預算辯論 · 2025-03-06 · 屆國會 14

貿易與工業預算辯論摘要

AI 安全與倫理 AI 經濟與產業 AI 與教育 AI 基礎設施與研究 爭議度 3 · 實質辯論

議員質詢了地緣政治緊張對新加坡經濟的潛在影響，特別是貿易保護主義和關稅戰的風險。政府回應指出全球多邊自由貿易體系受壓，貿易戰可能擾亂供應鏈，影響投資和經濟增長。核心爭議在於如何應對外部不確定性及國內資源限制，保障經濟持續發展。

關鍵要點

  • • 全球貿易體系受壓
  • • 貿易戰擾亂供應鏈
  • • 國內資源緊張挑戰
政府立場

堅持開放經濟與長期規劃

質詢立場

關注預算削減與風險應對

政策訊號

強化經濟韌性與開放合作

“Our economic success did not happen by chance. It was the result of a combination of factors.”

參與人員 (11)

完整譯文（中文）

Hansard 原始記錄 · 2026-05-02

【（程式文本）第五部分（續）——（程式文本）】

【（程式文本）恢復辯論問題[2025年3月5日]，（程式文本）】

【（程式文本）“將預算第五部分的總撥款減少100元。”——[梁榮華議員]。（程式文本）】

【（程式文本）問題再次提出。（程式文本）】

中午12時17分

主席：副總理兼貿易與工業部長顏金勇。

貿易與工業部長（顏金勇先生）：主席，首先感謝各位議員提出非常建設性的意見和建議。2024年是相對較好的一年。國內生產總值（GDP）增長了4.4%，而2023年為1.8%。核心通脹率從2023年的4.2%降至2024年的2.7%。

今年，我們慶祝新加坡建國60週年。我們在建設一個強大、創新和充滿活力的經濟方面走過了漫長的道路。我們為新加坡人創造了良好的機會，改善了他們的生活。我們的經濟成功不是偶然的。這是多種因素的結合結果：謹慎的長期規劃；持續的基礎設施投資；保持親商環境；最重要的是，投資於終身教育和培訓，同時保持對人才、貿易和投資的開放。

幾代新加坡人共同努力，為我們的經濟打下了堅實的基礎。但各位議員也清楚，我們現在正進入經濟旅程的新篇章，面臨前所未有的新挑戰和機遇。

梁榮華議員詢問了地緣政治競爭可能帶來的逆風。

先生，多邊自由貿易體系近年來承受巨大壓力，面臨破裂的風險。各位議員可能聽說過美國總統唐納德·特朗普的新關稅及其計劃徵收更多關稅，包括對貿易伙伴實施互惠關稅，以匹配美國出口的關稅。中國和加拿大也以自己的關稅作出回應。這可能導致關稅的升級、以牙還牙的迴圈，甚至更糟，爆發全球貿易戰。這可能顛覆以規則為基礎的全球經濟秩序，而新加坡作為一個小型開放經濟體，正依賴於此。

鑑於我們對任何美國進口商品不徵收關稅，而美國對我們存在貿易順差，我們可能不會直接受到互惠關稅的重大影響。然而，關稅上升和貿易戰可能導致供應鏈中斷，減緩全球貿易，推高企業成本，從而影響企業和消費者。從長遠來看，這也會影響信心和投資流動，減緩全球經濟增長。

許多國家不再尋求與合作伙伴實現雙贏機會，而是激烈競爭投資並保護本國行業。這將使我們的外部環境更加嚴峻。

在國內，我們還需要應對更緊張的限制，尤其是我去年提到的土地、勞動力和碳排放方面的限制。預計未來幾年本地勞動力增長將繼續放緩。土地有限，我們需要尋找新方法最大化空間利用。為應對氣候變化，我們需要在擴大產業的同時減少碳足跡，滿足日益增長的能源需求。

儘管如此，情況並非全是悲觀。在這些挑戰中，仍有機遇。亞洲經濟將繼續增長，預計到2030年，東南亞將成為世界第四大經濟體。人工智慧（AI）、數字化和低碳轉型也將為數字經濟和綠色經濟帶來新機遇。新加坡還可以利用生產和供應鏈的轉變，吸引新投資，鞏固我們作為重新配置貿易流關鍵節點的地位。

總體而言，我們可以保持謹慎樂觀。預計今年經濟將增長約1%至3%，通脹保持溫和，核心通脹約為1%至2%，除非發生重大幹擾。

梁榮華議員問我們是否能實現更快增長。我們當然會努力，希望能比預測的增長更快。

去年，我談到了四大戰略以促進增長，即發展經濟；釋放資源潛力；轉型企業；以及國際連線。這些戰略依然適用。我將談談如何發展經濟，我的同事們將詳細說明其他戰略。

先生，我們將通過四種方式發展經濟：（一）加強與區域及全球的連線；（二）通過創新培育強大企業；（三）營造親企業環境；（四）投資於人才。

我先從連線談起。

朱德民議員、陳佩玲女士和薩克提安迪·蘇帕特議員詢問新加坡如何加強區域貿易關係。

作為商業樞紐，我們的成功依賴於與區域及全球保持良好連線。首先，我們在深化與鄰國的整合與合作方面取得進展。今年，我們與馬來西亞簽署了柔佛-新加坡特別經濟區（JS-SEZ）協議。這將使我們這裡的企業能夠利用柔佛的資源進行擴充套件和發展。JS-SEZ還將通過結合雙方互補優勢，提供更具吸引力的價值主張，吸引新加坡和馬來西亞的投資。

我們已看到JS-SEZ的強烈商業興趣。新加坡工商聯合會上月組織的柔佛巴魯商務考察團吸引了來自180多家新加坡企業的230名代表。我們還將繼續加強與印度尼西亞的現有合作，特別是在巴淡、民丹和卡里蒙，並探索新的合作領域。

其次，我們將繼續促進數字貿易，改善我們在東南亞國家聯盟（ASEAN）運營企業的市場準入。今年，我們正取得實質性進展，力爭完成東盟數字經濟框架協議（DEFA）的談判。這將加速東盟數字經濟的發展。

我們還計劃今年完成並簽署東盟貨物貿易協議（ATIGA）的升級版談判，這將促進東盟內部貿易，強化區域供應鏈連線，藉助亞洲經濟增長。

在深化連線的同時，我們希望培育新加坡企業成為區域或全球領導者。我們也尋求吸引全球行業領導者落戶，增強產業生態系統，惠及本地企業並提供優質就業。

如傅美霞女士和尼爾·帕雷克議員所指出，創新是經濟增長的核心。例如，過去幾十年，我們成功打造了強大且具競爭力的半導體生態系統，鞏固了新加坡作為全球半導體供應鏈關鍵節點的地位。但要保持半導體強國地位，我們必須投資研發，推動行業內創新，不僅是大型企業，也包括中小企業（SMEs）。

半導體制造設施通常需要大量前期投資。企業，尤其是中小企業，可能在研發和試點生產中面臨獲取半導體基礎設施和專業知識的挑戰。為支援他們，我們於去年4月在科學技術研究局（A*STAR）成立了國家半導體轉化與創新中心（NSTIC）。

NSTIC為平面光學和矽光子領域的企業和研究人員提供半導體研發基礎設施。企業還可利用NSTIC的原型設計和小批次製造能力，加快產品上市和規模化。

為此，A*STAR將擴大NSTIC的覆蓋範圍，涵蓋更多半導體技術並提升產能。我們將投資約5億新元，在JTC奈米空間@淡濱尼建立NSTIC（研發晶圓廠），一座新的國家半導體研發製造設施。

NSTIC（研發晶圓廠）將初步聚焦先進封裝，這是半導體行業的關鍵增長領域。它將提供最先進的潔淨室基礎設施和工業級裝置，以及轉化研究和製造專業知識，支援研發的規模化和轉化。

全球主要半導體企業以及中小企業和初創公司都可利用其能力，甚至促進新合作。例如，本地中小企業NexGen Wafer Systems為全球晶片製造商供應溼法蝕刻和清洗裝置。該公司曾在海外開展研發，以便獲得當時新加坡無法提供的工具和設施。通過利用A*STAR的研發能力和設施，NexGen在新加坡開發了新的半導體裝置功能和應用，用於製造不同型別的晶片。因此，他們發現將部分研發活動帶回新加坡具有價值。

NSTIC（研發晶圓廠）將擴大我們的能力，使類似的中小企業及更廣泛的半導體行業能夠建立新能力，開發並商業化具全球競爭力的技術，為新加坡人創造優質就業。

我們的研發努力還使我們能夠培養出強大的有前景且創新的初創企業。例如Lucence，是A*STAR的衍生企業和本土初創公司。Lucence專注於精準腫瘤學，與國家癌症中心合作開發LiquidHALLMARK檢測，指導腫瘤治療選擇。藉助企業新加坡的支援，Lucence實現了其實驗室自動化，服務新加坡、香港和東南亞客戶。今年，它與梅奧診所實驗室合作，推動其技術在美國的採用和商業化。

如今，新加坡還擁有許多深科技公司。其中之一是量子技術中心的初創企業Entropica Labs。Entropica Labs與全球量子計算硬體領導者及基礎設施提供商合作，如亞馬遜網路服務、微軟和Xanadu，推動量子技術市場化。

中午12時30分

我們希望通過全球創新聯盟（GIA）在關鍵創新中心的節點做更多工作。我們幫助企業利用海外創新網路和市場機會。Carecam是一家專注於過渡護理和高階篩查的數字健康初創企業，參與了GIA舊金山加速計劃，並與美國一家企業合作，將其解決方案整合到新業務實體中，支援公司拓展美國醫療保健市場。

我們希望支援更多像Carecam這樣的初創企業，加快其產品上市速度，促進產品商業化。我們將加強GIA，支援不同成長階段的初創企業。GIA Discovery將幫助初創企業熟悉市場，評估產品與市場的契合度，以制定市場策略。隨後，初創企業可在新市場試點其技術，藉助GIA概念驗證支援驗證產品並獲得市場信譽。

GIA+計劃將支援參與全球加速計劃的初創企業，如美國的Y Combinator、MassRobotics和MassChallenge，幫助他們獲得導師指導、資源和網路，實現海外擴充套件計劃。為擴大初創生態系統，我們還希望有經驗的創始人落戶新加坡，建立有潛力成為全球領先企業的新事業。為此，經濟發展局（EDB）將於今年晚些時候推出全球創始人計劃（GFP）。

讓我向各位議員預告一下。這是一個針對性計劃，旨在支援來自全球及新加坡的有經驗創始人的新事業。創始人是指那些建立過極為成功初創企業，或在全球公司開發過重大新產品和業務線，或在人工智慧或深科技等領域取得重大科學或工程成就的個人。GFP體現了我們對開放力量的信念。我們希望將全球最優秀的人才引入新加坡，增強自身實力。我們希望支援能夠且願意創新和成長的企業。我們將營造充滿活力的創新生態系統，幫助企業保持競爭力，為新加坡人創造高價值就業機會。

製造業是我們經濟的關鍵支柱，佔GDP近20%，是生產力增長的最大貢獻者之一。它還支援金融和專業服務業的發展。

我想向梁榮華議員、李顯龍議員、陳潔儀女士、陳佩玲女士和薩克提安迪·蘇帕特議員保證，我們將繼續鼓勵領先製造商在新加坡投資創新，同時吸引新的高績效企業在新加坡發展。

去年十月，我出席了KLA在新加坡新制造設施的奠基儀式，該設施將生產其最先進的晶圓幾何和缺陷檢測工具。KLA的新設施預計將創造至少400個就業崗位，涵蓋機械設計、材料和產品測試等領域。它還將為本地企業提供與KLA在精密清洗和用於光學元件的金屬零件製造等細分領域合作的機會。

例如，本地中小企業Alantac Industrial Services與KLA共同開發了滿足嚴格清洗要求的缺陷檢測工具精密清洗解決方案。通過支援我們在新加坡的高績效企業，我們希望提升整個產業生態系統的能力和水平，包括本地中小企業。

李顯龍議員和謝國民議員詢問貿易與工業部（MTI）如何支援企業全球擴充套件的融資需求。政府過去五年已投入超過18億新元於股權投資基金支援企業成長；但我們仍有空間加強股權和債務融資工具，更好支援企業多樣化的增長戰略。

首先，我們將推出長期投資基金，投入超過2億新元政府資本，投資期限超出典型的三至七年時間範圍。此舉滿足那些具有更長、更復雜成長軌跡、需要更長時間充分發揮潛力的企業需求。

其次，我們將設立10億新元的私人信貸增長基金（PCGF）。與傳統債務不同，私人信貸靈活滿足快速擴張企業的特定需求。與股權不同，私人信貸允許企業和創始人保留業務所有權和控制權。PCGF針對具有強勁增長潛力、能成為各自行業領導者的本地企業。有些企業需要定製融資方案支援其獨特增長戰略，如國際併購或大型海外資本投資。這些方案在亞洲傳統融資渠道中可能難以獲得。

除政府注資的10億新元外，我們希望隨著更多基金經理和投資者熟悉並信心增強，催化更多商業資金進入該領域。

我之前談到親企業環境的重要性。去年國慶集會上，總理也強調我們需確保商業友好環境，儘量減少監管負擔。去年，我主持成立了親企業規則審查跨部委委員會，審視規則並簡化監管，助力企業快速抓住機遇。

自那以來，我和其他部長已與14個行業的140多位商業領袖交流。感謝所有利益相關者的支援和反饋。企業領袖指出審批時間、執照續期頻率和重複流程是主要改進點。委員會認真研究了反饋。雖然我們將針對行業具體反饋採取措施，資政部長劉燕玲稍後將詳細說明，政府將設立三項承諾宣告，指導全政府努力提升監管靈活性，減輕企業合規負擔。

第一，所有相關機構將公佈業務監管申請的服務標準，為企業提供更明確的預期。我們將努力將服務標準簡化至30個工作日或更短（如可行）。

第二，我們將盡可能將常規營業執照的有效期延長至至少三年，目標是五年。這將為企業，尤其是實施長期增長計劃的企業，提供更大確定性。

第三，政府將繼續簡化監管流程，儘可能實現並行審批而非順序審批。我們還將簡化跨機構的資訊請求。我們在建築環境領域取得了良好進展，開發了CORENET X作為跨機構建築工程審批的一站式數字平臺。我們應借鑑此經驗，將同樣方法應用於其他領域。

最後，我們正在加大對人才的投入。歸根結底，我們追求經濟增長，是為了讓新加坡的未來一代能夠繼續為自己創造更美好的生活。因此，這種增長必須轉化為新加坡人提升職業發展和充分發揮潛力的真實機會。

終身學習對於員工提升自我、承擔更高薪職位至關重要。例如，我們與新加坡科技學院合作開設了繼續教育與培訓（CET）學位課程，旨在提升製造業在職文憑持有者的技能。

這也將幫助企業培養和留住本地製造業人才儲備，增強業務連續性。陳志榮部長將分享更多內容。我們還將加強培養更多新加坡全球領導者的舉措。去年，我們啟動了全球商業領袖計劃。同時，我們推出了新加坡領導者網路（SGLN）獎學金，旨在裝備有志於擔任區域及全球領導職務的管理人員。

首批60名獎學金獲得者之一是Cammy Loh女士。Cammy於2014年加入全球領先的獨立罐區儲存公司Royal Vopak，擔任新加坡銷售經理。如今，Cammy已成為Royal Vopak泰國罐區碼頭的副總經理，聯合領導一支超過120名員工的團隊，管理曼谷附近最大的海運物流碼頭之一。這對她的職業和個人發展都是重大飛躍。通過SGLN，Cammy獲得了在曼谷勝任此職位所需的技能和知識。

我們為Cammy高舉新加坡旗幟感到自豪。我們正在加強SGLN，以更好地支援像Cammy這樣的更多新加坡人。人力部（MOM）將對此作進一步闡述。

這些教育和培訓舉措需要時間見效，我鼓勵企業及早開始，主動規劃培養新加坡人才，從而受益於強大的人才和領導力儲備。

主席先生，我們確實正進入未知領域。事實上，我認為我們已經身處未知領域。未來數月乃至數年，我們將面臨經濟不確定性和各種衝擊。挑戰與機遇並存。只要保持對貿易、人才和投資的開放態度，並維持親商環境，我們就能自信地邁向下一階段的經濟發展。

我們必須通過創新進一步強化競爭優勢，加深與區域及全球的融合，投資建設強大的企業和技能型勞動力。這是我們在日益不確定且不利的外部環境中謀生和立足的方式。

通過這樣做，我們將保持經濟持續運轉，保持經濟強勁、充滿活力和韌性，為新加坡人創造更好的就業和機會，為新加坡未來60年及更長遠的發展奠定基礎。[掌聲]

貿易及工業部第二部長（陳志榮博士）：主席先生，新加坡面臨日益增長的壓力。我們的人口迅速老齡化，同時人才競爭日趨激烈。我們在土地和碳排放限制下，面臨更激烈的投資競爭。

為應對這些挑戰，我們將通過四大戰略擴大資源潛力。第一，能源結構脫碳。第二，投資於我們的勞動力。第三，持續投資於科研和創新。最後但同樣重要的是，提高土地生產力。

我先介紹我們的脫碳工作。新加坡承諾於2050年實現淨零排放。正如資政張志賢所言，新加坡是氣候現實主義者。氣候行動的時間表由自然決定，而非地緣政治發展。此外，我們的脫碳舉措是企業投資決策的重要因素。我們有責任為子孫後代堅持這條道路。

跨境電力貿易對實現氣候目標至關重要。我們正推動首批獲得有條件許可證的電力進口專案，爭取最終投資決策。這些專案是雙贏合作，為區域內建立東盟電網奠定基礎。它們創造就業，支援源國新投資。鑑於我們取得的實質進展，我們已將進口目標從2035年的4吉瓦提升至約6吉瓦。

同時，我們將最大化國內太陽能潛力。正如資政張志賢也提到的，我們提前完成了2025年1.5吉瓦峰值（GWp）的部署目標。這使我們有望實現2030年至少2吉瓦峰值的目標。超過2吉瓦峰值的擴充套件具有挑戰性，但我們將繼續鼓勵屋主和建築業主安裝太陽能板，推動國內部署的邊界。例如，新加坡民防部隊（SCDF）與行業利益相關者合作，包括通過商業競爭力行動聯盟（AfA），簡化監管流程。

12點45分

簡化流程免除了超過一半金屬屋頂建築太陽能光伏（PV）安裝的防火隔離要求，使符合條件的建築業主可節省高達30%的總建設成本。

僅靠電力進口和太陽能不足以實現淨零排放。我們需要探索所有可能的脫碳路徑。核能，尤其是先進核反應堆，是我們認真研究的潛在部署選項。

現在，我明確回應沙拉爾·塔哈先生和陳潔茵女士的問題。我們尚未做出部署決定，因此談論潛在地點、成本和具體計劃為時過早。但當前重點是加快核安全和先進核技術能力建設。我們正在培養更多核科學家，例如通過核科學與工程研究生獎學金。

我們也在加強國際合作。去年，我們與美國簽署了實質性民用核能協議。這補充了我們與國際原子能機構（IAEA）、法國放射防護與核安全研究所以及阿聯酋核能公司等合作伙伴的持續合作。

薩克蒂安迪·蘇帕特先生詢問了我們的氫能計劃。氫能確實有潛力成為未來低碳燃料，儘管目前採用成本高昂且存在技術挑戰。近期，我們同樣聚焦能力建設。能源市場管理局（EMA）和新加坡海事及港務局（MPA）計劃於今年底確定一名主導開發商，開展使用氨氣發電和海運加註的試點專案。

我們還在探索輔助方案以脫碳難以減排的行業。碳捕集與封存（CCS）技術發展迅速。我們將與排放者及潛在服務提供商合作，發展CCS價值鏈，並與擁有適合地質封存場所的國家合作。2024年，我們與印尼簽署了意向書，2025年與馬來西亞簽署了諒解備忘錄（MOU）。

