemes like PACT, the collaboration is with the local SMEs. So, that is already naturally part and parcel of the scheme design that we encourage large companies, MNCs, may be LLEs, to work with their suppliers. And some of these MNCs, large enterprises, are actually now beginning to go overseas, and they are quite keen to bring along their suppliers to go overseas too.

And they also need to level up their capability in order to partner them in overseas markets. So, this programme is very useful in nurturing collaboration between large companies and local SMEs. But there are also other schemes that are focused on bringing in technology, bringing in strategic investments, which we may or may not have the capability among the local industries.

Therefore, we will need to assess each project's features and background to see whether it is appropriate to incorporate local enterprise collaboration. Sometimes, it may be counterproductive. Instead of being able to attract these technology, experts, network and opportunities here, you may lose them because we do not have the local capability to support them.

But where possible, we will always encourage MNCs investing here to work with our local enterprises. All our schemes have that in mind. Where possible, where appropriate, we will have the conversation with the grant applicants, to see whether local SMEs can play a part, and it is something that we always push for and encourage.

In fact, many of the investors who come to Singapore are also looking at the capability of the SMEs, the local enterprises here. This is the whole ecosystem that we are developing. That is actually one of our key selling points, and very often, when I talk to investors, they choose Singapore, not just because of our grants, but because of the ecosystem that we have developed. They can tap on the SMEs capability to augment their business and that is why they are here.

But at the same time, as I said, through PACT, we are hoping to level up the capability of SMEs, so that they, too, can continue to grow, as the MNCs are growing. We take the Member's point. Where possible and applicable, we definitely will take into account collaboration with the local enterprises.

Ms Low Yen Ling : Chairman, I want to thank the Member, Ms Foo Mee Har, for her question. I think she notes that this is a MTI COS debate and I outlined the new schemes that Enterprise Singapore colleagues have launched, which is the Heartlands Placemaking Grant (HEPG). And in her cut, I recall that she, and many other Members, spoke very passionately about the unique role of heartland enterprises in Singapore, and I completely agree with them.

That is why we are always leaning forward, going the extra mile for our heartland enterprises, especially during the COVID-19 period. And I think, we can all agree that the heartland shops are literally close to our homes and also close to our hearts.

First, they provide the convenience and also a wide assortment of products and services and, most of the time, daily necessities and essential products and services. Second, they also provide jobs to a lot of our residents who do not want to travel too far for their day job, or maybe part-time job, but just want a job nearby.

But very importantly, they inject vibrancy into all our neighbourhoods, the kampung spirit, the community spirit. And that is why in MTI and Enterprise Singapore, we are always going the extra mile to support our heartland shops in going digital, in embracing transformation and also reaching out to new customers, not just customers who cannot visit their shop physically, but also customers overseas, by going online or even adopting digital platforms.

In the same vein, we are always looking out for like-minded partners within the whole-of-Government. So, frankly, if Members remember how CDC Vouchers came about, it came about because of the circuit breaker. Coming out of the circuit breaker, we felt it was very important to support lower-income households. At the same time, our heartland shops had been closed for two months, and two months of closure can really make or break these heartland shops. Back then, it was Deputy Prime Minister Heng who launched the $20 million paper voucher, because our sense back then was that the paper voucher will be more effective. It was warmly welcomed, very well-received.

And then six months later, in January 2021, another tranche of $20 million. And then, we went digital. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong launched the first nationwide digital CDC Vouchers. We say digital, but we also gave assurance to residents who do not have smartphones, we assured them that they can print their CDC Vouchers in any of the Community Centres, to provide them the convenience.

And the Member's question was how much was channelled towards the heartland shops. So, on 13 December 2021, Prime Minister Lee launched the first tranche. If Members remember, that was $100 for each of the 1.22 million households. Then five months later, Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong launched a second tranche. Similarly, I recall it was $100 for the 1.22 million households. Then, last year, 3 January 2023, Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong launched the third tranche, which is $300 for the 1.238 million households. Just less than two months ago, Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong launched again a fourth tranche, which is $500 for the 1.267 million.

A few days ago, I just did a check on the numbers. The first three tranches basically catalysed spending in our 23,000 heartland shops and hawkers amounting to $407 million. And if we include the fourth tranche, which is ongoing, the amount that has been spent at our heartland shops and hawkers amount to $133 million. So, it means that the three tranches we have completed and the ongoing fourth tranche have catalysed spending of $540 million in our 23,000 heartland shops and hawkers.