愛德華·謝亞先生和陳佩玲女士詢問了碳市場舉措的最新進展。正如資政張志賢提到的，新加坡剛與不丹簽署了實施協議，此外還有與迦納和巴布亞紐幾內亞的協議。這些協議建立了符合我們環境誠信標準的第六條款碳信用轉讓框架。貿易及工業部今年晚些時候還將釋出採購符合第六條款標準碳信用的招標請求。

薩克蒂安迪·蘇帕特指出，天然氣將在我們的能源結構中繼續發揮關鍵作用。因此，我們今年將成立電力部門中央天然氣採購實體，並在本十年內完成第二個液化天然氣（LNG）終端建設。這將保障我們可預見未來的天然氣需求。

我們將調整能源技術和解決方案的採用速度。對於較不成熟的方案，我們將加強研究並加快商業化。

我們將撥款6250萬新元支援科學技術研究局（A*STAR）開發低碳技術轉化測試平臺（LCT3），幫助企業將低碳解決方案推進至更接近商業開發階段。國際和本地企業，如日本IHI公司和本地的CRecTech，已表達使用LCT3的興趣。

對於商業成熟的方案，我們將加快部署。

正如薩克蒂安迪·蘇帕特強調的，這包括為低碳未來進行重大基礎設施投資。為籌措資金，我們將向未來能源基金（FEF）追加50億新元。基金尚未撥付資金，因為基礎設施發展仍處於早期階段。但一旦關鍵技術和商業門檻達到，預計將有大量資金支出。

回應沙拉爾·塔哈的問題，FEF也可用於資助低碳能源基礎設施部署研究，包括小型模組化反應堆所需的研究。

為更好地指導脫碳決策，A*STAR正在開發一體化模型，模擬可能的淨零減排措施之間的相互依賴關係。

議員們對脫碳可能對能源成本產生的影響表達了關切。我們的目標是在實現淨零脫碳的同時，確保能源安全和保持成本競爭力之間取得平衡。

對於家庭，我們將繼續通過U-save回扣等措施提供支援。對於企業，我們將通過能源效率補助等計劃共同資助節能投資。此外，我們將把碳稅收入全部用於脫碳工作。因此，預計本十年內碳稅不會帶來額外淨收入。

接下來談談人力資源。隨著脫碳程序，我們將繼續提升勞動力技能。這對能源密集型行業的員工尤為重要，如石化行業，他們將更受綠色轉型影響。許多人已具備核心技能，可轉向相鄰增長領域，如特種化學品或可持續發展領域的新崗位。

我們還將通過繼續教育與培訓（CET）和職業轉換計劃（CCP）支援員工。

除綠色轉型外，CET仍是應對數字化和人工智慧挑戰、深化新加坡人技能的關鍵推動力。事實上，政府2024財年在CET上的支出預計超過10億新元。我們將繼續與企業和高等院校合作，支援員工提升技能，實現更好薪酬。

一個典型例子是經濟發展局（EDB）與產業界及新加坡科技學院（SIT）合作，為製造業在職文憑持有者開設電氣與電子工程學位課程。該CET學位遵循成人教育最佳實踐，認可先前學習和工作經驗，允許學分累積至學位。學員還可訪問錄製課程和線上諮詢，方便兼顧工作與學習。

職業轉換計劃也支援員工再培訓和重新部署。李顯龍先生會高興得知，新加坡勞動力發展局（WSG）的CCP已支援合併後現有員工的重新部署。此外，自2024年4月1日起，WSG將合資格員工的月薪支援上限從6000新元提高至7500新元，薪資支援比例最高達90%。

即使我們培養新加坡人，也必須繼續吸引能夠補充本地勞動力的全球人才。我們已與印尼和越南簽署協議，促進技術和創新人才交流。

與印尼的Tech:X試點專案於去年7月啟動，越南創新人才交流計劃的引數於2024年9月公佈。即2024年7月印尼，2024年9月越南。近50家公司和50名新加坡人對兩項計劃表現出興趣。我們的年輕領導者將獲得更多區域經濟和企業的接觸機會，企業也更易獲得流動人才。

總體而言，支援新加坡人和吸引全球人才的雙管齊下策略，將保持我們勞動力的全球競爭力。我將在今晚人力部供應委員會辯論中詳細說明我們的努力如何支援新加坡人獲得良好就業成果。

第三，關於科研和創新。正如副總理顏金勇所述，我們必須繼續發展以創新為驅動的經濟。這就是新加坡在2025年研究、創新與企業計劃（RIE2025）下投資280億新元的原因。

傅美霞女士問我們如何推動研究轉化及支援半導體和生物技術產業發展。上週，副總理王瑞傑宣佈了即將推出的舉措，如推進半導體研發的RIE旗艦計劃和聚焦健康長壽的RIE重大挑戰計劃。這些舉措補充了現有的研發轉化平臺。

其中一個平臺是A*STAR的醫療技術催化器（MedTech Catapult），為本地合同製造商提供基礎設施、專業知識和聯絡，助力其開發前沿醫療裝置。我上月參加了啟動活動，瞭解到已有10多家公司申請參與該計劃。

此外，顏金勇副總理早前提到的先進封裝國家半導體技術創新中心（NSTIC）研發廠房，是A*STAR即將推出的另一研發轉化平臺。這些投資使更多企業能夠生產尖端技術，創造優質就業，保持新加坡競爭力。

2012年至2022年間，開展研發活動企業對GDP的貢獻從約15%增長至24%。2021年至2022年間，研發崗位數量增長了7.6%。

針對傅美霞女士關於保障研發設施人才儲備的問題，我們正引進頂尖人才，助力生態系統發展。

在2023年供應委員會辯論中，我提到過Watson教授，他持有海外網路與專業通行證（ONE PASS），擔任A*STAR皮膚研究實驗室及新加坡皮膚研究所執行董事。Watson教授通過與國家皮膚中心和賽諾菲合作，試驗首個痤瘡疫苗，深化對影響病情嚴重度關鍵生物標誌物的理解，提升了A*STAR的全球聲譽。

這些跡象表明我們的努力正在見效，我們將進一步加大投入。

總理在預算案中宣佈，我們將通過擴充套件至大一北區，重新整理A*STAR的生物醫藥研究基礎設施。這項約5億新元的計劃，將從兩方面強化生物醫藥研發生態系統。

首先，A*STAR將更靠近關鍵合作伙伴，如國大醫學院臨床社群和風險投資者，成為產業和人才的新吸引點。其次，A*STAR將重新設計其實驗室和工作空間，促進不同研究所間的跨學科協作，提供更多集中管理的協作空間，實現團隊間專業知識的更好整合。

A*STAR還將與合作伙伴推出新的生物製藥製造專案——新加坡細胞治療先進製造計劃2.0（STAMP 2.0）和細胞治療製造流程加速器（PACTMAN）。

1點整

細胞治療，如嵌合抗原受體T細胞（CAR-T）療法，已改變某些血癌治療，並在自身免疫疾病方面展現潛力，但製造過程複雜且成本高昂。

自2019年以來，STAMP與生物技術公司合作，改進細胞治療資產的質量檢測，在新加坡開展CAR-T療法試驗，並推動新技術的許可和衍生。STAMP 2.0將基於此，開發更低成本的製造技術，生產更高質量產品。例如，縮短細胞提取、改造和輸注患者的時間，即所謂的“靜脈到靜脈”時間。

同時，PACTMAN將開發可擴充套件流程，加速細胞治療（包括STAMP開發的療法）從實驗室到臨床的轉化。綜合這些努力，將深化我們的研發能力，推動創新驅動增長。

最後，關於土地政策。我們支援企業提高土地利用強度和生產效率。

我們將延長並加強土地集約使用津貼（LIA）計劃，釋放新的工業用地。未來五年獲得LIA批准的企業，將繼續享受15年內對全部合資格成本的稅務津貼。自2026年起，我們將放寬LIA資格標準，方便企業最佳化空間並與相關業務整合運營。若建築使用者和LIA受益者彼此持股超過50%，即可視為關聯企業，低於現行至少75%的門檻。

JTC還將推出四項舉措，為企業提供更大的靈活性。這些舉措支援了企業競爭力行動組（AfA）關於商業競爭力的建議，以及跨部委促進企業友好規則審查委員會的工作。

首先，獲得新租約的綠地工業用地企業，將額外獲得三年的租期，以覆蓋開發和建設期。這將使企業能夠在開發完成後，享受租約的全部期限。

其次，表現優異的企業將有更多靈活性，以較短期限延長租約，用於漸進式業務投資。JTC將推出新的五年靈活租約延長計劃（FLEXI），允許符合條件的企業在JTC的20年租約基礎上，選擇延長租約，最多可分兩次延長，每次五年。

第三，JTC將把租約續租申請期從目前的租約到期前六年提前至十年。

最後，JTC將擴大對廠房和機械投資的定義，這是租約續租的關鍵標準。我們現在將認可可審計的創新、研發、數字化轉型和智慧財產權（IP）創造方面的投資。主席先生，請允許我用中文發言。

（中文）：【請參閱方言發言】有句老話說，“富不過三代”。然而，憑藉幾代人的辛勤努力，新加坡已成功進入第四代。

我們作為現今一代，應秉持同樣的精神，對未來的新加坡世代負責。

我今天宣佈的措施將為新加坡經濟的未來奠定基礎。

（英文）：主席先生，結束時，讓我們反思新加坡持久的精神。

60年來，我們的繁榮不是儘管有挑戰，而是因為有挑戰。我們資源有限，但從不缺乏智慧。資源限制促使我們創新，帶領我們走到今天。未來60年及更長時間，我相信這種創新精神，正如我們今天採取的大膽舉措，將推動持續增長，確保新加坡世代的充滿活力的未來。[掌聲]

主席：貿易及工業資深國務部長劉燕玲。

貿易及工業資深國務部長（劉燕玲女士）：主席先生，副總理顏金勇分享了我們經濟旅程的下一篇章將帶來新的挑戰和機遇。我們具備在波濤中穩固立足的能力。

多年來，我們的企業已掌握適應、創新和變革的技能，以變得更強大。我們攜手轉型，實現增長，保持領先。

政府堅定支援企業的每一步轉型和成長。為促進企業轉型和增長，我們將：一，支援企業海外擴充套件；二，賦能企業轉型並受益於人工智慧；三，提升新加坡的企業友好商業環境，減少繁文縟節。

我們還將振興社群，支援社群企業。

主席，新加坡的經濟成功建立在與世界連線的能力上，正如李偉銘先生所指出。新加坡企業要成長，必須走出本地市場，拓展海外市場，開闢新的收入來源。

我想向Jessica Tan女士、謝偉強先生、李偉銘先生和蔡啟祺先生保證，Enterprise Singapore致力於為新加坡企業提供全面和整體的支援。

2024年，Enterprise Singapore支援了2300多家公司，幫助它們通過生產力轉型專案（82億新元）、國際化專案（55億新元）以及創新專案（8億新元），預計年收入總增長達145億新元。

參與國際化專案的公司預計年收入平均增長880萬新元，高於2023年的770萬新元。我很高興宣佈，未來我們將在這方面進一步加強支援。

首先，我們將永久將企業融資計劃——貿易貸款（EFS-TL）的最高貸款額度從500萬新元提高到1000萬新元。我們考慮了包括新加坡工商聯合會（SBF）和普華永道在內的商界反饋，滿足融資需求。

第二，我們將延長國際化雙倍稅務扣除（DTDi）五年。計劃擴充套件的企業可繼續享受海外市場擴充套件和投資開發合資格費用的200%稅務扣除。

第三，我們將把市場準備援助（MRA）10萬新元的上限延長一年至2026年3月31日。此舉回應業界反饋，許多企業在過去兩三年經歷疫情後重振業務，重新啟動擴充套件計劃，需要更多時間執行全球市場拓展。

除了補助、稅務和融資計劃，Enterprise Singapore及其合作伙伴運營廣泛的海外中心網路，支援新加坡中小企業進入區域市場。

除了幫助企業拓展海外市場，我想向李偉銘先生保證，政府將加強對通過併購實現非有機增長企業的支援。

我們將擴大企業融資計劃——併購貸款（EFS-M&A）的範圍，涵蓋目標資產收購，如智慧財產權和合同，無需對應股權購買。這將幫助企業獲得貸款融資，收購目標企業的特定互補資產，提升增長潛力，而無需收購目標企業本身，避免承擔其負債。該試點計劃將持續五年，自今年4月1日至2030年3月31日。

主席，除了提供融資渠道，我們將繼續支援企業採用新技術，如人工智慧，因為人工智慧能促進企業和勞動力轉型。它使企業自動化手工業務流程，增強員工技能，提高生產力，推動創新，進一步增長業務收入。

數字發展與信息部（MDDI）將分享國家人工智慧戰略（NAIS）2.0的整體進展，我將重點介紹貿易及工業部（MTI）的關鍵產業發展工作。

首先，我們將支援更多企業設立人工智慧卓越中心，加速人工智慧解決方案在經濟各領域的開發和部署。我們認識到企業需要訪問計算基礎設施、軟體和諮詢服務，以提升人工智慧研發和產品化能力。

因此，正如總理在預算陳述中宣佈的，我們推出新的企業計算計劃（ECI），面向有志於在新加坡設立人工智慧總部並發展團隊的本地企業。數字化成熟、擁有有力人工智慧應用案例及實施路線圖的企業，可申請ECI。

李偉銘先生會高興得知，參與ECI的企業將獲得谷歌、微軟和亞馬遜雲服務等雲服務提供商的雲端計算積分和培訓專案。政府還將為ECI參與者提供補助，支援其聘請系統整合商的諮詢服務，幫助開發和擴充套件人工智慧解決方案。

其次，政府將繼續支援考慮採用人工智慧解決方案的廣大企業。

Jessica Tan女士會高興得知，Enterprise Singapore與信息通信媒體發展局（IMDA）合作，已幫助近3000家中小企業通過生產力解決方案補助金（PSG）採用人工智慧解決方案。我們將繼續加強現有數字化計劃，如中小企業數字化計劃，加速人工智慧應用。MDDI將在其部長級官員研討會上詳細介紹。

除了推動企業使用人工智慧，我們還將幫助員工提升技能，利用人工智慧促進職業發展。

梁榮華先生會高興得知，我們確實深化了與產業界和高等教育機構的合作，持續提供產業相關課程和學生實習機會。人力部將分享更多關於如何支援企業重新設計崗位和提升員工技能的細節。

主席，新加坡正持續創新並靈活應對人工智慧。不斷追求更好的精神是我們的新加坡DNA。副總理顏金勇談及我們的企業友好環境，這是新加坡保持吸引力和競爭力的根本品質。我們不會自滿，致力於做得更多。

政府加強了與產業界的互動，徵求意見，探討如何提升新加坡的競爭力。

為此，我與新加坡工商聯合會副主席李偉銘先生共同主持了去年2月至11月的企業競爭力行動組（AfA）。Neil Parekh先生也知道，AfA去年廣泛與企業、行業協會和商會（TACs）接觸，釋出了27項關於人力、土地和監管問題的建議。

我們的政府機構認真考慮了AfA的建議。早前，您已聽到第二部長陳詩龍博士介紹，JTC將落實AfA關於工業用地租期和續租的建議。

下午1時15分

2024年4月，政府成立了促進企業友好規則審查跨部委委員會（IMC），審視未來的監管體系。我感謝謝偉強先生、Jessica Tan女士，以及蔡啟祺先生和李偉銘先生對IMC的提問。正如副總理顏金勇早前宣佈，經過廣泛審查和諮詢，委員會制定了三項承諾宣告，旨在簡化監管流程，減輕企業合規負擔。我們的工作不會止步於此。讓我分享更多關於這三項承諾，提升生態系統，支援企業應對政府監管。

第一是中小企業促進企業友好辦公室（SME PEO）。根據AfA建議，我去年9月宣佈將在Enterprise Singapore設立該辦公室，幫助企業應對監管事務。我高興宣佈，SME PEO將於今年3月26日全面運作，距今僅20天。SME PEO將與促進企業友好小組及相關監管機構合作，成為政府協調單位，彙總企業反饋，系統性改善法規。我們期待新加坡工商聯合會及所有行業協會繼續大力支援，成為我們的“耳朵”和中小企業的倡導者。讓我們攜手SME PEO，減少繁文縟節，簡化流程，支援中小企業。

第二，我們將加強中小企業中心，提供更廣泛的商業諮詢服務和專案。目前，新加坡有10箇中小企業中心，由行業協會領導。中心的商業顧問將配備新工具包，提供更優質的一對一諮詢、研討會及群組升級專案，幫助多家面臨相似問題的企業採用共同解決方案。這將補充SME PEO的工作，使企業在成長需求上，包括監管問題，獲得諮詢支援。我們將繼續與行業協會緊密合作，提升中小企業中心服務，擴大覆蓋更多企業。

第三，我們將持續投資並改進數字平臺，如GoBusiness門戶和Enterprise Singapore的商業補助門戶。我們不僅將簡化許可和監管交易，還將最佳化補助申請流程，更好服務企業。

Enterprise Singapore通過自動化和集中處理持續提升補助處理效率。例如，生產力解決方案補助金（PSG）申請處理時間已縮短80%，從近三個月縮短至兩週。我們不會停止最佳化本地企業的補助申請和審批流程，將繼續探索利用自動化和集中處理進一步縮短處理時間。

這三大支柱——SME PEO、中小企業中心和數字化——將持續推動我們支援中小企業和企業轉型與成長的努力。

主席，在減輕企業監管負擔的同時，政府也關注市場正常運作必須維護消費者對商家和市場的信任。我感謝Dennis Tan先生、林瑞蓮女士和楊美麟先生的提問。

針對Dennis Tan先生關於維修權的建議，維修權對環境和消費者有益，但也存在潛在弊端，如資料安全問題。我向他保證，我們將監測並評估新加坡是否需要相關立法。

我也向林瑞蓮女士保證，政府現有全政府協作機制，由內政部牽頭，跨部委詐騙委員會協調，專門應對刑事性質的詐騙。

貿易及工業部和新加坡競爭與消費者委員會（CCCS）定期審查消費者保護制度，確保保護消費者利益。《消費者保護（公平交易）法案》（CPFTA）為消費者遭遇不公平交易行為提供一般救濟。此外，行業監管機構制定了相關行業的具體標準。

有效的消費者保護制度還需關鍵合作伙伴和企業的大力支援。貿易及工業部與新加坡消費者協會（CASE）緊密合作，提高消費者意識，維護其權益。我同意楊美麟先生的看法，尤其在電子商務領域，仍有更多工作可做，因為不公平行為可能呈現新穎且不易察覺的形式。

政府歡迎並鼓勵企業主導行業倡議，確保為消費者營造公平安全的市場環境。我們已開始與業界磋商，未來數週將公佈更多相關舉措細節。

最後，讓我談談更貼近生活的社群商鋪。許多人對社群有深厚感情，社群是我們生活、工作和共享美好回憶的地方，是新加坡人集體身份的一部分，社群商鋪是我們日常生活和社會結構的重要組成。

我向蔡志明先生和蔡啟祺先生保證，我們正全力振興社群。過去幾年已有進展，我們將繼續努力。

回顧2022年，我們啟動了5000萬新元的“我們的社群2025”計劃，振興社群，提升社群商鋪能力，幫助它們轉型、保持相關性，繼續服務居民。事實上，早在2020年10月，我們已通過社群數字化計劃奠定轉型基礎。自那時起，超過1.7萬家社群商鋪採用了電子支付解決方案。2022年和2023年，我們進一步擴大社群數字化計劃，涵蓋服務卓越、數字營銷和人力資源等領域。

我們還通過2021年啟動的視覺營銷計劃，幫助社群商鋪煥新店面。參與該計劃的社群商鋪普遍反映，客流量和銷售額均增長約20%。

新加坡的社群商鋪還受益於社群發展理事會（CDC）代金券計劃，自三年前啟動以來，新加坡人已在約2.3萬家社群商鋪和小販攤位消費超過10億新元。事實上，今年新一輪CDC代金券及SG60代金券將再次提升社群商鋪的知名度、客流量和業務。

對許多社群商鋪而言，額外的曝光和知名度對業務至關重要。因此，去年我們推出了社群企業場所塑造補助金（HEPG），鼓勵社群商戶組織創新的場所塑造活動，包括社群參與、公共藝術裝置、工作坊和主題節慶。許多社群商鋪已成功申請HEPG。

其中一家是泉水熟食市場，1968年在宏茂橋開業。由歐泉水叔叔經營的鮮豬肉攤位已發展至八家，現在是一個全渠道零售業務，旗艦店位於上湯申。泉水參加了數字實踐者計劃（DPP）。事實上，在歐叔叔的孫子梁俊和的帶領下，店鋪煥新品牌，轉向線上，建立網站，推廣更廣泛的產品線，不僅限於豬肉。短短五個月內，泉水吸引了越來越多的熱心訪客和潛在客戶。

正如邱德明先生昨天在發言中提到的，泉水利用了HEPG（心臟地帶企業成長計劃）來提升其產品的知名度。他們去年九月參加了在海洋公園舉行的以海濱為靈感的市場“Easty Breezy”，以及今年的農曆新年集市。這兩個活動都帶來了更高的收入、人流量和品牌忠誠度。

事實上，憑藉煥然一新的品牌、擴充套件的線上存在感和不斷增長的產品系列，泉水的收入從2021年到2024年增長了25%，公司預計未來每年將實現20%的增長。

今天，我們想邀請所有議員品嚐泉水的成功。貿易及工業部已安排在稍後的茶歇時間，在議員休息室供應泉水的燒賣、蝦餃以及雞肉蘑菇餃子便當盒，我們也為穆斯林議員做了特別安排。每份便當中為穆斯林議員預留了四個非常受歡迎的清真烤魚包，供他們開齋時享用。希望議員們在一天結束時能喜歡這些手工製作的本地點心，這些點心是根據創始人歐叔60年前的家傳秘方製作的。

像泉水這樣的企業表明，政府的支援和計劃幫助他們實現了轉型並推動了業務增長。我們希望鼓勵企業向我們的10箇中小企業中心尋求幫助，開啟轉型和成長之旅。

鑑於這些舉措的成功，我們將繼續加強“我們的心臟地帶2025”計劃，推出新的舉措，啟用我們的心臟地帶，從“內到外”煥發活力。

從心臟地帶商鋪的“內部”開始，我們將啟動增強視覺陳列計劃，幫助心臟地帶商鋪重新整理店面，提升視覺吸引力以吸引更多顧客。該增強計劃將為心臟地帶商鋪提供培訓、諮詢及店面改造支援。我們將合格費用總額從之前的12,000新元提高五倍至60,000新元。此外，店面改造的專案範圍將更加定製化，培訓主題也將增加。

從“內部”到“外部”，除了振興心臟地帶商鋪的內部，我們還將振興心臟地帶社群的活動。我們將推出新的“活力心臟地帶計劃”，支援商會的場所營造活動和活動。他們可以在推薦的標準選項下開展小型且預設的活動，或探索舉辦更大規模、定製化的場所營造活動。小型且預設的活動每次申請可獲得3,000新元的合格費用資助，而更大規模的定製化場所營造活動每次申請可獲得最高20萬新元的合格費用資助。

主席先生，請允許我用普通話說幾句話。

（普通話）：[請參閱本地語言發言。]主席先生，各位議員，全球和區域經濟正面臨前所未有的局面，所有新加坡企業必須積極創新和轉型。政府將支援企業在這些領域的轉型和成長。

首先，支援國際化。其次，幫助企業利用人工智慧實現轉型。第三，提高監管靈活性，營造有利於商業的環境。

近年來，我們不斷努力振興心臟地帶經濟，促進心臟地帶企業的發展。首先，政府發放了多輪社群發展理事會（CDC）購物券，鼓勵新加坡人在約23,000家參與的心臟地帶商鋪和小販攤位消費，總消費額超過10億新元。通過今年新一輪的CDC購物券和SG60購物券，我們將繼續幫助心臟地帶商鋪和小販增加收入。

我們的心臟地帶社群是我們的情感紐帶。對新加坡人來說，熟悉的心臟地帶商鋪和小販攤位在加深我們的集體記憶和國家認同感方面發揮著不可替代的作用。就像您稍後將享用的手工小吃，我們的心臟地帶社群擁有那種熟悉的味道和人情味。

因此，我們將進一步升級“我們的心臟地帶2025”計劃，讓社群從內而外煥發光彩，為我們的心臟地帶社群注入活力。這包括啟動增強視覺陳列計劃，將合格費用總額從12,000新元提高五倍至60,000新元，同時擴大店鋪裝修範圍並增加培訓主題。

此外，我們將推出商會的“活力心臟地帶計劃”。該計劃分為兩部分。首先，對於較短的預設活動，合格費用為每場3,000新元。其次，計劃舉辦較大型社群建設活動的商會可申請最高20萬新元的合格費用補貼。

我們希望更多心臟地帶企業善用現有計劃，實現創新和轉型。

下午1時30分

（英語）：主席先生，政府與我們的新加坡企業，尤其是中小企業，攜手同行。無論是希望拓展海外市場的中小企業，還是著手人工智慧轉型的企業，或是尋求更多顧客的心臟地帶商鋪和攤位，我們都會支援並賦能他們的轉型和成長。我們將不遺餘力地在每一步支援他們。

在我們共同前進的過程中，我們邀請所有新加坡人加入我們，啟用我們的心臟地帶。讓我們在這個SG60年支援他們，光顧我們的心臟地帶商鋪，參與他們的場所營造活動。讓我們享受並慶祝我們充滿活力且深受喜愛的心臟地帶。在此過程中，我們以自豪和喜悅肯定我們的新加坡身份。

主席：貿易及工業部國務部長陳振聲先生。

貿易及工業部國務部長（陳振聲先生）：主席先生，全球貿易體系正面臨嚴峻壓力。正如副總理顏金勇所說，我們正進入前所未有的水域，地緣政治緊張加劇，經濟民族主義抬頭，供應鏈中斷。

歷史上，新加坡一直是全球貿易的門戶，象徵著我們新加坡河的開放、連線和適應全球潮流的國家身份。

我們的河流因水流暢通而繁榮，我們的經濟通道也必須保持暢通。我們要通過連線新加坡與世界、世界與新加坡來實現這一點。

我們必須始終將世界連線到新加坡，讓人流、商流和貿易流經我們的海岸。去年，我們接待了1650萬國際遊客，2024年前三季度的旅遊收入達到224億新元的歷史新高。他們被我們策劃的新穎體驗所吸引。

去年我們的現場娛樂場景熠熠生輝，舉辦了泰勒·斯威夫特、酷玩樂隊和周杰倫等國際巨星。今年，我們已有幾場頂級演出，包括一月的Seventeen和上週末的鄧紫棋。今年還將有更多精彩表演，包括我們的孫燕姿、KISS OF LIFE、BTS的j-hope首次個人演唱會和BABYMONSTER。

我們的會議、獎勵旅遊、會議及展覽（MICE）業務也表現強勁。新加坡航展、亞太海事展和亞洲食品酒店展等活動均創下紀錄。我去年還在世界經濟論壇青年全球領袖年會上接待了年輕領導人。

作為“世界最佳MICE城市”，我們已連續21年成為亞太地區頂級會議城市。2023年，新加坡首次在國際大會與會議協會的全球城市排名中位列第二。

我們還與全球頂級智慧財產權合作，策劃創新體驗。例如，藝術科學博物館舉辦了《吉卜力的世界》展覽；聖淘沙名勝世界舉辦了《哈利·波特：魔法幻象》。我們還支援了柔佛路的路易威登X村上隆快閃店。

基於這些流量，新加坡旅遊局（STB）與旅遊及生活方式企業合作，探索新的機會。正如尼爾·帕雷克所強調的，我們的旅遊2040（T2040）路線圖願景將推動我們優質旅遊的下一篇章。STB將在未來幾個月分享更多關於T2040的資訊。

今年我們也安排了豐富的活動和景點。事實上，今年我們預計國際遊客人數將達到1700萬至1850萬，旅遊收入約為290億至305億新元。

作為議會的心臟地帶導遊，高文良高階國務部長談到了為心臟地帶注入活力。作為議會的旅遊導遊，請允許我帶大家瞭解新加坡的新興和煥新景點。

主席先生，我們的MICE活動依然活躍，反映了組織者和代表們的強烈商業信心。今年，我們將舉辦首屆亞洲商務航空論壇及博覽會。彭博社新經濟論壇也將於十一月第五次回到新加坡。

謝家麟先生問我們如何與本地藝術從業者合作，創造真實的旅遊內容。今年一月，新加坡藝術周（SAW）2025匯聚了160多個藝術活動，展出了許多本地藝術家作品。ART SG作為SAW的一部分第三次迴歸新加坡，匯聚了來自30個國家和地區的105家畫廊。

烏莎·錢德拉達斯女士問及標誌性生活方式活動，包括音樂節如何提升我們對全球人才和遊客的吸引力，促進旅遊和經濟溢位效應。這些活動也為本地創意人才提供了展示舞臺，如Kin Leonn和伊曼·範迪。STB將繼續與利益相關者合作，包括國家藝術理事會（NAC），為本地音樂生態系統創造更多機會。我們將通過財政和非財政手段支援這些活動，打造多元化人才管道。我們歡迎帶來強大經濟效益的音樂節提案。

體育迷們，今年六月我們將舉辦國家籃球協會（NBA）新星邀請賽，這是亞洲首個區域青年籃球賽事。此前，我們剛剛舉辦了新加坡網球公開賽和新加坡斯瑪什賽事。

我們的綜合度假村也將推出世界級旅遊產品，作為其雄心勃勃的擴充套件計劃的一部分。2029年完工的濱海灣金沙第四座塔樓將重新定義我們的標誌性天際線。

在聖淘沙名勝世界，我於2024年十一月為其新的濱水生活方式開發專案奠基，該專案將設有充滿娛樂、零售和餐飲體驗的新長廊。我也在三月學校假期前開放了照明娛樂的“小黃人樂園”，今年晚些時候我們將開放新加坡海洋館，其規模是現有東南亞水族館的三倍。

幾年後，我們還將開放環球影城的新超級任天堂世界。

現在讓我們從新加坡南部來到北部的萬禮。繼2023年鳥天堂開幕後，萬禮今年將有新的亮點。我於2025年一月開放了公共萬禮木板路，提供上實裡達水庫和中央集水區自然保護區的壯麗景觀。

我們還將開放雨林野生亞洲，這是新加坡的第五個動物園，將擁有29個標誌性動物物種。我幾周前預覽過，傅瑩部長將於下週三正式開幕。還有由悅榕莊運營的萬禮雨林度假村將於下月開業，融合建築與自然，提供包括樹屋在內的客房，坐落於鬱鬱蔥蔥的綠地中。明年，我們期待開放雨林野生非洲。

主席先生，這一系列新產品標誌著我們獨立60週年，我們的旅遊業已經走過了漫長的歷程。我花了大量時間與旅遊業的工作人員和遊客交流。我們今天享受的精彩旅遊產品，是他們過去60年努力的見證。

因此，我很高興宣佈，我們的景點將推出多項優惠以慶祝SG60。我們正與新加坡景點協會（ASA）及旅遊企業合作，策劃SG60促銷活動，包括適合家庭的套餐和折扣。

例如，濱海灣花園將推出專屬的SG60奇蹟花開通行證，供公民和居民享受超過60%的折扣，暢遊六個即將開放的花穹頂花卉展。萬禮野生動物保護區也將在五月至八月期間提供獨家優惠。我們今天將在SG60網站上線這些優惠，歡迎大家預訂並參觀我們的景點，享受這些精彩優惠。

讓我們也去乘坐郵輪吧！例如，迪士尼探險號郵輪將於十二月在新加坡啟航，這是迪士尼郵輪公司首艘以亞洲為母港的船隻。許多新郵輪也將停靠新加坡，包括名勝世界郵輪的星際航行者號和麗思卡爾頓遊艇系列的Luminara號。

作為東盟郵輪協調員，我們正與鄰國合作，開發新的航線，利用郵輪旅遊快速增長的潛力，吸引更多遊客從新加坡訪問東南亞。我於2025年一月在柔佛與旅遊部長們討論了此事。

主席先生，我分享了我們如何通過豐富的旅遊和景點產品將世界連線到新加坡。同樣重要的是將新加坡連線到世界。

這就是為什麼我們正在深化與全球貿易伙伴的關係。

田佩玲女士問我們如何加強貿易聯絡。我們的策略很簡單：與貿易伙伴合作，發揮互補優勢，改善市場準入，推動共同增長。這將釋放更多機會，使企業、人才和資本在經濟體間高效流動。

首先，我談談東盟。我們正加倍努力與東盟夥伴深化區域經濟一體化，打造貿易、投資、資源和創新無縫流動的生態系統，使我們的區域更具競爭力。

副總理顏金勇分享了我們在東盟數字經濟框架和東盟貨物貿易協定（ATIGA）方面的進展，以增強區域貿易網路。除此之外，我們去年基本完成了東盟-中國自由貿易區的第二次升級，目標今年全面完成升級。

其次，我們加強與美國、中國、印度、越南和馬來西亞等關鍵夥伴的雙邊經濟關係。去年，我們紀念了美新自由貿易協定20週年。該協定是基石協議，仍是我們使用最頻繁的自由貿易協定之一。正如陳錫聯部長提到的，我們在數字經濟、人工智慧、供應鏈韌性和能源等新領域基於此基礎展開合作。

與中國方面，我們的中新自由貿易協定進一步升級議定書於2024年12月31日生效。它引入了更自由和透明的貿易規則，使新加坡投資者和供應商能夠更好地進入中國市場，並在中國開展業務時更有信心。

在印度，自2005年以來，雙邊貿易額增長了2.5倍以上，從200億新元增至2023年的523億新元。2024年9月，莫迪總理正式訪問期間，新加坡與印度同意將關係提升為全面戰略伙伴關係。2025年1月，沙馬納坦總統對印度進行國事訪問，紀念兩國建交60週年。訪問期間，新加坡企業與奧里薩邦政府簽署了多份諒解備忘錄，其中包括蘇爾巴納·朱榮集團與奧里薩邦在可持續城市規劃方面的合作協議。

在越南，今天新加坡是越南的主要投資者之一，我們正在為企業開拓新的投資機會，涵蓋可再生能源和碳信用。這些將成為我們與越南全面戰略伙伴關係升級的重要組成部分。企業新加坡和越南外商投資局還成立了新加坡單位，作為支援新加坡企業在越南投資的單一聯絡點。

關於馬來西亞，烏莎·錢德拉達斯女士問及我們對柔佛-新山經濟特區的藝術規劃。我們將與馬來西亞討論藝術部門如何補充經濟特區的優先領域。

我們還確保企業能夠充分利用已簽署的自由貿易協定，以便更好地進入全球市場，並在與自由貿易協定夥伴貿易時享受更高效率和更低成本。因此，我們去年與新加坡企業聯合總會（SBF）合作舉辦了11場自由貿易協定推廣活動，吸引了911家公司參加。

我與李顯龍先生一同出席了部分活動。這些會議使我們能夠為新加坡企業提供定製化諮詢，幫助他們利用自由貿易協定進行出口和國際化。例如，SGProtein私人有限公司是一家植物蛋白食品製造商，通過使用東盟-韓國自由貿易協定和韓國-新加坡自由貿易協定，在韓國市場節省了8%的關稅，提升了競爭力。

先生，即使我們深化與關鍵夥伴的關係，也必須拓寬視野。田佩玲女士和薩克提安迪·蘇帕特先生問我們如何實現貿易多元化。今天，我們擁有27個自由貿易協定和43個雙邊投資條約，這些協議在全球範圍內生效，我們還在不斷努力。

首先，我們正在與距離我們稍遠的地區建立合作伙伴關係，以幫助我們在全球不確定性和潮流變化中保持相關性。這是為了使我們的企業能夠提升供應鏈的韌性，並開拓新的市場機會。

先生，我曾多次與同事一起訪問拉丁美洲，推動兩項貿易協定。2022年，我們簽署了太平洋聯盟-新加坡自由貿易協定；太平洋聯盟由智利、哥倫比亞、墨西哥和秘魯組成，合計形成了世界第八大經濟體。我很高興地分享，該自由貿易協定即將生效。

下午1點45分

我們最近還與阿根廷、巴西、巴拉圭和烏拉圭簽署了南方共同市場（MERCOSUR）-新加坡自由貿易協定，目前正努力推動其批准。作為南方共同市場與東南亞國家之間的首個自由貿易協定，該協定將為我們兩大地區之間更廣泛的經濟合作鋪平道路。

我們在中東地區也開展了令人振奮的工作。2023年，我們與中東國家沙烏地阿拉伯建立了首個戰略伙伴關係。在上個月舉行的第四屆沙烏地阿拉伯-新加坡聯合委員會會議上，我們討論了在互聯互通、能源、數字經濟和創新方面的合作。我們還宣佈了物流和港口自動化的新合作，並啟動了更新2007年生效的雙邊投資條約的談判。

主席先生，我們也在加強與非洲的聯絡。非洲是一個廣闊、年輕且快速增長的地區，潛力巨大。我也多次訪問非洲。事實上，我上週剛剛在盧安達，推進關於第6條碳信用合作、數字與人工智慧以及金融科技的討論。我還會見了許多進軍非洲的駐新加坡企業，包括投資公司GenZero，該公司正在迦納、肯亞和南非探索碳信用專案。今年，我們將主辦非洲-新加坡商務論壇，這是一個自2016年以來已連線超過5000名非洲和亞洲商業領袖的兩年一度平臺。[請參閱“貿易與工業國務部長澄清”，官方報告，2025年3月6日，第95卷，第159期，書面宣告更正部分。]

我們還將繼續拓寬在數字和綠色經濟領域的貿易伙伴關係。我們正在擴大數字經濟協定（DEA）的網路。數字經濟協定幫助我們融入全球數字經濟，增強數字貿易流通。通過數字經濟協定，我們與其他國家合作，建立關於個人資料和線上消費者保護等問題的規則和標準，使我們的企業能夠利用跨境數字服務。

我們已有四項數字經濟協定生效，並正在擴大網路。去年，我們完成了歐盟-新加坡數字貿易協定，並正在與歐洲自由貿易聯盟談判數字經濟協定。

先生，近期全球發展凸顯了多邊倡議在應對數字貿易等新興問題上的重要性。作為數字經濟夥伴協定（DEPA）的創始成員國之一，與智利和紐西蘭共同推動，我們持續支援DEPA的擴充套件。許多國家熱衷加入DEPA。去年，韓國加入了DEPA，哥斯大黎加的加入幾乎完成。與加拿大、中國和秘魯的加入談判也在進行中。其他經濟體，如阿聯酋、薩爾瓦多和烏克蘭，也已申請加入。

在多邊層面，新加坡與澳大利亞和日本共同主持世界貿易組織（WTO）電子商務聯合宣告倡議，推動數字貿易全球規則的建立。經過五年談判，我們去年達成了文本協議，約有70個成員支援。我們正努力將該協議納入WTO並擴大其成員範圍。

我們也在推進綠色經濟協定（GEA），以促進綠色創新合作和可持續產品的貿易流通，最終加速我們的低碳轉型。

在與澳大利亞的綠色經濟協定下，我們建立了中小企業聯合創新計劃，稱為“綠色共創創新計劃”（GGCIP），以激勵澳大利亞和新加坡企業之間的合作。該計劃支援了五個專案，包括新加坡ESGpedia與澳大利亞FootprintLab的合資企業，開發一款基於人工智慧的可持續發展報告工具，幫助企業進行氣候資訊披露和可持續供應鏈管理。

去年11月，我們還與紐西蘭和智利啟動了貿易與綠色經濟聯合工作組，計劃加強綠色增長領域的跨境貿易和投資。

主席先生，我們標誌性的新加坡河象徵著我們國家的成功故事——一個動態樞紐，促進人員、貿易和資本通過我們的海岸無縫流動，作為通往世界的門戶。我們國家的成功依賴於我們持續保持開放和連線。