The key point is that it is not just MTI, it is not just Enterprise Singapore that is going the extra mile to support our heartland shops for them to innovate, for them to transform, for them to future-proof themselves in this digital era. We welcome agencies within the Government. We are also working with the Federation of Merchants' Associations, Singapore (FMAS), Heartland Enterprise Centre Singapore (HECS), and we welcome each and every one of you, wearing your different hats, to share with us how you would like to also synergise the efforts to support our heartland shops, because they are close to our homes and close to our hearts.

Mr Chairman : We do not have much time left. So, for those who want to seek clarifications, and likewise, for the responses, please keep them short. Mr Louis Chua.

Mr Chua Kheng Wee Louis : Noted, Mr Chairman. So, just two clarifications. The first is for Minister of State Low. I mentioned lemons in my speech. So, in terms of the so-called loophole for the lemon law whereby used cars that are sold on consignment are actually not covered, does the Government intend to plug this loophole, given that it is likely the largest value item for a given household?

The second is more for Minister Dr Tan. I think the Minister mentioned the power plants that will be coming up will be hydrogen-ready. So, I just wanted to understand, in terms of the feedstock that they will be using when they are operational, is there a target percentage for them to be using hydrogen? And similar as to how we deal with LNG, does the Government intend to do a kind of centralised procurement of, say, ammonia or hydrogen feedstock for economies of scale?

Ms Low Yen Ling : Chairman, I promise to keep it short so that you can enjoy your peach oolong tea. I thank the Member Mr Louis Chua. I will just make two quick points. When the Member talked about lemon law, is he talking about owner selling to owner or business selling to owner? Can I clarify?

Mr Chua Kheng Wee Louis : Basically, the used car dealers, when they actually sell on behalf of the owner to somebody buying a second-hand car.

Ms Low Yen Ling : Okay, I want to thank the Member for the clarification. The used cars that are sold by car dealers on behalf of the owners, they are also known as consignment cars. The Member might be aware of that. They are really considered consumer-to-consumer (C2C) transactions between the owner and the buyer.

The lemon law only covers business-to-consumer (B2C) transactions and does not cover the C2C transactions. However, I want to assure the Member that car dealers who misrepresent a C2C transaction as a B2C transaction can be taken to task under our current Consumer Protection (Fair Trading) Act, or CPFTA, as an unfair trading practice. So, if the Member knows of any, please let us know and we will follow up. We also want to use this platform to really advise the consumers to take extra precaution when making such purchases.

Mr Chairman : Mr Neil Parekh. Sorry, Minister Tan.

Dr Tan See Leng : I thank Mr Chua for his question. The three combined cycle gas turbines (CCGTs) – one from Keppel, one from Sembcorp, and the third one that I just mentioned, YTL PowerSeraya – are all capable of taking up to 30% hydrogen. So, today, this is the new breed of CCGTs that, if there is any planting and so on, we envisage that they should make that transition pathway.

3.45 pm

To the Member's point in terms of hydrogen, today, in countries particularly where they have a favourable geographical advantage, where they have solar power or wind or tidal, they can produce green hydrogen. The logistics and transportation of the hydrogen is very, very costly today because the boiling point of liquid hydrogen is very, very low. A significant amount of energy is needed to keep it at that kind of low temperatures. So, it does not make it economically viable.

Having said that, we are not resting on our laurels. Hence, we have the ammonia pathfinder project, where we started to see how, on a very small scale, we can conduct a pilot. We are also working through our initiatives to see, in terms of the supply chains, what kind of technological advancements and developments we can go further in, to make the transportation of hydrogen a lot more cost effective.

In terms of central procurement, obviously, at a point in time, when we have arrived at that technological maturity, we can certainly consider that. But at this particular point in time, even if you have nuclear power, to use it to do the electrolysis of water to produce hydrogen, it is still not green hydrogen. So, that is a technical specification that is needed. I hope that it clarifies your query.

The Chairman : Mr Neil Parekh.

Mr Neil Parekh Nimil Rajnikant : I want to thank Minister of State Alvin Tan for answering so many questions on tourism and internationalisation, and for the $300 million boost to the Tourism Development Fund. My question for you is, which schemes have worked well for Tourism Development Fund. On a different point, what strategies were involved in bringing Taylor Swift to Singapore, which in my view has been very successful in terms of a branding on an international stature?

Mr Alvin Tan : Sir, I thank Mr Neil Parekh for his question. My answer will be very swift. And actually, next week, there are a couple of Parliamentary Questions and that will be very tailored towards this particular question in detail.