因此，為保持競爭力，我們必須通過促進創新、建設強大企業和投資人才來提升優勢。政府將支援我們的企業應對全球經濟不斷變化的潮流。基於堅實基礎，我們將增強互聯互通，擴大機會，強化新加坡作為人員、貿易和資本流動門戶的角色。

我們將共同發展經濟，釋放新潛力，轉型企業，連線新加坡與世界，確保我們在開闢大膽前路時的集體成功。

主席：請發言澄清。梁榮華先生。

梁榮華先生（武吉班讓）：謝謝您，主席。副總理顏金勇在他的演講中以及回應我的提問時提到，在美中持續競爭的背景下，新加坡最壞的情況可能是全球貿易戰。因此，我想進一步請教副總理，新加坡正在採取哪些措施來減輕這種潛在影響？

另外，我也想請副總理分享他如何看待我們與美國和中國的關係，在全球貿易戰爆發的情況下，這是否會使我們更有能力應對不利影響？

顏金勇先生：首先，我必須說我希望全球貿易戰不會發生，但我們必須時刻準備，因為正如我所說，外部環境將變得越來越困難和充滿挑戰。但新加坡應做的是繼續深化我們對企業和貿易伙伴的價值主張。我們必須繼續成為其他國家可靠、一貫的合作伙伴，這樣我們才能繼續成為全球經濟中受重視的參與者。我認為這是根本所在。

其次，我們也必須繼續尋找機會深化與區域內不同夥伴、志同道合國家和經濟體的合作。這樣，我們就能繼續擴大和增長我們在全球經濟中的空間。東盟是一個領域。如我所提，它是一個快速增長的區域，我認為我們將繼續與東盟夥伴合作，深化東盟內部一體化，為我們創造更多機會。

但同時，正如我在演講中提到的，我們繼續擴大與鄰國的合作，看看如何利用彼此優勢，結合起來，為我們的貿易伙伴和全球商業夥伴提供更好的價值主張。

此外，探索新的增長領域和合作機會也很重要。例如，我提到的數字經濟，這是一個新平臺，不同於傳統自由貿易協定。它不僅涉及關稅和進出口，更關乎合作和互操作性，發展數字能力，強化我們的企業，給予它們更好機會在區域內擴充套件。因此，我認為這將是我們持續推進的方向。

議員提到美中關係以及新加坡如何發揮作用。我認為這不容易。我們是一個非常小的經濟體。我們希望繼續在兩國之間發揮建設性作用。我們必須保持靈活，密切關注事態發展。我相信每位議員，現在每天早上醒來，開啟報紙，看到的第一條新聞都是重大新聞，每次都讓人震驚。現在不用看報紙，手機上也有新聞提醒。我認為我們必須隨時應對，保持靈活，準備迅速行動。這也體現了新加坡作為小經濟體的優勢。我們經濟緊湊，能夠快速行動，迅速響應。

因此，與企業和商業團體通過各種貿易協會和組織緊密合作非常重要，看看如何帶動企業，及時通報全球動態，賦能並裝備它們，使其能夠快速調整供應鏈、生產線和出口市場。

同時，繼續投資於人才，使他們獲得新技能和能力也很重要，因為隨著全球經濟變化，新機會將出現，但我們必須具備相應技能才能抓住這些機會。因此，我認為讓產業和企業靈活快速行動，投資人才培訓，是保持新加坡經濟韌性和持續增長的基礎。

主席：陳秀燕女士。

陳秀燕女士（東海岸）：謝謝主席。我想澄清的是關於支援中小企業國際化的問題，針對貿易和工業國務部長陳振聲。他分享了SGProtein如何通過利用自由貿易協定提升其在韓國市場的競爭力，也提到了我們正在推進的多項自由貿易協定。能否進一步分享政府和新加坡企業聯合總會（SBF）如何協作，支援中小企業更好地利用這些自由貿易協定，進入新市場？

陳振聲先生：謝謝陳秀燕女士的提問。事實上，光是擴大自由貿易協定網路，簽署遠方國家的協定還不夠，重要的是我們要與商業協會，如新加坡企業聯合總會等緊密合作，帶領企業瞭解商機。同時，在企業留在新加坡期間，提供工具和支援，幫助它們利用這些優勢，降低成本，提高效率。

我想分享幾點。首先，我們現在有一個關稅查詢工具，由Enterprise Singapore開發。比如我之前提到的SGProtein，可以通過該工具獲取潛在出口市場的進口關稅、手續、自由貿易協定優惠關稅和原產地規則等關鍵資訊，幫助它們導航並測試需支付的費用或如何提升效率。

新加坡企業聯合總會與我們緊密合作，為像SGProtein這樣的企業提供現場指導，例如如何準備製造成本報表申請。這是關鍵步驟，有助於證明本地內容，符合自由貿易協定優惠資格。

我還想強調，貿易與工業部和Enterprise Singapore與新加坡企業聯合總會合作，去年推出了未來貿易與投資中心（CFOTI）。CFOTI幫助企業解決貿易合規相關問題，擴大利用貿易協定的能力，也為中小企業提供定製諮詢支援，幫助它們充分利用自由貿易協定。因此，我鼓勵中小企業與我們、Enterprise Singapore及貿易協會如新加坡企業聯合總會緊密合作，充分利用這些自由貿易協定。

主席：李顯龍先生。

李顯龍先生（提名議員）：我要感謝勞燕玲高階國務部長、陳志凌第二貿易部長、顏金勇副總理以及參與非洲事務小組（AfA）工作的各位。

我認為今天的宣佈充分顯示，當有建設性意見時，政府並非充耳不聞，而是積極響應，確保新加坡保持靈活和對企業友好。

關於非洲事務小組，我希望政府考慮不時繼續舉辦此平臺，以強化政府與商界的緊密合作。這是我的第一個澄清。

第二個澄清是關於設立10億新元的私人信貸增長基金。這無疑是一個良機，也是重要的替代融資來源。目前已有許多私人信貸基金提供者，主要服務大型跨國企業和大型本地企業，往往忽視本地企業。我想請副總理確認，為確保對本地企業的針對性支援，私人信貸增長基金的資金成本是否會以優惠且具競爭力的利率提供給基金管理者，從而確保本地企業直接受益於較低的借貸成本？

下午2點

勞燕玲女士：我代表整個貿易與工業部大家庭——不僅是貿易與工業部，還有Enterprise Singapore、經濟發展局及所有經濟機構——感謝新加坡企業聯合總會和李顯龍先生共同主持非洲事務小組，也感謝提名議員Neil Parekh參與。

我們還要感謝去年2月至11月期間參與此行程的13個貿易諮詢委員會（TAC）。過程非常緊湊，我們諮詢了許多企業，不僅是行業協會，還有產業和貿易協會等。這是常規的參與，我們必須持續保持這股勢頭。

這就是為什麼在顏金勇副總理的演講中，您聽到他提到他領導促進企業規則審查的跨部委委員會。過去幾個月，我也與他、尚穆根部長、陳志凌部長、李顯龍部長和徐芳達部長一起，主持了超過140位中小企業執行長和首席體驗官的討論，繼續逐行業瞭解是否存在痛點或可進一步改善政府整體監管靈活性的領域。

我要向李顯龍先生以及商界保證，貿易與工業部不僅如此，自3月26日起，我們已設立中小企業執行長辦公室（SME PEO）作為關鍵協調單位，推動政府整體積極作為，繼續與商界合作，提升監管靈活性，更好支援企業抓住海外機遇。

顏金勇先生：關於私人信貸增長基金的第二部分問題，我來回應。

該計劃旨在填補融資框架中的空白。我們有股權融資和常規商業貸款，但一些高增長企業處於非常細分的領域，融資不易獲得。企業主和創業者也不願意稀釋股權，他們希望保持對企業的控制權，因此股權投資可能不適合他們。他們尋求替代融資。私人信貸提供了更靈活的融資結構設計，以滿足特定企業的需求。

因此，這並非補貼，也不是針對有困難或需要補貼支援海外擴充套件的企業。我們有其他計劃，Enterprise Singapore有一系列方案，如全球創新聯盟（GIA）等，支援企業海外擴充套件、區域佈局，甚至研發資金等。

不同計劃針對不同目的。這個私人信貸計劃主要是填補融資框架的空白。希望李先生理解。

主席：Neil Parekh先生。

Neil Parekh Nimil Rajnikant先生（提名議員）：我想感謝貿易與工業部團隊提供的全面分析和詳細預算——我認為這是一個非常好的預算。我有幾個澄清問題。

副總理提到國家半導體先進製造創新中心（NSTIC）研發廠房，推動先進半導體研究和創新。請問為何該設施初期重點是先進封裝？是否會很快擴充套件到其他領域？NSTIC（研發廠房）對我們本地半導體體系的直接益處是什麼？

第二個問題是：最近有報導稱職工總會研究人員在義順發現地熱儲層。貿易與工業部能否提供關於地熱能源潛力研究的最新進展？

最後，關於私人信貸，作為曾經從事商業的人士，我認為10億新元規模太小。或許應以此為基礎，吸引外部資金，將規模擴大到100億新元或更多。即貿易與工業部提供10億新元，私營部門籌集90億新元。

顏金勇先生：謝謝。我會請陳志凌部長回應地熱能源問題。讓我先聚焦NSTIC（研發廠房）。

該設施實際上是由A*STAR運營的現有NSTIC設施的擴充套件。其理念是首先聚焦於先進封裝，因為先進封裝是許多半導體先進技術的基礎技術，目的是將越來越多的元件封裝進晶片中。其目標是提高晶片的密度，而先進封裝在實現這一目標中起著非常重要的作用。因此，它是一項關鍵的基礎性技術。

我們自2011年開始投資這項技術，並在該領域建立了顯著的能力。這就是為什麼我們鼓勵在該技術的這一特定方面進行研發投資的重要原因，尤其不僅僅是跨國公司（MNCs），還包括本地中小企業（SMEs）。

所以，這只是一個起點。我們將允許NSTIC（研發晶圓廠）首先專注於先進封裝。但這並不是唯一的領域。我們將保持選擇的開放性，敞開大門，歡迎其他可能變得重要和關鍵的新興技術。我們也會將這些設施開放給其他擁有新興技術、希望投資研發的公司。

議員提到了10億新元。我猜他指的是私人信貸增長基金。如果尼爾·帕雷克先生能幫助我們籌集另外90億新元，我們將非常高興與他洽談。但我必須說，通常來說，我認為這是政府必須投入的種子資金。希望我們能啟動這個過程。我們將繼續歡迎希望加入我們這段旅程的私人信貸進入。

正如我在發言中提到的，當基金經理和投資者對私人信貸領域更加熟悉時，我們可能能夠催化更多外部資金。因此，我同意議員的看法。我們將這10億新元視為種子資金。我們希望未來能夠籌集更多資本用於該基金。但我認為這是一個良好的開端。

陳志凌博士：感謝尼爾·帕雷克先生的澄清。我認為議員指的是南洋理工大學（NTU）的研究，而不是“NTUC”。我想我們稍後在人力部（MOM）的職總（COS）辯論中會與職總（NTUC）有更多交集。職總方面——為了所有職總的兄弟姐妹們——是“每個工人都重要”，而不是“每個電源都重要”。

我想我們都知道，新加坡作為一個國家，在替代能源方面處於劣勢，我過去多次提到，我們將探索所有可能的脫碳路徑。因此，沒有任何選項被排除。

我們正在調查的本土能源選項之一是地熱能。2023年，新加坡能源市場管理局（EMA）釋出了一個新加坡範圍內的非侵入式地球物理研究招標，旨在評估新加坡深層地熱資源潛力，深度可達10公里。這是為了發電目的。因此，我要強調，EMA是評估深層地熱資源潛力。這實際上與南洋理工大學的研究不同，後者是常規地熱潛力的研究。

我很高興地更新，本月我們開始了對地熱能潛力的空中勘測。我們希望並計劃在大約一年的時間內完成這項研究。再次強調，南洋理工大學的研究重點是建立區域性潛力，勘測深度約為4公里，屬於常規地熱。而我們的研究是深層地熱評估，深度可達10公里。

當然，鑑於我們已有的三巴旺溫泉，我知道許多同志也關心這會如何影響三巴旺。新加坡政府，我向大家保證，不會進行任何可能影響現有溫泉的侵入式地球物理研究。

南洋理工大學的地熱鑽探是在距離三巴旺溫泉2.5公里和700米，幾乎一公里遠的地點進行的，且已於2024年初完成。

EMA正在進行的研究是非侵入式的，因為我們正在對全國地球物理環境進行空中和陸地調查，以更好地評估深層地熱潛力。與所有研究和新基礎設施開發一樣，所有必要的環境評估都會進行。我希望我已給予議員們足夠的保證和對目前所知情況的理解。

主席：林秀儀女士。

林秀儀女士（亞歷山大）：主席，我有兩個問題想向勞燕玲高階國務部長澄清，關於我提到的詐騙問題，她剛才也簡要提及。

首先，她提到了通過跨部門反詐騙委員會（IMCS）進行的全政府努力。我瞭解到貿工部（MTI）也在該委員會中有代表。因此，我想了解貿工部迄今為止在IMCS工作中的興趣和貢獻。那是第一個問題。

第二個問題是：當然，我關注的核心是消費者保護問題，因為在詐騙問題上，我們經常發現消費者實際上是在與銀行、電信公司和社交媒體公司等服務提供商打交道，存在一定的不平等議價能力。

所以，我想了解消費者委員會（CCCS）是否正在關注這一領域。它是否在網路詐騙領域採取措施保護消費者或制定某些標準？

勞燕玲女士：主席，感謝林秀儀女士的兩個澄清。

我先回答第二個問題。我理解議員昨天發言時的想法。正如內政部（MHA）孫雪玲國務部長在職總辯論中所述，大多數詐騙涉及受害者主動將錢款轉給詐騙者，以及加密貨幣詐騙。

這些詐騙，一是具有犯罪性質，二是通常由高度複雜的犯罪網路實施。第三點是，很多詐騙實際上是以新加坡為基地。因此，這類詐騙更適合由執法部門處理。

但我想向她保證，為確保打擊詐騙的集體努力，新加坡政府不僅採取全政府方法，還與私營部門緊密合作。議員們已聽孫雪玲國務部長提及與各科技公司及社群夥伴合作，打擊詐騙，向上遊發力，不僅僅是針對長者，詐騙可能影響所有年齡和背景的人。

反詐騙工作由跨部門反詐騙委員會協調，成員包括內政部、新加坡警察部隊、MDDI、信息通信媒體發展局（IMDA）、金融管理局（MAS）及其他公共機構。貿工部也參與其中，若有涉及經濟領域的相關案件，我們會負責溝通協調。

儘管如此，我要向議員保證，如果供應商存在不公平行為，消費者委員會（CCCS）肯定可以根據消費者保護（公平交易）法案（CPFTA）採取行動。這是全政府方法的一部分，各機構協同合作以保障消費者利益。

主席：傅美華女士。

傅美華女士（西海岸）：主席，我有兩個問題想問副總理。第一個關於研發。副總理談到新加坡的研發基礎設施及其作為經濟增長一部分的重要性。我在職總髮言時也提到，研發商業化同樣重要。

下午2時15分

所以，我想請問副總理，具體來說，本地企業將如何從所有研發投入中受益？我們將如何鼓勵他們採用這些研發成果？又如何支援他們將研發成果真正商業化應用？這是第一個問題。

第二個問題，我想回應尼爾·帕雷克議員的評論。我可能持較為保守的觀點。他談到平衡雄心；我認為私人信貸涉及很多風險管理，如果政府介入，這是一門科學。傳統上，當我們共同出資時，銀行會參與風險分擔。但我很想知道，鑑於政府投入的10億新元並非小數目，風險管理方面如何承保？如何挑選支援的公司？因為10億新元用得不多，我們希望確保這是一次良好經驗，能吸引更多公司參與。哪個機構將負責管理及合作？

顏金勇先生：關於研發及研發成果商業化，我提到的NSTIC（研發晶圓廠）就是一個例子，提供設施幫助企業進行研發及商業化。因為設施成本高昂，中小企業無法直接使用，只有通過NSTIC才能接觸到。因此，這是我們做的一項工作。A*STAR在許多其他行業領域也有類似做法。

我們與私營部門合作，提供研發設施的使用。但不僅僅是硬體設施，NSTIC和A*STAR還提供技術諮詢，指導如何進行研發，同時如何商業化產品。A*STAR作為研究中心，在商業化部分研究成果方面經驗豐富，這非常重要。

我們還有企業新加坡旗下的智慧財產權局（IPI），提供智慧財產權諮詢，幫助企業利用現有智慧財產權進行商業化，或註冊自有智慧財產權。我們也與高等院校通過技術轉移官合作，協助企業將技術轉化為商業產品。我們有多種平臺與企業合作，推動研發商業化。

NSTIC的另一個方面是跨國公司與中小企業的合作。通過合作，中小企業能瞭解大型企業的需求，開發產品以服務跨國公司。這也促進了跨國公司利用其資源幫助中小企業商業化研發產品。這是研發方面的情況。

議員還提到10億新元信貸。這不是小數目。我理解這有限，因為只有10億新元。希望議員能共同說服財政部未來給予更多資金。但我同意，我們需要謹慎保守地推進，確保這10億新元得到良好利用。

因此，我們打算尋找有良好業績記錄、具備管理私募股權、私人信貸及專案經驗的基金經理，藉助他們的專業管理這10億新元，確保資金得到有效使用。

主席：我們的截止時間快到了。我將邀請薩克提安迪·蘇帕特先生髮言。您之前舉手了？因為您有四個發言點，我給您發言機會。

薩克提安迪·蘇帕特先生（碧山-大巴窯）：謝謝主席，我本想讓別人先發言。但我只有一個簡短澄清問題給陳志凌部長。我之前提交了關於能源基礎設施的發言點，涉及能源基礎設施。部長之前提到氫能和氨能戰略。能否分享我們在電力來源基礎設施方面的預算計劃，尤其是進口能源的登陸點？我知道氨能、氫能和核能仍處於研究階段，我們仍在調查。但我們在規劃或投資這些基礎設施，包括進口能源登陸點方面的計劃如何？

陳志凌博士：感謝薩克提安迪先生的澄清。關於可再生能源進口，我已提到，鑑於與鄰國談判的進展，我們已將目標從4吉瓦提升至6吉瓦。關於互聯互通的登陸點，我們已初步確定一些地點，具體細節目前無法透露。

互聯互通大致有兩種型別——高壓直流（HVDC），適合跨越較長的海底距離；另一種是相對較便宜的交流海底電纜。根據發電源地點，選擇合適的電纜型別。

目前，我們發放的有條件許可證主要針對較近的發電源，如巴淡、民丹和卡里蒙走廊。公眾媒體也報道，我們已向更北部的中南半島及澳大利亞潛在來源授予有條件批准，這些將涉及成本更高的高壓直流海底電纜。這涵蓋了可再生能源進口的主要部分。

關於碳捕集與儲存，我們仍在與S-Hub合作研究模式，聚焦難以減排的碳密集行業，如裕廊島的石化產業，研究碳捕集後的運輸及儲存。目前鑑於涉及量，我們仍在與潛在合作伙伴洽談。

關於氨能和氫能，我之前也提到，儘管氫能技術上可行，但運輸成本高昂，因此我們以氨能作為試點。我們有一個先導專案，將與幾個潛在財團合作，評估規模化後是否可行且具商業價值。該專案規模較小，約佔整體能源結構的0.5%，計劃規模約50至60兆瓦。我們將提供初始種子資金評估該路徑的可行性。

總的來說，我們已預留預算。鑑於尚未達到不同門檻，能源轉型基金（FEF）的撥款尚未啟動。但我們已補充預算，預計未來幾個季度一旦達到關鍵門檻，將啟動撥款。

主席：抱歉，我們已到截止時間。請梁榮華先生，如您願意，請提出撤回修正案。

下午2時25分

梁榮華先生：主席，感謝副總理顏金勇、陳志凌部長、勞燕玲高階國務部長及陳振聲國務部長對我們的發言點和澄清給予詳盡回應。祝貿工部全體同仁在推動經濟增長方面取得成功，希望2025年經濟增長能超出1%至3%的預測區間。先生，基於此，我申請撤回我的修正案。

[(程式文本) 修正案經許可撤回。 (程式文本)]

[(程式文本) 頭V項下金額1,638,234,500新元被批准納入主要預算。 (程式文本)]

[(程式文本) 頭V項下金額6,309,880,900新元被批准納入發展預算。 (程式文本)]

主席：我們已連續開會近四個半小時。我建議現在休息。請安靜。

[(程式文本) 隨後議長離開委員會主席席，回到議院主席席。 (程式文本)]

議長：請安靜。我建議現在休息，暫停會議，下午2時45分繼續。

會議暫停於下午2時27分，至下午2時45分。

會議於下午2時45分恢復。

[副議長（陳素娥女士）主持]

英文原文

SPRS Hansard · Fetched: 2026-05-02

[(proc text) Head V (cont) – (proc text)]

[(proc text) Resumption of Debate on Question [5 March 2025], (proc text)]

[(proc text) "That the total sum to be allocated for Head V of the Estimates be reduced by $100." – [Mr Liang Eng Hwa]. (proc text)]

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

12.17 pm

The Chairman : Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade and Industry Gan Kim Yong.