The Tourism Development Fund has a variety of different schemes. It has secured over 600 events that strengthen Singapore's attractiveness as a leisure and business destination hub. All of these different aspects that we have put in, I wanted to remind Members that our tourism sector was really, really hard hit during COVID-19. So, in 2022, we pumped in $500 million for the Tourism Development Fund. That helped significantly to prepare our very, very hard-hit tourism sector to recover. Now, they have recovered, as I mentioned in my main reply, and this $300 million top-up will also continue to boost them so that we can attract both very high-quality lifestyle entertainment acts as well as top world-class MICE events to Singapore, and just to lift Singapore to be in a very attractive lifestyle and as well as a business destination.

The Chairman : Our current guillotine time is 4.15 pm, but it included a 20-minute break. I still see many hands. So, if Members do not mind, we will have a very, very short break. I will allow more clarifications, if Members do not mind, but it will eat into our break time. Ms He Ting Ru.

Ms He Ting Ru : Thank you, Mr Chairman. I have a couple of clarifications for Minister Gan. I think I heard Minister Gan mention earlier about precision medicine. So, I just wanted to ask for a bit more details about the Ministry's assessment of what sort of potential that precision medicine can have as a growth area in relation to the Singapore economy.

The second point relates to whether MTI is currently working with agencies like the Ministry of Health (MOH) and the Health Promotion Board (HPB) in relation to addressing some of the concerns around precision medicine, because at the moment, it is quite prohibitively expensive. I am just concerned about accessibility to those who might not have a high income. So, whether they can share details about the work that is being done with MOH or HPB in relation to addressing some of these concerns.

Mr Gan Kim Yong : Thank you. I have given a broad perspective of the potential for the precision medicine market in my speech. I think you can refer to that in terms of the numbers. But in terms of the specific areas of potential, this is a very early stage of an emerging technology. As some Members have said, if we do not move in time, we will never have time to move.

So, I think it is something for which we have to grab the opportunity to work with companies who are in this field to develop new technologies. The potential is to find new solutions and new therapies by working on genomics and see how the genes interact with one another; and also coupled with the advent of AI that has made precision medicine even more promising. So, this is an area that we are well positioned to collaborate with leaders in the world to develop this particular sector.

On the second question, yes, indeed, we are in discussion with MOH. Because at some point in time, when companies want to conduct clinical trials, they will also have to work with MOH to ensure that they have access to patients for some of these clinical trials. When the therapies are available, I think we will then have to discuss with MOH how to ensure that their funding is adequate and the appropriate therapies are available to Singaporeans. There will always be clinical guidelines or some indications for this therapy, and I think this is something that is a work in progress. We will continue to work with MOH with regard to clinical therapy as well as funding requirements.

The Chairman : Ms Jean See.

Ms See Jinli Jean : Thank you, Chairman. The question is to Minister of State Alvin Tan. I think we are very cheered by the positive news on tourism. I just wanted to make a point that we do have a number of people coming up from our universities and our schools who are very talented in terms of being creative professionals. I think many of them would desire the opportunity to be on the stage together with many of these different acts coming into Singapore.

So, my pitch to MTI is whether we can then work very closely with the different, other agencies that are supporting the creatives, supporting the young people to give them the opportunities to come on board some of these programmes, some of these acts that come into Singapore to have the opportunity to build up their portfolio.

Mr Alvin Tan : Sir, I thank Ms Jean See for her clarification. The short answer is yes. In the tourism sector, we have a variety of programmes that, through the Tourism Development Fund that I mentioned earlier on, it is not just infrastructure and bringing in these acts and MICE events, but it is also helping to build our tourism sector. I have launched very countless scholarships that we work together with the institute of higher learning (IHLs), polytechnics, the Institute of Technical Education (ITE) and others, to help to boost up that pool of talent.

Just wearing my MCCY hat, I will explain a little bit more. The SG Arts Plan has a very, very strong focus on all of these different talents; not just in place-making, which Minister Edwin Tong mentioned earlier on, but also to enhance our artists' capability in many of these, so that we equip them as we bring all of these acts and all of these events into Singapore, they have a good chance to be able to participate in them.

The Chairman : Mr Mark Lee.

Mr Mark Lee : Chairman, I thank Minister Gan for his insightful response to hon Member Ms Foo Mee Har. I just want to press on and maybe have further clarification to her question about nurturing our local SMEs.

I think many businesses, including ours, when we expand our international operations and doing coveted project bids where the local Government has provided tax incentives and other incentives to the client, they actually have a clear policy and practice for us to require local partnerships, even with partners that have very limited or no existing capabilities. I guess such policies are aimed to foster local participation and skills transfer. I am wondering if MTI can consider doing some research on this and see what the trade-offs are if we enforce such collaboration.