The Minister for Trade and Industry (Mr Gan Kim Yong) : Chairman, let me first thank Members for their very constructive comments and suggestions. The year 2024 has been a relatively good year. The gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 4.4%, compared to 1.8% in 2023. Core inflation came down from 4.2% in 2023 to 2.7% in 2024.

This year, we celebrate SG60. We have come a long way in building a strong, innovative and vibrant economy. We have created good opportunities for Singaporeans and improved their lives. Our economic success did not happen by chance. It was the result of a combination of factors: careful long-term planning; sustained investments in infrastructure; keeping a pro-business environment; and, most important of all, investing in lifelong education and training, together with staying open to talent, trade and investment.

Generations of Singaporeans have worked together to build a strong foundation for our economy. But Members are well aware that we are now entering a new chapter in our economic journey with new challenges and opportunities unlike those we have seen before.

Mr Liang Eng Hwa asked about the potential headwinds arising from geopolitical contestation.

Sir, the multilateral free trade system has been under tremendous stress in recent years and is at risk of being fractured. Members would have heard United States (US) President Donald Trump's new tariffs and his plans for more, including reciprocal tariffs on trading partners to match the duties on US' exports. China and Canada have also responded with their own tariffs. This may lead to an escalating, tit-for-tat cycle for tariffs, or worse, a global trade war. This could upend the global rules-based economic order that Singapore, as a small and open economy, is dependent on.

Given that we do not impose tariffs on any American imports and the US has a trade surplus with us, we may not be significantly affected by the reciprocal tariffs directly. However, rising tariffs and trade wars could cause disruptions to supply chains, slow down global trade and drive up business costs, and therefore, affect businesses and consumers. In the longer term, it will also affect confidence and investment flows and slow down the global economy.

Instead of seeking win-win opportunities with their partners, many countries are now competing aggressively against each other for investments and protecting their domestic sectors. This will lead to a more challenging external environment for us.

Domestically, we will also need to tackle tighter constraints, especially in land, labour and carbon I spoke about last year. Our local workforce growth is expected to continue to slow in the coming years. With limited land, we will need to find new ways to maximise our space utilisation. To do our part on climate change, we will need to reduce our carbon footprint while accommodating the growing energy demand as we expand our industries.

Nevertheless, it is not all doom and gloom. Amidst these challenges, there are still opportunities for us. Asia's economy will continue to grow and Southeast Asia is expected to become the fourth largest economy in the world by 2030. Artificial intelligence (AI), digitalisation and the low-carbon transition will also present new opportunities in the digital and green economy. Singapore can also capitalise on the shifts in production and supply chains to attract new investments and strengthen our position as a key node in the reconfigured trade flows.

On balance, we can be cautiously confident. We expect our economy to expand by about 1% to 3% this year and inflation to stay moderated, with core inflation at about 1% to 2%, barring major disruptions.

Mr Liang Eng Hwa asked if we can grow faster. We will certainly try to do so and we hope we can grow faster than what we have projected.

Last year, I spoke about four strategies to allow us to grow, namely, grow our economy; unlock our resource potential; transform our businesses; and connect internationally. These strategies remain relevant. I will speak about how we will grow our economy while my colleagues will elaborate on the other strategies.

Sir, we will grow our economy in four ways: (a) strengthen our connectivity to the region and the world; (b) grow strong enterprises through innovation; (c) foster a pro-enterprise environment; and (d) invest in our people.

I will start with connectivity.

Mr Desmond Choo, Ms Tin Pei Ling and Mr Saktiandi Supaat asked how Singapore can strengthen regional trade relations.

As a business hub, our success depends on staying well-connected to the region and to the world. Firstly, we have made progress in deepening integration and collaboration with our immediate neighbours. This year, we signed the Agreement on the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone (JS-SEZ) with Malaysia. This will benefit our firms here by allowing them to tap on the resources available in Johor to expand and grow. JS-SEZ will also allow Singapore and Malaysia to draw in investments, by offering a more compelling value proposition by combining our complementary strengths.

We have seen strong commercial interest in JS-SEZ. The Singapore Business Federation's business mission to Johor Bahru last month drew 230 delegates from over 180 Singapore businesses. We will also continue to build on our existing cooperation with Indonesia, particularly in Batam, Bintan and Karimun, as well as explore new areas of cooperation.

Second, we will continue to enhance digital trade and improve market access for our companies operating in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). We are making progress to substantially conclude our negotiations on the ASEAN Digital Economy Framework Agreement (DEFA) this year. This will accelerate the growth of the digital economy within ASEAN.

We also plan to conclude negotiations and sign the upgrade to the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement (ATIGA) this year, which will boost intra-ASEAN trade and strengthen supply chain connectivity within our region, to tap on the growth of Asia's economy.

Even as we deepen our connections, we want to nurture Singapore enterprises to become regional or global leaders. We also seek to anchor global industry leaders here to enhance our industry ecosystems, which will benefit local companies and provide good jobs.

As Ms Foo Mee Har and Mr Neil Parekh have noted, innovation is at the heart of economic growth. For example, over the past decades, we have successfully built up a strong and competitive semi-conductor ecosystem that has cemented Singapore as a critical node in the global semi-conductor supply chain. But to remain a semi-conductor powerhouse, we must invest in research and development (R&D) to drive innovation within the industry, not just among the big players but also among the small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

Semi-conductor manufacturing facilities typically involve substantial upfront investments. Companies, especially the smaller ones, may face challenges accessing semi-conductor infrastructure and expertise in their R&D and pilot production. To support them, we established the National Semiconductor Translation and Innovation Centre (NSTIC) last April, at the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR).

NSTIC provides companies and researchers in the fields of flat optics and silicon photonics with access to semi-conductor R&D infrastructure. Companies may also tap NSTIC's capabilities for prototyping and small volume manufacturing to accelerate the speed to market and scaling up.

To build on this, A*STAR will broaden NSTIC to cover more semi-conductor technologies and increase the capacity. We will invest about $500 million to establish the NSTIC (R&D Fab), a new national semi-conductor R&D fabrication facility at JTC nanoSpace @ Tampines.

The NSTIC (R&D Fab) will have an initial focus on advanced packaging, which is a key growth area in the semi-conductor industry. It will offer state-of-the-art cleanroom infrastructure and industry-grade tools, as well as translational research and fabrication expertise. This will support the scaling and translation of R&D.

Major global semi-conductor players as well as SMEs and startups can tap on its capabilities and even foster new partnerships. One example is NexGen Wafer Systems, a local SME which supplies wet etching and cleaning equipment to chipmakers worldwide. They had started their R&D efforts overseas to better access tools and facilities that were not available in Singapore then. By leveraging A*STAR's R&D capabilities and facilities, NexGen has developed new semi-conductor equipment features and applications in Singapore to fabricate different types of chips. They have therefore found value in bringing a part of their R&D activities back to Singapore.

The NSTIC (R&D Fab) will scale up our capacity to enable similar SMEs and the broader semi-conductor industry here to build new capabilities, develop and commercialise globally-competitive technologies and create good jobs for Singaporeans.

Our R&D efforts have also enabled us to develop a strong pipeline of promising and innovative startups. One example is Lucence, an A*STAR spin-off and homegrown startup. Lucence focuses on precision oncology and partners the National Cancer Centre to develop the LiquidHALLMARK test to guide therapy selection for tumours. With support from Enterprise Singapore, Lucence automated its Singapore laboratory to serve customers in Singapore, Hong Kong and Southeast Asia. It partnered Mayo Clinic Laboratories this year, to drive adoption and commercialisation of its technology in US.

Today, Singapore also hosts many Deep Tech companies. Among them is Entropica Labs, a startup from the Centre for Quantum Technologies. Entropica Labs has been working with global leaders in quantum computing hardware and infrastructure providers, such as Amazon Web Services, Microsoft and Xanadu, to bring quantum technologies to the market.

12.30 pm

We want to do more through the Global Innovation Alliance (GIA) nodes in key innovation hubs. We help our companies tap into the innovation networks and market opportunities overseas. Carecam, a digital health startup focusing on transitional care and advanced screening, participated in the GIA San Francisco Acceleration Programme and connected with a US-based corporate to integrate their solutions into new business entities. This will support the company's expansion into the US healthcare sector.

We want to support more startups like Carecam to accelerate their speed to market and facilitate their product commercialisation. We will enhance the GIA to support startups in various growth stages. The GIA Discovery will support startups to familiarise themselves with the market and evaluate product-market fit, in order to shape their market strategy. Thereafter, startups can pilot their technologies in these new markets, with the support from GIA Proof of Concept to validate their products and gain market credibility.

The GIA+ initiative will support startups participating in global acceleration programmes, such as those run by Y Combinator, MassRobotics and MassChallenge in the US, to gain access to mentorship, resources and networks to realise their overseas expansion plans. To expand our startup ecosystem, we also want experienced founders to be anchored here and build their new ventures that have the potential to become globally leading businesses. To do so, the Economic Development Board (EDB) will launch a Global Founder Programme (GFP) later this year.

Let me give Members a preview. This is a targeted programme aimed at supporting the new ventures of experienced founders from around the world as well as in Singapore. Founders are individuals who have built highly successful startups or who have developed major new products and business lines in global companies, or who have made significant scientific or engineering achievements, such as in AI or Deep Tech. The GFP signals our belief in the power of openness. We want to bring the best from around the world to Singapore to add to the strength of our own. We want to support firms which are able and willing to innovate and grow. We will foster a vibrant innovation ecosystem that will help our companies stay competitive and create high-value job opportunities for Singaporeans.

Manufacturing is a key pillar of our economy, comprising close to 20% of our GDP and is one of the largest contributors to productivity growth. It also supports the growth of the financial and professional services sectors.

I would like to reassure Mr Liang Eng Hwa, Mr Mark Lee, Ms Jessica Tan, Ms Tin Pei Ling and Mr Saktiandi Supaat that we will continue to encourage leading manufacturers here to invest in innovation and also attract new, high performing companies to grow in Singapore.

Last October, I attended KLA's groundbreaking ceremony for a new manufacturing facility in Singapore, for some of their most advanced wafer geometry and defect inspection tools. KLA's new facility is expected to create at least 400 jobs, in areas, such as mechanical design, materials and product testing. It will also create opportunities for enterprises here to collaborate with KLA on niche areas, such as precision cleaning and manufacturing of metal parts used in optics assemblies.

For example, local SME Alantac Industrial Services and KLA co-developed precision cleaning solutions for defect inspection tools that meet stringent cleaning requirements. By supporting our high-performing firms in Singapore, we hope to uplift the capacity and capabilities of our entire industry ecosystem, including our local SMEs.

Mr Mark Lee and Mr Edward Chia asked how the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) intends to support the financing needs of businesses as they expand globally. The Government had allocated over $1.8 billion in the past five years in equity investment funds to support enterprise growth; but there is room for us to enhance our equity and debt financing toolkit to better support our enterprises' diverse growth strategies.

First, we will introduce the Long-Term Investment Fund and deploy more than $200 million of Government capital over a longer time horizon, beyond the typical three- to seven-year timescale. This caters to enterprises with longer and more complex growth trajectories that will require more time to fully realise their potential.

Second, we will launch a $1 billion Private Credit Growth Fund (PCGF). Unlike traditional debt, private credit has the flexibility to meet the specific needs of companies looking to scale up quickly. And unlike equity, private credit allows companies and founders to retain business ownership and control. The PCGF is targeted at local enterprises with strong growth potential to become leaders in their respective industry domain. Some of them will require tailored financing solutions to support their unique growth strategy, such as international merger and acquisitions (M&As) or large overseas capital investments. These solutions may not be readily available in Asia, through the traditional financing today.

Beyond the $1 billion seeded by the Government, we hope to catalyse more commercial funding as more fund managers and investors gain familiarity and confidence in this space.

I spoke earlier about the importance of our pro-enterprise environment. At last year's National Day Rally, the Prime Minister also spoke about the need for us to ensure a business-friendly environment and to keep regulatory burden to a minimum. We had set up the Inter-Ministerial Committee for Pro-Enterprise Rules Review last year that I chair to look into our rules and streamline our regulations, to enable our businesses to move fast to seize the opportunities that come our way.

Since then, my fellow Ministers and I have engaged more than 140 business leaders across 14 sectors. Let me thank all the stakeholders for their support and their feedback. Business leaders have cited approval timelines, frequency of licence renewals and duplicative processes as key areas for improvement. The Committee has studied the feedback carefully. While we will tackle specific feedback from the industry, and Senior Minister of State Low Yen Ling will elaborate later, the Government will set three Statements of Commitment to guide our whole-of-Government efforts to increase regulatory agility and reduce compliance burden for our businesses.

First, all relevant agencies will publish service standards for the processing of business regulatory applications to provide greater clarity for companies. We will endeavour to streamline service standards to 30 working days or less, where feasible.

Second, we will increase the validity period of regular business licences to a minimum of three years where possible and aim towards five years. This will provide greater certainty for businesses, especially for those undertaking longer-term growth plans.

Third, the Government will continue to streamline regulatory processes to facilitate concurrent rather than sequential approvals where possible. We will also streamline information requests across agencies. We have made good progress in the Built Environment sector, by developing CORENET X as a one-stop digital platform for building works approvals across agencies. We should learn from this experience and apply the same approach in other domains.

Lastly, we are investing more in our people. Ultimately, we pursue economic growth so that future generations of Singaporeans can continue to build better lives for themselves. So, this growth must translate into real opportunities for Singaporeans to advance their careers and develop their potential to the fullest.

Lifelong learning is critical for workers to upgrade themselves and take up higher wage roles. For example, we have partnered the Singapore Institute of Technology on a continuing education and training (CET) degree, to upskill in-employment diploma holders in manufacturing.

This will also help businesses develop and retain their local manufacturing talent pipeline and enhance business continuity. Minister Tan See Leng will share more. We will also strengthen initiatives to groom more Singaporean Global Leaders. Last year, we launched the Global Business Leaders Programme. We also launched the Singapore Leaders Network (SGLN) Fellowship to equip managers with the ambition to assume regional and global leadership roles.

One of 60 fellows from the pioneer batch is Ms Camy Loh. Camy joined Royal Vopak, a leading independent tank storage company, as a sales manager in Singapore in 2014. Today, Camy is now the Deputy Managing Director of Royal Vopak's Thai Tank Terminal, co-leading a team of over 120 employees at one of the largest maritime logistics terminals near Bangkok. It was a big step for her professionally as well as personally. Through the SGLN, Camy gained skills and knowledge to allow her to thrive in this role in Bangkok.

We are proud that Camy is flying the Singapore flag high. We are enhancing SGLN to better support more Singaporeans like Camy. The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) will elaborate further on this.

These education and training initiatives take time to bear fruit, and I encourage companies to start early and proactively plan to nurture Singaporean talent and benefit from a strong pipeline of talent and leadership.

Chairman, we are, indeed, entering uncharted waters. In fact, I think I should say that we are already in uncharted waters. We will face economic uncertainties and disruptions in the months and years to come. There will be challenges, but there will also be opportunities. We can look ahead to the next bound of our economic development with confidence, by remaining open to trade, talent and investments, as well as maintaining a pro-business environment.

We must further strengthen our competitive edge through innovation, deepen our integration with the region and with the world, and investing in building strong enterprises and a skilled workforce. This is how we will earn our living and standing in an increasingly uncertain and unfavourable external environment.

By doing so, we will keep our economy going, keep our economy strong, vibrant and resilient, and create better jobs and opportunities for Singaporeans and a better future for Singapore for the next 60 years and more. [ Applause .]

The Second Minister for Trade and Industry (Dr Tan See Leng) : Mr Chairman, Singapore faces increasing growth pressures. Our population is ageing rapidly amidst intensifying competition for talent. We face fiercer rivalry for investments as we navigate land and carbon constraints.

To address these challenges, we will expand our resource potential through four strategies. First, decarbonising our energy mix. Second, investing in our workers. Third, sustaining investments in research and innovation and last, but not least, enhancing our land productivity.

I will first update on our decarbonisation efforts. Singapore has committed to achieve net-zero by 2050. As Senior Minister Teo Chee Hean said, Singapore is a climate realist. The timeline for climate action is set by nature, not geopolitical developments. Moreover, our decarbonisation initiatives are an important factor in companies' investment decisions. We owe it to our children and our grandchildren to stay the course.

Cross-border electricity trading is crucial to achieving our climate goals. We are working towards progressing the first batch of electricity import projects with Conditional Licences, to reach Final Investment Decisions. These projects are win-win collaborations that lay the groundwork for our shared aspiration of an ASEAN Power Grid within the region. They create jobs. They underpin new investments for the source country. And given the substantive progress that we have made, we have raised our imports ambition from four gigawatts (GWs) to around six GWs by 2035.

Concurrently, we will maximise our domestic solar potential. As Senior Minister Teo has also shared, we achieved our 2025 deployment target of 1.5 gigawatt-peak (GWp) ahead of schedule. This puts us on track to achieving our 2030 target of at least two GWp. Scaling beyond the two GWp is challenging, but we will continue to encourage home owners and building owners to install solar panels and push the boundaries of domestic deployment. For example, the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) has worked with industry stakeholders, including through the Alliance for Action (AfA) on Business Competitiveness, to simplify regulatory processes.

12.45 pm

The simplified processes exempt more than half of all solar photovoltaic (PV) installations on metal-roofed buildings from fire separation requirements, allowing eligible building owners to save up to 30% on total construction cost.

Electricity imports and solar energy alone are insufficient to get us to net-zero. We need to explore every possible decarbonisation pathway. Nuclear energy, especially advanced nuclear reactors, is an option that we are seriously studying for potential deployment.

Now, let me address Mr Sharael Taha and Ms Jessica Tan's questions clearly. We have not yet made a decision on deployment. It is, therefore, premature to speak on potential sites, costs and specific plans. But our current priority is to accelerate capability building on nuclear safety and advanced nuclear technologies. We are training more nuclear scientists, such as via postgraduate scholarships in nuclear science and engineering.

We are also stepping up on international partnerships. Last year, we signed a substantive civil nuclear agreement with the United States. This complements our ongoing cooperation with partners, such as the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), France's Institute for Radiological Protection and Nuclear Safety and the Emirates Nuclear Energy Company.

Mr Saktiandi Supaat asked about our plans for hydrogen. Hydrogen, indeed, has the potential to be a low-carbon fuel for the future, although high adoption costs and technical challenges remain today. In the near-term, our focus is similarly on capability building. By the end of this year, the Energy Market Authority (EMA) and Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) aim to identify a lead developer for a pilot project to use ammonia for power generation and maritime bunkering.

We are also exploring complementary solutions to decarbonise the hard-to-abate sectors. Carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies are advancing quickly. We will engage emitters and potential service providers to develop the CCS value chain and partner countries with suitable geological storage sites. We have made progress by signing a Letter of Intent with Indonesia in 2024 and a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Malaysia in 2025.

Mr Edward Chia and Ms Tin Pei Ling asked for an update on our carbon markets initiatives. As Senior Minister Teo Chee Hean mentioned, Singapore just signed an Implementation Agreement with Bhutan, in addition to our agreements with Ghana and Papua New Guinea. These Agreements establish the framework for the transfer of Article 6 carbon credits, which is aligned with our environmental integrity criteria. MTI will also be launching a Request for Proposals to procure Article 6-compliant carbon credits later this year.

Mr Saktiandi Supaat pointed out, natural gas will continue to play a crucial role in our energy mix. And that is why we will set up the central gas procurement entity for the power sector this year and complete the development of our second liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal by this decade. These will secure our natural gas needs for the foreseeable future.

We will calibrate our speed of adoption for energy technologies and solutions. For the less mature solutions, we will strengthen research efforts and accelerate commercialisation.

We will commit $62.5 million for the A*STAR to develop a Low-Carbon Technology Translational Testbed (LCT3) that will support companies in scaling up low-carbon solutions closer to commercial development. International and local players, like IHI Corporation from Japan and CRecTech, a local company, have already expressed interest to use LCT3.

For commercially-mature solutions, we will accelerate their deployment.

As Mr Saktiandi Supaat highlighted, this includes making major infrastructural investments for a low-carbon future. To save up for these investments, we are topping-up the Future Energy Fund (FEF) by $5 billion. We have not disbursed monies from the fund, as it is still early days in our infrastructural developmental journey. However, we anticipate significant drawdowns once key technological and commercial thresholds are crossed.

To address Mr Sharael Taha's question, the FEF can also be used to fund studies for the deployment of low-carbon energy infrastructure, including those needed for small modular reactors.

To better inform our decisions as we decarbonise, A*STAR is developing an integrated model to simulate the interdependencies of the possible net-zero mitigation measures.

Members have voiced concerns about the potential impact of decarbonisation on energy costs. Our aim is to strike the right balance between decarbonisation towards net zero, ensuring at the same time our energy security and maintaining cost-competitiveness.

For households, we will continue to provide support through measures, such as U-save rebates. For businesses, we will co-fund investments in energy efficiency through initiatives like the Energy Efficiency Grant. Furthermore, we will fully rechannel carbon tax revenue collected towards decarbonisation efforts. We do not expect, therefore, to derive additional net revenue from the carbon tax in this decade.

Next, on manpower. As we decarbonise, we will continue to upgrade the skillsets of our workforce. This is particularly crucial for workers in energy-intensive sectors, such as the petrochemicals industry, who will be more impacted by the green transition. Many already possess core skillsets that allow them to take on new job opportunities in adjacent growth segments, like specialty chemicals, or those in the sustainability space.

We will also support workers via CET efforts, as well as Career Conversion Programmes (CCPs).

Beyond the green transition, CET will remain a key enabler to deepen Singaporeans' skills in response to digitalisation and AI. In fact, Government spending on CET initiatives in FY2024 is projected to amount to over $1 billion. We will continue to work with companies and Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs) to support workers in upskilling and attaining better wage outcomes.

One prime example is EDB's collaboration with industry and the Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT) on an Electrical and Electronics Engineering degree for in-employment diploma holders in manufacturing roles. This CET degree follows best practices in adult education by recognising prior learning and work experiences and allowing qualifications to be stacked towards a degree. Learners can also access recorded lessons and online consultations, so that it is easier for them to juggle work and study.

CCPs can also support the reskilling and the redeployment of employees. Mr Mark Lee would be pleased to know that Workforce Singapore's (WSG's) CCPs already support these redeployments of existing employees post-merger. Moreover, since 1 April 2024, WSG increased the monthly salary support cap from $6,000 to $7,500 for eligible workers with up to 90% of salary support.

Now, even as we develop Singaporeans, we must continue to attract global talent that can complement our local workforce. We have concluded agreements with both Indonesia and Vietnam to facilitate the exchange of technology and innovation talent.

The Tech:X pilot with Indonesia was launched in July last year, while the parameters of the Innovation Talent Exchange programme with Vietnam were launched in September 2024. So, Indonesia in July 2024 and Vietnam in September 2024. Nearly 50 companies and 50 Singaporeans have expressed interest across both programmes. Our young leaders will have greater exposure to regional economies and companies will find it easier to access mobile talent.

Collectively, this two-pronged strategy of supporting Singaporeans and attracting global talent will keep our workforce globally competitive. I will elaborate on how our efforts have supported good employment outcomes for Singaporeans later at MOM's Committee of Supply (COS) debate this evening.

Third, on research and innovation. We must continue developing an innovation-led economy, as Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong has shared. This is why Singapore invested $28 billion under the Research, Innovation and Enterprise 2025 (RIE2025) plan.

Ms Foo Mee Har asked how we will drive research translation and support the development of our semi-conductors and biotech sectors. Last week, Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat announced upcoming initiatives, such as the RIE Flagship to advance semi-conductor R&D and the RIE Grand Challenge, focusing on healthy and successful longevity. These complement the existing R&D translation platforms available.

One such platform is A*STAR's MedTech Catapult, which provides infrastructure, expertise and connections to local contract manufacturers looking to further develop frontier medical devices. I attended the launch event last month and was happy to know that more than 10 companies have applied to this initiative.

Besides this, the NSTIC (R&D Fab) for advanced packaging in semi-conductors, which Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong shared earlier, is another R&D translation platform that A*STAR will be rolling out. Such investments enable more firms to produce cutting-edge technologies, create good jobs and maintain Singapore's competitiveness.

The GDP contribution from firms with R&D activities grew from around 15% of GDP to 24% over a 10-year period from 2012 to 2022. The number of R&D jobs increased by 7.6% from 2021 to 2022.

To address Ms Foo Mee Har's question on securing the talent pipeline for our R&D facilities, we are bringing in top talent who contribute to the ecosystem.

During COS 2023, I shared about Prof Watson, an Overseas Networks and Expertise Pass (ONE PASS) holder, who took on the Executive Director role at A*STAR Skin Research Labs and the Skin Research Institute of Singapore. Prof Watson has since strengthened A*STAR's global standing, by partnering the National Skin Centre and Sanofi to trial a first-of-its-kind acne vaccine and deepen understanding of key biological markers that impact the severity of the condition.

These are signs that our efforts are bearing fruit and we will invest further.

The Prime Minister announced during Budget that we are refreshing A*STAR's biomedical research infrastructure by extending it to the greater one-north area. This is an approximately $500 million effort, which will strengthen our biomedical R&D ecosystem in two ways.

First, A*STAR will be located closer to key partners, like the National University Health System's clinical community and venture builders, making it a new attraction point for both industry players and talent. Second, A*STAR will redesign its laboratories and workspaces to promote interdisciplinary collaboration across the different research institutes. It will do so by providing more centrally-managed collaboration spaces that allow for better integration of expertise across teams.

A*STAR will also introduce new biopharma manufacturing programmes with its partners – the Singapore Cell Therapy Advanced Manufacturing Programme 2.0 (STAMP 2.0) and the Process Accelerator for Cell Therapy Manufacturing (PACTMAN).

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Cell therapies, such as chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR-T) therapy, have transformed treatment for certain blood cancers and they have demonstrated promise for autoimmune diseases, but they remain complex and expensive to manufacture.

Since 2019, STAMP has partnered biotech companies to improve the quality testing of cell therapy assets, conduct CAR-T therapy trials in Singapore and enable licensing and spinoffs of new technologies. STAMP 2.0 will build on this to develop lower-cost manufacturing technologies that can produce higher quality products. For example, it aims to reduce the time taken for cell extraction, modification and infusion into patients, what we call the vein-to-vein time.

Meanwhile, PACTMAN will develop scalable processes to accelerate the translation of cell therapies, including those developed through STAMP, from laboratory to clinic. Taken together, these efforts will deepen our R&D capabilities and drive innovation-led growth.

Lastly, on land polices. We support businesses to intensify land use and to be more productive.

We will extend and enhance the Land Intensification Allowance (LIA) scheme to unlock new industrial space. Companies receiving the LIA approval during the next five years will continue to enjoy tax allowance on the full qualifying costs over 15 years. From 2026, we will make it easier for companies to qualify for LIA so that they can optimise space and they can integrate operations with related businesses. Building users and LIA recipients can be considered related if they own more than 50% shareholding of each other. This is down from the current threshold of at least 75%.

JTC will also introduce four initiatives to provide greater flexibility for companies. These initiatives support the recommendations from the AfA on Business Competitiveness and the work under the Inter-Ministerial Committee for Pro-Enterprise Rules Review.

First, companies with new leases on greenfield industrial land will be offered additional three years of lease tenure to cover the development and building period. This will allow companies to enjoy the full duration of the lease with their completed development.

Second, high-performing companies will have more flexibility to extend their leases in shorter periods for incremental business investments. JTC will introduce a new five-year Flexible Lease Extension Initiative (FLEXI) to give eligible companies on JTC's 20-year leases the option to extend their leases by up to two tranches of five years each.

Third, JTC will bring forward the lease renewal application period from the current six years to ten years before lease expiry.

Finally, JTC will broaden its definition of plant and machinery investments, which is a key criteria for lease renewal. We will now recognise auditable investments in innovation, R&D, digital transformation and intellectual property (IP) creation. Mr Chairman, in Mandarin, please.

(In Mandarin): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] There is an old saying, "Wealth does not last beyond three generations." However, through the hard work of successive generations, Singapore has successfully entered its fourth generation.

We, as the current generation, should uphold the same spirit and be accountable to future generations of Singaporeans.

The measures that I have announced today will lay the foundations for the future of Singapore's economy.

( In English ): Chairman, as we conclude, let us reflect on the enduring Singapore spirit.

For 60 years, we have thrived not despite our challenges but because of them. We have always been tight on resources, but we are never short on resourcefulness. Our resource constraints have compelled us to be innovative and brought us to where we are today. For the next 60 years and beyond, I am confident that this same innovative spirit, as reflected in the bold steps we are taking today, will drive our continued growth and it will secure a vibrant future for generations of Singaporeans. [ Applause. ]

The Chairman : Senior Minister of State Low Yen Ling.

The Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry (Ms Low Yen Ling) : Mr Chairman, Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong shared that the next chapter of our economic journey will bring new challenges and opportunities. We have what it takes to stay anchored amid the waves.

Over the years, our enterprises have acquired the skills to adapt, innovate and change to emerge stronger. Together, we can transform to achieve growth and stay ahead of the game.

The Government is strongly committed to supporting our enterprises every step of the way. To enable their business transformation and growth, we will: one, support the overseas expansion of our enterprises; two, empower our enterprises to transform and benefit from artificial intelligence; and three, enhance Singapore's pro-enterprise business environment and reduce red tape.

We will also boost our heartlands and support our heartland enterprises.

Chairman, Singapore's economic success is built on our ability to connect with the world, as Mr Mark Lee has noted. For Singapore enterprises to grow, they must expand beyond our hinterland to overseas markets for fresh revenue streams.

I want to reassure Ms Jessica Tan, Mr Edward Chia, Mr Mark Lee and Mr Keith Chua that Enterprise Singapore is committed to providing comprehensive and holistic support for Singapore enterprises.

In 2024, Enterprise Singapore supported more than 2,300 companies, helping them boost their projected annual revenue by $14.5 billion through transformative projects in productivity, that is $8.2 billion; internationalisation, that is $5.5 billion; as well as innovation, that is $0.8 billion, all totalling up to the $14.5 billion I highlighted earlier.

Companies that undertook internationalisation projects saw a projected increase in annual revenue of $8.8 million per company compared to $7.7 million in 2023. I am glad to announce that moving forward, we will further enhance our support in this area.

First, we will permanently double the maximum loan quantum for the Enterprise Financing Scheme – Trade Loan (EFS-TL) from $5 million to $10 million. We have considered feedback from the business community, including the Singapore Business Federation (SBF) and PricewaterhouseCoopers, and would like to meet this need for financing.

Second, we will extend the Double Tax Deduction for Internationalisation (DTDi) for the next five years. Enterprises with expansion plans can continue to benefit from a 200% tax deduction on eligible expenses for overseas market expansion and investment development activities.

Third, we will extend the $100,000 Market Readiness Assistance (MRA) Grant cap by one more year to 31 March 2026, because this is in response to industry feedback that many companies, many businesses have spent the last two to three years getting back on their feet after COVID-19. They are restarting their expansion plans and need more time to execute their global market outreach.

Besides our grant, tax and financing schemes, Enterprise Singapore and its partners operate a wide network of Overseas Centres where Singapore SMEs can receive support to enter regional markets.

Besides helping enterprises grow their overseas markets, I want to reassure Mr Mark Lee that the Government will enhance support for enterprises pursuing inorganic growth via M&A.

We will expand the scope of the Enterprise Financing Scheme – Mergers and Acquisitions (EFS-M&A) to also cover targeted asset acquisitions, such as intellectual properties and contracts, without a corresponding equity purchase. This will help unlock loan financing for enterprises to acquire specific and complementary assets of a target business that can enhance their growth prospects without having to buy out the target business and, therefore, take on its liabilities. The pilot will last five years, from 1 April this year until 31 March 2030.

Chairman, in addition to providing access to financing, we will continue to support enterprises in adopting new technologies, such as AI, because AI can spur enterprise and workforce transformation. It enables the firm to automate manual business processes and augment workers' skills, raising productivity, driving innovation and further growing business revenue.

The Ministry of Digital Development and Information (MDDI) will share the broad progress of our National AI Strategy (NAIS) 2.0 while I will focus on MTI's key industry development efforts.

First, we will support more enterprises in setting up AI centres of excellence to accelerate the development and deployment of AI solutions across our economy. We recognise that enterprises need access to compute infrastructure, software and consultancy services to grow their AI R&D and productisation capabilities

And so, as the Prime Minister announced and mentioned in his Budget Statement, we are introducing the new Enterprise Compute Initiative (ECI) for Singapore-based enterprises with the ambition to anchor AI mandates and grow AI teams here in Singapore. Enterprises which are digitally mature, have a compelling AI use case as well as an implementation roadmap can tap on the ECI.

Mr Mark Lee will be pleased to know that under ECI, participants will have access to cloud compute credits and training programmes from cloud service providers, such as Google, Microsoft and Amazon Web Services. The Government will also provide a grant for ECI participants to access consultancy services offered by system integrators to help them develop and scale their AI solutions.

Secondly, the Government will continue to support the broad base of enterprises that are considering the adoption of AI-enabled solutions.

Ms Jessica Tan will be pleased to know that Enterprise Singapore , in partnership with the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA), has helped close to 3,000 SMEs adopt AI solutions through the Productivity Solutions Grant (PSG). We will continue to enhance our existing digitalisation initiatives, such as the SMEs Go Digital Programme, to accelerate AI adoption. MDDI will elaborate more on this during their COS.

Besides powering up enterprises to use AI, we will help workers to upskill and harness AI to advance their careers.

Mr Liang Eng Hwa will be glad to know that we are indeed deepening our partnerships with the industry and the IHL partners to continue delivering industry-relevant curricula and providing student internships. MOM will share more details on how we will enhance support for businesses as they redesign jobs and upskill workers.

Chairman, Singapore is continuing to innovate and stay agile with AI. The constant energy to do better is part of our Singapore DNA. Deputy Prime Minister Gan spoke about our business-friendly environment, a fundamental quality that has enabled Singapore to stay attractive, to stay competitive. We are not resting on our laurels and we are committed to doing more.

The Government has stepped up our engagements with the industry and sought views on how Singapore can strengthen our competitiveness.

To this end, I co-chaired the AfA on Business Competitiveness with SBF Council Vice Chairman Mr Mark Lee from February to November last year. Mr Neil Parekh will also know and, in fact, he shared that the AfA engaged the businesses, and trade associations and chambers (TACs) extensively last year and released 27 recommendations on manpower, land and regulatory issues.

Our Government agencies have considered the AfA's recommendations seriously. Earlier on, you heard from Second Minister Dr Tan See Leng, JTC will implement the AfA's recommendation on lease tenure and renewals for industrial land.

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In April 2024, the Government formed the Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) for Pro-Enterprise Rules Review to review our regulatory regime for the next bound. I thank Mr Edward Chia, Ms Jessica Tan, as well as Mr Keith Chua and Mr Mark Lee for their questions on the IMC. As announced by Deputy Prime Minister Gan earlier, he mentioned after extensive reviews and consultations, the Committee has set out three Statements of Commitment to streamline regulatory processes and to reduce the compliance burden on businesses. Our work does not stop there. Let me share more about the three-pronged commitment to enhancing our ecosystem and supporting businesses as they navigate Government regulations.

First is the SME Pro-Enterprise Office (SME PEO). Following the AfA's recommendation, I announced last September that this new office will be set up under Enterprise Singapore to help businesses navigate regulatory matters. I am pleased to announce that the SME PEO will be fully operational from 26 March this year, in 20 days' time. Working with the Pro-Enterprise Panel and respective regulatory agencies, SME PEO will be the Government's key coordination unit to aggregate business feedback and to improve regulations at the systems level. We seek continued strong support from our key partners, including the SBF and all TACs, to be our ears on the ground as well as champions for SMEs. Let us work closely with SME PEO to reduce red tape and to streamline processes to support our SMEs.

Second, we will enhance our SME Centres to offer a wider range of business advisory services and programmes. Today, there are 10 SME Centres across Singapore, helmed by TACs. The Business Advisors at these Centres will be armed with new toolkits to provide enhanced one-to-one business advisory services, workshops as well as group-based upgrading projects where multiple businesses facing similar pain points can adopt a common solution. This complements the work of the SME PEO so that our businesses can receive advisory support for their growth needs, including regulatory issues. We will continue to partner closely with our TACs to enhance SME Centres' offerings and to extend our reach to more businesses.

Third, we will continue investing in and improving our digital platforms, such as the GoBusiness portal and the Enterprise Singapore's Business Grants Portal. We will not only streamline licensing and regulatory transactions, but we will also improve, in terms of the grant applications, to better serve businesses.

Enterprise Singapore continues to enhance its grant processing efficiency through automation and centralised processing. For instance, the processing time for PSG applications has been shortened by 80%, from the previous almost three months to the current two weeks. These enhancements to our grant application and approval processes for local enterprises will not stop. We will continue to look at how we can improve and shorten the processing time by leveraging automation and centralised processing.

Taken together, the three pillars – the SME PEO, SME Centres and digitalisation – will continue to drive our efforts in supporting business transformation and growth for our SMEs and our enterprises.

Chairman, while easing regulatory burdens for businesses, the Government is also mindful that for markets to function properly, consumers' trust in merchants and markets must be upheld. I thank Mr Dennis Tan, Ms Sylvia Lim and Mr Melvin Yong for their questions.

On Mr Dennis Tan's suggestion, while right-to-repair has its benefits to the environment and to consumers, there are also potential downsides, such as data security concerns. I want to assure him that we will monitor and assess the need for such legislation in Singapore.

I also want to assure Ms Sylvia Lim that there is a whole-of-Government approach today to deal with scams which are criminal in nature, led by MHA and coordinated by the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Scams.

MTI and the Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore (CCCS) regularly review our consumer protection regime to ensure that consumers' interests are protected. The Consumer Protection (Fair Trading) Act (or CPFTA) provides general remedies for consumers who encounter unfair trade practices when transacting with businesses. In addition, sector regulators have established more specific standards relevant to the sectors they oversee.

An effective consumer protection regime also requires the strong support of our key partners and businesses. MTI works closely with the Consumers Association of Singapore (CASE) to raise consumer awareness and champion their needs and rights. I agree with Mr Melvin Yong that more can be done, especially in the e-commerce space, where unfair practices can take on new and less-obvious forms.

The Government welcomes and encourages businesses to take the lead in industry-led initiatives, to ensure a fair and safe marketplace for our consumers. We have commenced consulting with the industry and will announce more details on our upcoming initiatives in the coming weeks.