I think my second clarification is to Minister of State Low in regard to the EEG. I was wondering if MTI can allow or consider whether some of the EEG-approved equipment to be used across all industries. For example, the electric forklift is almost double the price of a diesel forklift and these are all applicable to almost all industries.

Finally, for my cut, I asked whether assistance will be allowed for adopting electric vehicles for commercial and industrial use.

Mr Gan Kim Yong : Thank you. In the interest of the bubble tea, I will keep it short. The short answer is yes, we definitely will take into account the opportunity for local enterprises and also job creation for local workers. We need to balance the trade-offs and sometimes, you have to look at the potential investment. If the investment is strategic to us, it is very important for us to bring in markets, to bring in technology and to bring in opportunities. Eventually, this will spill over to local industries. Rather than to have a very hard-wired requirement that all of them must have a local partnership. You will find that you may, in the end, lose out more opportunities than gain the opportunities. So, I think it is a calibrated approach.

We are very mindful that we do want to make sure that there is a significant value capture locally, whether it is through their direct contribution to the value-add, or whether it is through collaboration with local enterprises. Even after they have come into Singapore and they have invested here, we continue to encourage them through different schemes, like PACT, as I mentioned; R&D schemes, to encourage them to have collaboration with local industries.

At the same time, we also provide schemes and support for the local industries to level them up, so that they are able to then work together with these large enterprises to add value to them.

At the end of the day, economics must make sense for both parties. Government grants and schemes are just to facilitate and to push them, to nudge them to come together. But in the end, when the two of them want to get married, the marriage must make sense. We are the matchmaker and we try to facilitate and give a little bit of encouragement here and there, but at the end, the economics must work out together for both of them.

Ms Low Yen Ling : Thank you, Chairman. I will keep it brief. I want to thank Mr Mark Lee for his request and question. I want to assure him that we certainly will help our SMEs to invest in energy-efficient equipment. As I mentioned, when we launched this two years ago, the sectors that we approved are food manufacturing, food services and retail. Because when you look at their operating expenditure, electricity was a key component. We want to continue to avail this to other sectors as well. That is why from 1 April, local food services, retail and manufacturing companies will be able to enjoy this enhanced support of 70%. I must say, it is capped at $30,000.

I want to assure him that we will continue to work with other champion agencies outside MTI to also understand what the other industries and sectors that will benefit from it. The EEG will be open to other industries such as maritime, construction and data centres by the end of this year. I welcome SBF and TACs to work with us, to be a voice for the sectors and bridge the conversation with MTI and our economic agency on this front.

The Chairman : Like many of you, I am also thirsty and a little bit hungry. So, Mr Liang, would you like to withdraw your amendment?

Mr Liang Eng Hwa : Sir, before I withdraw my amendment, allow me to congratulate MTI and EMA for successfully bringing the International Energy Agency to set up its regnional office in Singapore. It is a great achievement. And I am sure Minister Tan See Leng's personal charm must have made a difference there.

With that, I also want to thank Minister Gan, Minister Tan, Minister of State Low Yen Ling and Minister of State Alvin Tan for their comprehensive replies to our responses. I beg leave to withdraw my amendments.

[(proc text) Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. (proc text)]

[(proc text) The sum of $1,628,845,400 for Head V ordered to stand part of the Main Estimates. (proc text)]

[(proc text) The sum of $7,179,458,100 for Head V ordered to stand part of Development Estimates. (proc text)]

The Chairman : Order. I propose to take a short break now.

[(proc text) Thereupon the Speaker left the Chair of the Committee and took the Chair of the House. (proc text)]

4.00 pm

Mr Speaker : Senior Minister of State Tan.

The Senior Minister of State for National Development (Mr Tan Kiat How) : Sir, I wish to apologise for not being in Chambers earlier during Question Time to answer Member Mr Louis Ng's Parliamentary Question. I got the Order Paper and timing mixed up, and hence, was at another work meeting when the Parliamentary Question came up. I had apologised to Mr Ng, invited him to file additional Parliamentary Questions if his question is not fully answered in the written reply.

Mr Speaker : Order. I suspend the Sitting and will take the Chair at 4.15 pm. Order, order.

Sitting accordingly suspended

at 4.02 pm until 4.15 pm.

Sitting resumed at 4.15 pm.

[Deputy Speaker (Ms Jessica Tan Soon Neo) in the Chair]

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