Last but not least, let me speak on something closer to home – heartland shops. Many of us have very close ties to the heartlands, where we live, work and share good memories. They form part of our collective identity as Singaporeans, and our heartland shops are really part and parcel of our daily lives and social fabric.

I reassure Mr Desmond Choo and Mr Keith Chua that we are sparing no efforts to rejuvenate our heartlands. We have made progress in the past few years and we will strive to do more.

To recap, in 2022, we launched the $50 million Our Heartlands 2025 programme to revitalise our heartlands and to enhance the capabilities of heartland shops, helping them transform, stay relevant and continue serving residents. In fact, earlier in October 2020, we laid the foundation for transformation with the Heartlands Go Digital Programme. Since then, more than 17,000 heartland shops have adopted e-payment solutions. In 2022 and 2023, we further expanded the Heartlands Go Digital Programme to cover wider areas, such as service excellence, digital marketing and human resources.

We have also helped heartland shops rejuvenate their premises with the Visual Merchandising Programme that was launched in 2021. As a result of this programme, the heartland shops that participated shared that they have seen their footfall and their sales increase by generally about 20%.

Our heartland shops in Singapore have also benefited from the launch of Community Development Council (CDC) Vouchers since the scheme started slightly more than three years ago. To date, Singaporeans have spent more than $1 billion at about 23,000 heartland shops and hawker stalls. In fact, the new round of CDC Vouchers as well as the SG60 Vouchers this year will again boost the visibility, footfall as well as business for our heartland shops.

For many of our heartland shops, getting that additional visibility and awareness can really make a vital difference to their business. That is why, last year, we launched the Heartland Enterprise Placemaking Grant (HEPG) to encourage our heartland merchants to organise innovative placemaking activities involving community engagement, public art installations, workshops, and thematic festivals. Many heartland shops have applied successfully for the HEPG.

One such shop is Quan Shui Wet Market, which started in Ang Mo Kio in 1968. The fresh pork stall owned by Uncle Oh Quan Shui has grown to eight and is now an omni-channel retail operation with a flagship store at Upper Thomson. Quan Shui participated in the Digital Practitioner Programme (DPP). In fact, under the charge of Uncle Oh's grandson, Neo Jun He, the store has refreshed its brand and pivoted online with a website and marketing a wider range of product range that went beyond just pork. Within just five months, Quan Shui attracted a growing pool of keen visitors and potential customers.

And like what Mr Desmond Choo mentioned during his cut yesterday, Quan Shui tapped into the HEPG to improve its product visibility. They participated in Easty Breezy, which is a seaside-inspired marketplace last September in Marine Parade, as well as a Chinese New Year Bazaar this year. Both events led to higher revenue, footfall and brand loyalty.

In fact, with its refreshed brand, expanded online presence and growing product range, Quan Shui's revenue increased by 25% from 2021 to 2024, and the company is projecting a 20% growth year-on-year.

Today, we would like to invite all Members to have a taste of Quan Shui's success. MTI has arranged for bento boxes with Quan Shui's siew mai, har gao as well as the chicken and mushroom dumplings to be served in the Members' Room later during tea break, and we have also made special arrangements for our Muslim Members. We have set aside four of their very, very popular halal otah buns in each bento set for each of our Muslim Members when they break fast later. We hope that Members will enjoy this at the end of the day. These handmade local dim sums are really based on the 60-year-old family recipe from the founder, Uncle Oh.

So, companies like Quan Shui, have shown that Government support and schemes helped them to transform and boost their businesses. We want to encourage our enterprises to approach any of our 10 SME Centres for assistance and to embark on a journey of transformation and growth.

Given the success of these initiatives, we will continue strengthening Our Heartlands 2025 Programme with fresh initiatives and energise our heartlands "inside out".

Starting from the "inside" of our heartland shops, we will launch the Enhanced Visual Merchandising Programme to help our heartland shops refresh their stores and gain visual appeal to attract more customers. This enhanced programme will offer the heartland shops support in training, consultancy as well as makeover of their shopfronts. We are increasing the total qualifying cost by five times, from $12,000 previously to $60,000 now. In addition, the project scope for the shopfront makeover can be more customised and more training topics will be added.

From "inside" to "outside", besides revitalising the interiors of heartland shops, we will also rejuvenate what takes place in our heartlands' neighbourhood. We will launch a new Vibrant Heartlands Programme for Merchants' Associations to support their placemaking activities and events. They can conduct bite-sized and pre-scoped activities under a recommended standard option or explore holding larger-scale, customised placemaking events. Bite-sized and pre-scoped activities would receive grant support on qualifying costs of $3,000 per application, while larger-scale customisable placemaking events would receive grant support on qualifying costs of up to $200,000 per application.

Mr Chairman, please allow me to say a few words in Mandarin.

(In Mandarin): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] Chairman, fellow Members of Parliament, the global and regional economies are facing unprecedented situations, and all Singapore businesses must actively innovate and transform. The Government will support businesses in their transformation and growth in these areas.

First, supporting internationalisation. Second, helping businesses leverage AI for transformation. Third, increasing regulatory flexibility to create a business-friendly environment.

In recent years, we have continuously work to revitalise our heartland economy and promote the development of heartland enterprises. Firstly, the Government has distributed several rounds of CDC Vouchers, encouraging Singaporeans to spend at approximately 23,000 participating heartland shops and hawker stalls, with total spending exceeding $1 billion. Through the new round of CDC Vouchers and the SG60 Vouchers this year, we will continue to help heartland shops and hawkers increase their revenue.

Our heartland communities are our emotional connection points. For Singaporeans, the familiar heartland shops and hawker stalls play an irreplaceable role in deepening our collective memories and national identity. Like the handmade snacks you will enjoy later, our heartland communities have that familiar flavour and human touch.

Therefore, we will further upgrade Our Heartlands 2025 Programme to let communities shine from inside out, injecting vitality throughout our heartland communities. These include launching an enhanced Visual Merchandising Scheme, increasing the total qualifying cost five-fold from $12,000 to $60,000, while expanding shop renovation scope and adding training topics.

Additionally, we will launch the Vibrant Heartlands Programme for Merchants' Association. This programme has two parts. Firstly, for shorter pre-set activities, the qualifying cost is $3,000 per event. Secondly, Merchants' Association planning larger community building activities can apply for subsidies, on qualifying costs of up to $200,000.

We hope more heartland businesses will make good use of existing schemes for innovation and transformation.

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( In English ): Chairman, the Government is standing together with our Singapore enterprises, with our SMEs. We will support and empower our enterprises as they transform and grow be it an SME hoping to expand abroad or an SME embarking on AI or heartland shops and stalls seeking more customers. We will spare no effort to support them every step of the way.

As we forge ahead together, we invite all Singaporeans to join us in energising our heartlands. Let us show them our support during this SG60 year, by patronising our heartland shops and participating in their placemaking activities. Let us enjoy and celebrate our vibrant and beloved heartlands. As we do so, we affirm our Singaporean identity with pride and joy.

The Chairman : Minister of State Tan.

The Minister of State for Trade and Industry (Mr Alvin Tan) : Chairman, the global trading system is coming under severe strain. We are entering uncharted waters, as Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong said, marked by heightened geopolitical tensions, rise of economic nationalism and supply chain disruptions.

Historically, Singapore has been the gateway to global trade, symbolised by our Singapore River, just outside this chamber. It has shaped our nation's identity – open, connected and adaptable to shifting global tides.

Our rivers thrive when its waters flow freely, so too must we keep our economic pathways flowing. We can do that by connecting Singapore to the world and connecting the world to Singapore.

We must always connect the world to Singapore, and flow people, businesses and trade through our shores. Last year, we welcomed 16.5 million international visitors and our tourism receipts for the first three quarters of 2024 soared to a historic high of $22.4 billion. They were drawn by the new and refreshed experiences we curated.

Our live entertainment scene sparkled last year, as we hosted international A-listers like Taylor Swift, Coldplay and Jay Chou. This year, we already have a few top acts, including Seventeen in January and G.E.M. over the weekend. We have a flow of exciting performances lined up this year as well, including our very own Stefanie Sun, KISS OF LIFE, BTS' j-hope's first solo concert and BABYMONSTER.

We also saw strong flow on our Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions (MICE) front. Events like Singapore Airshow, Asia Pacific Maritime, and Food & Hotel Asia – Food & Beverage, all drew record numbers. I also hosted young leaders at last year's World Economic Forum's Young Global Leaders Annual Summit.

And true to our positioning as the World's Best MICE City, we have been Asia Pacific's Top Meeting City for an incredible 21 consecutive years. For the first time ever, Singapore also ranked second in the International Congress and Convention Association's worldwide city rankings in 2023 .

We also partnered global world-class intellectual properties (IPs) to curate innovative experiences. For example, ArtScience Museum hosted The World of Studio Ghibli; and at Resorts World Sentosa, Harry Potter: Visions of Magic. We also lent support to the Louis Vuitton X Murakami pop-up in Joo Chiat.

Building on these flows, the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) has been working with tourism and lifestyle enterprises on new and fresh opportunities. As Mr Neil Parekh highlighted, our vision for the Tourism 2040 (T2040) roadmap will drive the next chapter of our quality tourism journey. STB will share more about T2040 in the coming months.

We also have a good flow of events and attractions lined up this year. In fact, this year we expect international visitor arrivals to reach between 17.0 and 18.5 million, bringing in approximately $29.0 to $30.5 billion in tourism receipts.

Senior Minister of State Low Yen Ling, as Parliament's heartland guide, spoke about injecting vibrancy into our heartlands. As Parliament's tourist guide, let me take you through some of the new and rejuvenated offerings around Singapore.

Mr Chairman, our flow of MICE events remains vibrant, reflecting strong business confidence from organisers and delegates. This year, we will host inaugural events like the Business Aviation Asia Forum and Expo. Bloomberg's New Economy Forum will also return to Singapore in November for the fifth time.

Mr Edward Chia asked how we are working with local arts practitioners to create authentic tourism content. In January, Singapore Art Week (SAW) 2025 aggregated over 160 art events and featured many local artists. And for the third time, ART SG returned to Singapore as part of SAW, with 105 galleries from 30 countries and territories around the world.

To Ms Usha Chandradas' question, signature lifestyle events, including music festivals, increases our appeal to global talent and visitors and this boosts tourism and economic spillovers. They also provide a stage for our local creatives to showcase their talent, like Kin Leonn and Iman Fandi. STB will continue working with stakeholders, including our National Arts Council (NAC) to create more opportunities for our local music ecosystem. We will continue to support these events, through financial and non-financial means, to build a diverse pipeline. And we welcome compelling music festival proposals that bring strong economic benefits to Singapore.

For sports fans, we will host the National Basketball Association (NBA) Rising Stars Invitational in June, which will be the first regional youth basketball event in Asia. This comes after we hosted the Singapore Tennis Open and Singapore Smash just last month.

Our Integrated Resorts will also unveil world-class tourism offerings as part of their ambitious expansion plans. When completed in 2029, Marina Bay Sands' upcoming fourth tower will redefine our iconic skyline.

Over at Resorts World Sentosa, I broke ground for its new waterfront lifestyle development in November 2024, which will feature an exciting new promenade with entertainment, retail and dining experiences. I also opened Illumination's Minion Land just in time for the March school holidays and, later this year, we will open the Singapore Oceanarium, which will be three times the size of our current SEA Aquarium.

In a few years, we will also open Super Nintendo World at Universal Studios Singapore.

Let us now go from the South of Singapore to the North of Singapore in Mandai. Following the opening of Bird Paradise in 2023, new features in Mandai await all of us this year. I launched the public Mandai Boardwalk in January 2025, which offers breathtaking views of Upper Seletar Reservoir and the Central Catchment Nature Reserve.

We are also opening Rainforest Wild ASIA, Singapore's fifth zoological park. It will be home to 29 iconic animal species. I visited a few weeks ago for a preview and Minister Grace Fu will officially open it next Wednesday. Then there is also Mandai Rainforest Resort by Banyan Tree, which opens next month. It blends architecture with nature, offering rooms, including tree houses, nestled in lush greenery. Next year, we look forward to opening the Rainforest Wild Africa.

Mr Chairman, this flow of new offerings marks our 60th year of Independence and our tourism sector has come a long way since. I spend plenty of time with our tourism sector – our workers and our visitors. The amazing tourism offerings we enjoy today is testament to their work over the past 60 years.

That is why I am happy to announce that our attractions are rolling out several deals in celebration of SG60. We are working with the Association of Singapore Attractions (ASA) and our tourism businesses to curate SG60 promotions, including family-friendly bundles and discounts.

For instance, Gardens by the Bay will launch an exclusive SG60 Wonder Blooms Pass for citizens and residents to enjoy over 60% discounts on unlimited visits to six stunning upcoming floral displays in our Flower Dome. Mandai Wildlife Reserve will also offer exclusive deals across its parks from May to August. We will launch these deals on our SG60 website today, so please book and visit our attractions and enjoy these amazing offers.

Then let us also go on a cruise! Like on Disney Adventure cruise ship in Singapore, which is starting in December. It is the first-ever Disney Cruise Line ship to homeport in Asia. Many new cruise ships will also be calling in Singapore, including Resorts World Cruises' Star Voyager and the Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection's Luminara.

As cruise lead coordinator for ASEAN, we are working with our neighbours on new sailing itineraries, tapping the fast-growing potential of cruise tourism to attract even more visitors to visit Southeast Asia from Singapore. I discussed this with tourism ministers in Johor just in January 2025.

Mr Chairman, I shared how we are connecting the world to Singapore through our robust flow of tourism and attraction offerings. Equally important is to connect Singapore to the world.

That is why we are deepening our relationship with our trade partners globally.

Ms Tin Pei Ling asked how we are strengthening our trade links. Our approach is simple: we are working with our trade partners to harness complementary strengths, improve market access and also to drive mutual growth. This will unlock more opportunities for businesses, talent and capital to flow efficiently across economies.

First, let me speak about ASEAN. We are doubling down on regional economic integration with our ASEAN partners to create an ecosystem where trade, investments, resources and innovation flow seamlessly, making our region jointly more competitive.

Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong shared about our progress on the ASEAN Digital Economy Framework and the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement (ATIGA) to enhance regional trade networks. Beyond these, we also substantially concluded the second upgrade of the ASEAN-China Free Trade Area last year and aim to fully conclude the upgrade this year.

Second, we are strengthening bilateral economic ties with key partners, such as US, China, India, Vietnam and Malaysia. We commemorated the 20th Anniversary of the US-Singapore Free Trade Agreement last year. It is a cornerstone agreement which remains one of our most actively used Free Trade Agreements (FTAs). We have built upon this foundation in new areas such as the digital economy, AI, supply chain resilience and energy, as Minister Tan See Leng mentioned.

With China, our China-Singapore Free Trade Agreement Further Upgrade Protocol entered into force on 31 December 2024. It introduces more liberal and transparent trade rules, so Singapore investors and suppliers can enjoy better market access to China and greater confidence when doing businesses there.

In India, annual bilateral trade has grown over 2.5 times since 2005, from $20 billion to $52.3 billion in 2023. During Prime Minister Narendra Modi's official visit in September 2024, Singapore and India agreed to elevate our relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. Then in January 2025, President Tharman Shanmugaratnam's State visit to India commemorated 60 years of diplomatic tides. During the visit, Singapore companies signed MOUs with the Odisha government, including one signed between Surbana Jurong Group and Odisha on sustainable urban planning.

In Vietnam, today, Singapore is among Vietnam's top investors and we are unlocking new investment opportunities for our businesses there. These span renewable energy and carbon credits. They will form an integral part of our Comprehensive Strategic Partnership upgrade with Vietnam. Enterprise Singapore and Vietnam's Foreign Investment Agency have also established the Singapore Unit, which is a single point of contact to provide support for Singapore companies investing in Vietnam.

On Malaysia, Ms Usha Chandradas asked about our arts plans for the JS-SEZ. We will discuss with Malaysia how the arts sector can complement our priority areas in the SEZ.

We are also ensuring that our businesses can make the full use and the most of the FTAs that we have signed, so that they can gain better access to global markets and benefit from greater efficiency and lower business costs when trading with our FTA partners. So, we worked with SBF to conduct 11 FTA outreach events last year, attended by over 911 companies.

I attended some of these together with Mr Mark Lee. These sessions allow us to provide customised advisory support for Singapore companies to use FTAs for exports and internationalisation. For instance, SGProtein Pte Ltd, which is a plant-based protein food manufacturer, enhanced its competitiveness in the Korean market with 8% saved in tariffs by using the ASEAN-Korea FTA and the Korea-Singapore FTA.

Sir, even as we deepen our relationship with key partners, we must also broaden our horizons. Ms Tin Pei Ling and Mr Saktiandi Supaat asked how we are diversifying our trade. Today, we have 27 FTAs and 43 Bilateral Investment Treaties. These are all in force across the globe and we are doing more.

First, we are securing partnerships with regions a little bit further away from us, to help us stay relevant amid global uncertainties and shifting tides. And that is to enable our businesses to improve supply chain resilience and unlock new market opportunities.

Sir, I visited Latin America with my colleagues many times to work on two trade deals. In 2022, we signed the Pacific Alliance-Singapore FTA; and the Pacific Alliance, which comprises Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru, collectively forms the eighth largest economy in the world. I am pleased to share that the FTA is very close to coming into effect.

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We also recently signed the MERCOSUR-Singapore FTA with Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, and we are in the process of working very hard to get it ratified as well. As the first FTA between MERCOSUR and a Southeast Asian country, this FTA will pave the way for greater economic cooperation between both our regions.

We are also doing exciting work in the Middle East. In 2023, we established our first Strategic Partnership with a Middle East country, Saudi Arabia. At the fourth Saudi Arabia-Singapore Joint Committee meeting last month, we discussed collaboration in connectivity, energy, digital economy and innovation. We also announced new collaborations in logistics and port automation, and started negotiations to update our existing Bilateral Investment Treaty, which entered into force in 2007.

Mr Chairman, we are also strengthening ties with Africa, a vast, young and rapidly growing region with vast potential. I have visited Africa many times too. In fact, I was just in Rwanda last week to advance discussions on Article 6 carbon credits cooperation, digital and AI, and fintech. I have also met many Singapore-based companies who are venturing into Africa, including GenZero, an investment firm exploring carbon credit projects in Ghana, Kenya and South Africa. This year, we will host the Africa Singapore Business Forum, a biennial platform that has connected over 5,000 business leaders from Africa and Asia since 2016. [ Please refer to " Clarification by Minister of State for Trade and Industry ", Official Report, 6 March 2025, Vol 95, Issue 159, Correction By Written Statement section. ]

We will also continue to broaden our trade partnerships in the digital and green economies. We are expanding our networks of Digital Economy Agreements (DEAs). DEAs help us integrate into the global digital economy and enhance digital trade flows. Through DEAs, we work with other countries to establish rules and standards around issues like personal data and online consumer protection. They enable our businesses to capitalise on cross-border digital services.

We have four DEAs in force, and are expanding the network. Last year, we concluded the European Union-Singapore Digital Trade Agreement and are negotiating a DEA with the European Free Trade Association.

Sir, recent global developments have underscored the importance of plurilateral initiatives to address emerging issues like digital trade. As a founding member of the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement (DEPA) alongside Chile and New Zealand, we continue to champion DEPA's expansion. And many countries are keen to join DEPA. Last year, the Republic of Korea joined DEPA and Costa Rica's accession is nearly finalised. Accession negotiations with Canada, China and Peru are also ongoing. And other economies, such as the United Arab Emirates (UAE), El Salvador and Ukraine, have also applied to join.

On the multilateral front, Singapore co-convenes the World Trade Organization (WTO) Joint Statement Initiative on E-Commerce with Australia and Japan. This helps establish global rules in digital trade. And after five years of negotiations, we reached an agreement on the text last year, supported by around 70 members. We are working to incorporate the agreement into the WTO and expand its membership.

We are also advancing our Green Economy Agreements (GEAs) to catalyse collaborations in green innovation and trade flows in sustainable products, and ultimately accelerate our low-carbon transition.

Under our GEA with Australia, we established a co-innovation programme for SMEs. We call this the Go Green Co-Innovation Programme (GGCIP) to incentivise partnerships between Australian and Singapore enterprises. The programme has supported five projects, including the joint venture between Singapore-based ESGpedia and Australia's FootprintLab, to develop an AI-powered sustainability reporting tool to help businesses with climate disclosure and sustainable supply chain management.

In November, we also launched a joint working group on trade and the green economy with New Zealand and Chile, with plans to enhance cross-border trade and investment in green growth areas.

Mr Chairman, our iconic Singapore River is a symbol of our nation's success story – a dynamic hub that facilitates the seamless flow of people, trade and capital through our shores and as a gateway for the world. Our success as a nation depends on us continuing to be open and connected.

And therefore, to stay competitive, we must sharpen our edge by fostering innovation, building strong enterprises and investing in our people. Government will support our businesses as they navigate the ever-changing currents of the global economy. By building upon our strong foundations, we will enhance connectivity, expand opportunities and strengthen Singapore's role as a gateway for people, trade and capital flow.

Together, we will grow our economy, unlock new potential, transform enterprises and connect Singapore to the world, ensuring our collective success as we chart a bold course forward.

The Chairman : Clarifications. Mr Liang Eng Hwa.

Mr Liang Eng Hwa (Bukit Panjang) : Thank you, Sir. Deputy Prime Minister Gan, in his speech and in response to my query, mentioned that the worst case scenario for Singapore amidst an ongoing US-China contestation could be a global trade war. So, I would like to further ask the Deputy Prime Minister w hat Singapore is doing to mitigate that potential impact.

And also, if I can ask the Deputy Prime Minister to share how he sees our relationship with US and with China, whether in the event of a global trade war, would that put us in a better position to manage the downsides?

Mr Gan Kim Yong : First, I must say that I wish a global trade war will not happen, but we must always be prepared because the external environment, as I said, will become increasingly difficult and challenging for us. But what Singapore should do is to continue to deepen our value proposition for businesses and for our trading partners. We must continue to be a reliable, consistent partner with other countries so that we will continue to be a valued player in the global economy. I think that is the fundamental.

Secondly, we must also continue to find opportunities to deepen our collaboration within the region, with different parties, with like-minded countries and economies. This way, we can then continue to expand and grow our economic space in the global economy. ASEAN is one area. As I mentioned, it is a fast-growing area and I think we will continue to work with the ASEAN partners to see how we can deepen our integration within ASEAN so that we have more opportunities for us.

But at the same time, as I mentioned in my speech, we continue to expand our collaboration with our neighbours particularly, and see how we can leverage on each other's strengths so that when we combine together, we have a a better value proposition for our trading partners and our business partners globally.

But also it is important for us to explore new areas of growth and opportunities for collaboration. For example, I mentioned about digital economy, which is a new platform. It is not the same as traditional FTAs. It is not just about tariffs and imports or exports, but it is about collaboration and interoperability in developing the digital capability to strengthen our own enterprises, giving them the better opportunity to expand in the region. So, I think this is something that we will continue to do.

The Member talked about US-China relationship and how Singapore can play a role. I think it is not easy. We are a very small economy. We hope to be able to continue to play a constructive role between the two countries. And we have to continue to remain nimble and to monitor the development. And I am sure every Member, and nowadays, when you wake up in the morning, open the newspaper, the first thing you see is what are the major news. And every time, you are shocked into waking up with the news. And now, without reading the newspaper, you can read it on your mobile phone, and these are news alerts. And I think you just have to take it when it comes and always be nimble, be prepared to move very quickly. This also speaks to the strength of Singapore as a small economy. We are able to a very compact economy. We are able to move very quickly, we are able to respond very fast.

So, it is important for us to work closely with the enterprises and with our businesses through the various trade associations and organisations to see how we can bring our businesses along. Keep them informed on the developments around the world, enable them and equip them so that they are able to adjust their supply chains, their production lines and their export markets quite quickly.

At the same time, it is important for us to continue to invest in our people so that they acquire new skills and new capabilities because as the global economy changes, new opportunities will emerge. But we must have the skills to be able to tap into these opportunities. So, I think getting our industries and enterprises to be nimble and move fast, investing in training of our people, these are fundamentals to keep Singapore's economy resilient and continue to grow.

The Chairman : Ms Jessica Tan.

Ms Jessica Tan Soon Neo (East Coast) : Thank you, Mr Chairman. My clarification relates to supporting SMEs in terms of internationalising, and it is for Minister of State Tan. He shared on SGProtein and how it has enhanced its competitiveness in the Korean market by tapping the FTAs, and he has also shared on the many FTAs that we are working on. Can more be shared on how the Government and SBF are working together to support our SMEs in terms of better tapping these FTAs and getting access to new markets?

Mr Alvin Tan : Sir, I thank Ms Jessica Tan for her question. In fact, it is not just enough for us to expand our FTAs and sign these FTAs even in far flung countries, it is also important for us to work very closely with our business associations, like SBF and others, to take them there and show them what the business opportunities are. And also, while they are in Singapore, to give them the tools and the support for them to take up these advantages as they look at how to lower their costs and increase their business efficiency.

There are a few things maybe I want to just share with Ms Jessica Tan. The first is we have a tariff finder tool now. That was developed by Enterprise Singapore, and the example that I gave earlier, SGProtein, can access, through this tariff finder tool, crucial information on import duties and formalities, FTA preferential duties and rules of origin for potential export market. So, it helps them to navigate this and then test how much they would have to pay, for example, or how they can increase their efficiency.

SBF has been working very closely with us to provide companies like SGProtein with on-site guidance on, for example, how even to produce and prepare a manufacturing cost statement application. And this is a very crucial step because it helps to demonstrate local content and to qualify for FTA benefits.

I also wanted to highlight that MTI and Enterprise Singapore also, again working with SBF, has launched a new Centre for Future of Trade and Investment (CFOTI) just last year. CFOTI helps businesses address issues related to trade compliance and also expands the capacity to benefit on trade agreements. There are also bespoke advisory support through this, for our SMEs to make the best use of FTAs. So, I encourage our SMEs to work closely with us, Enterprise Singapore, as well as our trade associations, like SBF, to fully utilise these FTAs.

The Chairman : Mr Mark Lee.

Mr Mark Lee (Nominated Member) : I would like to thank Senior Minister of State Low Yen Ling, Second Minister Tan See Leng, Deputy Prime Minister Gan and those who were involved in the AfA.

I think from the announcements today, it truly shows that when there are constructive comments, the Government is not tone deaf but is actually tuned in to make sure that Singapore remains agile and business-friendly.

For this AFA, I would like to ask for the Government to consider continuing this platform from time to time, so as to reinforce the strong partnership between the Government and the business community. That is my first clarification.

The second clarification is in regard to the establishment of the $1 billion Private Credit Growth Fund. This is definitely a good opportunity and an important source of alternative financing. There are currently already many private credit fund providers, mainly catering to larger MNEs and large local corporates, and often leave their local enterprises underserved. I would like to ask the Deputy Prime Minister, to ensure targeted support for local enterprises, will the cost of funds provided to the Private Credit Growth Fund's fund managers be set at a preferential and competitive rate, so that it ensures that local enterprises benefit directly from the lower borrowing cost?

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Ms Low Yen Ling : I would like to represent the whole MTI family – not just MTI, but also Enterprise Singapore, EDB and all our economic agencies – to thank SBF and Mr Mark Lee for co-chairing the AfA on Business Competitiveness, and also to Nominated Member of Parliament Mr Neil Parekh for being part of the AfA as well.

We also want to thank the 13 TACs that joined us in this journey from February to November last year. It was very intense. We consulted many of the businesses, not just sectoral but also the industry and trade associations and so on. That really is the usual engagement, and we must continue to sustain this momentum.

That is why earlier, during Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong's speech, you heard him mentioning that he helms the Inter-Ministerial Committee for Pro-Enterprise Rules Review. In the last few months, I joined him as well as Minister Shanmugam, Minister Tan See Leng, Minister Desmond Lee and Minister Chee Hong Tat in hosting discussions with more than 140 chief executive officers and chief experience officers of SMEs to continue to understand, sector by sector, if there are any pain points or any areas that we can look at to further improve the whole-of-Government regulatory agility.

I want to reassure Mr Mark Lee and in fact, the business community that MTI and not just MTI, now that we have set up the SME PEO from 26 March onwards as a key coordination unit to galvanise the whole-of-Government to lean forward, to continue to work with the business sector to improve the regulatory agility, to better support our businesses to seize opportunities overseas.

Mr Gan Kim Yong : There is a second part of the question that maybe I can address – the suggestion about the Private Credit Growth Fund.

This is a scheme that is designed to fill the gap in the financing framework. We have equity financing, we have the normal commercial loans, but some of these high-growth companies are in a very niche area and they are not able to find financing so easily available. And the owners, the entrepreneurs, are also not keen to be diluted. They want to retain control of their businesses. Therefore, equity investment may not be suitable for them. They are looking for alternative financing. This private credit allows more flexibility for the structure of the financing to be designed to suit the needs of the specific companies.

So, it is not meant to be a subsidy. It is not meant to be for businesses that are having difficulties or need subsidies or support for overseas expansion. We have other schemes. Enterprise Singapore has a host of schemes. I have mentioned some of them, like GIA and so on. These are other schemes that will support businesses going overseas, expanding their regional presence, even including R&D funds and efforts and so on.

So, there are different schemes designed for different purposes. For this particular private credit scheme, it is really meant to fill a gap in the financing framework. So, I hope Mr Lee understands that.

The Chairman : Mr Neil Parekh.

Mr Neil Parekh Nimil Rajnikant (Nominated Member) : I just want to thank the whole MTI team for a very comprehensive analysis and presentation and a very detailed Budget – a very good Budget in my view. I have a couple of clarifications.

The Deputy Prime Minister spoke about the NSTIC (R&D Fab) to drive advanced semi-conductor research and innovation. May I ask why is advanced packaging the initial focus of this facility and will it be expanded to other areas very shortly? What is the immediate benefit to our local semi-conductor system with this NSTIC (R&D Fab)?

The second question is: we have seen newspaper reports recently on NTUC researchers discovering a geothermal reservoir in Yishun. Perhaps MTI can provide an update on its study on the potential of geothermal energy going forward.

Lastly, on private credit, having spent part of my life in the business, I think $1 billion will be too small. Perhaps, the purpose should be to use that as a base to harness external funds and perhaps make that $10 billion or more going forward. So, serving that as $1 billion from MTI, with $9 billion raised from the private sector.

Mr Gan Kim Yong : Thank you. I will ask Minister Tan See Leng to respond to the geothermal energy source. Let me just focus first on the NSTIC (R&D Fab).

This facility really is an expansion of the existing NSTIC facility run by A*STAR. The idea is to focus first on advanced packaging because advanced packaging is a foundational technology for many of the advanced technologies for semi-conductor, in order to pack more and more components into the chips. The idea is to increase the density and advanced packaging plays a very important role in allowing that to happen. So, it is a key fundamental foundational technology.

We started investing in this technology since 2011 and we have built a significant capability in this area. That is why it is important for us to encourage investment in the R&D in this particular aspect of the technology, particularly, not just the multinational corporations (MNCs), but also the local SMEs.

So, this is a starting point. We will allow the NSTIC (R&D Fab) to focus, first, on advanced packaging. But this is not the only area. We will keep our options open and keep our doors open, and we welcome other emerging technologies which may become important and critical for us. We will also make these facilities available to other companies which have emerging technologies to invest in R&D.

The Member mentioned $1 billion. I presume he is talking about the Private Credit Growth Fund. We will be very happy if we can talk to Mr Neil Parekh to raise the other $9 billion, if he can help us do so. But I must say that, generally, I think this is the seed money the Government has to put in. Hopefully, we can kickstart this process. We will keep our doors open for private credit which wants to come in and to join us in this journey.

As I mentioned in my speech, when fund managers and investors are more familiar in this space of private credit, we may then be able to catalyse more funds from outside. So, I do agree with the Member. We look at this $1 billion as seed money. We hope to be able to raise even more capital in time to come for this fund. But I think this is a good start.

Dr Tan See Leng : I thank Mr Neil Parekh for his clarification. I think the Member was referring to Nanyang Technological University's (NTU's) study, not "NTUC". I think we will be dealing a lot with NTUC later on in MOM's COS debate. In NTUC, it is – just for the benefit of all my brothers and sisters in NTUC – every worker matters, not every power source matters.

I think we all know Singapore, as a country, we are alternative energy-disadvantaged and I have mentioned many times in the past that we will explore every possible decarbonisation pathway. So, nothing is off the table.

One of the indigenous energy options that we have, that we are investigating is geothermal energy. In 2023, EMA issued a request for proposal for a Singapore-wide non-invasive geophysical study to assess Singapore's deep geothermal resource potential at depths of up to 10 kilometres. This is for the purpose of power generation. So, I want to emphasise, EMA is to assess the deep geothermal resource potential. This is actually quite different from NTU's study, which is conventional geothermal potential.

I am actually pleased to update that this month, we are commencing an airborne survey of our geothermal energy potential. We hope and we aim to complete this study in about a year's time. Again, like I said, in terms of giving a very clear demarcation, NTU's study focuses on establishing the localised potential at areas surveyed up to a depth of about four kilometres. So, it is conventional. Whereas ours is the deep sort of geothermal assessment, which is up to 10 kilometres.

Of course, given the fact that we have an existing Sembawang hot spring, I know that many of my comrades are also concerned about how that would impact Sembawang. The Singapore Government, let me reassure everyone, is not conducting any invasive geophysical studies that could affect the existing hot spring.

The geothermal drillings have been carried out by NTU sites. They were at sites that were 2.5 kilometres and 700 metres away, almost a kilometre away from the Sembawang hot spring. They were already completed in early 2024.

Our EMA's ongoing studies, they are non-invasive because we are conducting airborne and land-based surveys of our entire country's geophysical landscape for a better assessment of the deep geothermal potential. As with every study, every new infrastructural development that we undertake, all of the necessary environmental assessments will be conducted. I hope I have given Members enough reassurance as well as understanding of what we know thus far.

The Chairman : Ms Sylvia Lim.

Ms Sylvia Lim (Aljunied) : Chairman, I have two clarifications for Senior Minister of State Low Yen Ling on my cut on scams, which she touched on briefly.

First, she mentioned the whole-of-Government efforts through the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Scams (IMCS). I read that MTI is also represented on that committee. So, I would like to understand a little bit more on what is MTI's interest and contribution so far to the work of the IMCS. That is the first question.

The second question is: of course, underlying my cut is the issue of consumer protection because as far as scams are concerned, we often find that the consumer is actually dealing with service providers like banks, telecommunications companies (telcos) and social media companies, and there is some unequal bargaining power there.

So, I would like to understand whether the CCCS is actually looking into this area. Is it doing anything in the field of online scams to protect consumers or to do some standard setting?

Ms Low Yen Ling : Chairman, I want to thank Ms Sylvia Lim for her two clarifications.

I will address the second one first. I understand where the Member is coming from when she shared her thinking when she delivered her cut yesterday. As shared by Minister of State Sun Xueling during the Ministry of Home Affair's (MHA's) COS debate, a majority of the scams involve self-effected transfers of money to scammers as well as cryptocurrency scams.

These are, one, criminal in nature and two, often carried out by highly sophisticated criminal networks. The third point really is that a lot of these are really based out of Singapore. So, such scams are, hence, more appropriately handled by our law enforcement authorities.

But I want to assure her that to ensure a collective effort in tackling scams, the Singapore Government works closely not just mounting a whole-of-Government approach, but also with the private sector. Members have heard from Minister of State Sun Xueling, with the various tech companies and so on, as well as community partners, to tackle scams, go upstream, not just engaging the seniors, but it can affect people of all ages and all backgrounds.

So, the anti-scam efforts are coordinated by the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Scams, which comprises representatives from MHA, Singapore Police Force, MDDI, IMDA, MAS and other public agencies. MTI sits in, and if there are relevant cases that are relevant to our economic agency, that is where we will bridge the communications.

Notwithstanding that, I want to assure the Member that where there are unfair practices by, say, suppliers being involved, CCCS can certainly take them to task under our CPFTA. This really forms part of the whole-of-Government approach, where agencies can work together to safeguard consumer interest.

The Chairman : Ms Foo Mee Har.

Ms Foo Mee Har (West Coast) : Chairman, I have two questions for the Deputy Prime Minister. The first one is relating to R&D. The Deputy Prime Minister spoke about R&D infrastructure in Singapore and how it is important as part of our economic growth. I spoke about this during my COS cut where I said that equally important is R&D being commercialised.

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So, I would like to ask the Deputy Prime Minister how specifically local enterprises will benefit with all the R&D spent, how are we going to encourage them to take this up, how are we going to encourage and support them to really take this R&D and commercialise it into applications? That is one.

The second one I just like to weigh in to hon Member Neil Parekh's comment. I probably take the other end of conservatism. He talked to balance the ambition; I think private credit is quite a science, related to a lot of risk management as well, if Government is going to go into this. Traditionally, when we co-fund, the bank comes in and you risk-share. But I would very much like to know that given that it is not small sum, $1 billion that the Government is going into, how is this going to be underwritten, in terms of risk management? How are you going to pick which company you are going to back pick? Because $1 billion will not go very far and we want to make sure that this is a good experience and that we can bag more companies? So, which agency is going to administer this and the partnerships?

Mr Gan Kim Yong : With regard to the R&D and the commercialisation of the R&D efforts and outcomes, the NSTIC (R&D Fab) I mentioned is one such example that has facilities to help companies to do their R&D and to commercialise the R&D. Because the facilities are very costly and very expensive; the SMEs will not be able to have access to these facilities, other than through NSTIC. Therefore, that is one area that we do. A*STAR does the same for many other domains in the industry.

So, we partner our private sector to allow them to have access R&D facilities. But it is not just the hardware facilities, because NSTIC and A*STAR also provide consultancy advice on how to do their R&D from a technical point but, at the same time, how to commercialise their products. Because A*STAR, meaning the research centre, has a lot of experience in commercialising some of their research outcomes. That will play a very important role.

We also have IPI that is set up under Enterprise Singapore that provides advisory on particularly IP rights, whether they are making use of IP that is already available, how to take advantage of the existing IP to commercialise the IP, or to register their own IP that they have developed. IPI will do that part. We also have a collaboration with IHLs through our technology transfer officers to help companies on to how to translate their technology into commercial products. There are many platforms to allow us to work in partnership with our companies to commercialise their R&D efforts.

One other aspect of the at NSTIC, which I mentioned in my speech, is the collaboration between the MNCs and the SMEs. Because they are able to work together, the SMEs will understand the needs of the larger companies to develop their products to be able to serve the MNCs. This also encourages a collaboration between MNCs, which have more resources, and to help the SMEs to also commercialise their R&D products. That is on the R&D side.

The Member also talked about the $1 billion credit. It is not a small sum. I do appreciate that it is limited because it is just $1 billion. We hope the Member can collectively persuade Ministry of Finance to give us a bit more in time to come. But I do agree that we need to progress very carefully and conservatively to make sure that this $1 billion is put to good use.

So, we do intend to go out to look for fund managers with a good track record, to have experience in managing private equity, private credit and managing projects, so that we are able to leverage on the expertise of these fund managers to manage the $1 billion so that we can put it to good use.

The Chairman : We are approaching the end of our guillotine time. I will call on Mr Saktiandi Supaat. You raised your hand earlier? Because you had four cuts, so I will give you the floor.

Mr Saktiandi Supaat (Bishan-Toa Payoh) : Thank you, Mr Chairman, I thought I want to let others have the chance. But I have just one quick clarification for Minister Tan. I had filed a cut on the infrastructure for energy source, in terms of energy infrastructure. The Minister shared earlier about the hydrogen strategy and the ammonia strategy. Can Minister share about what our budgeting plans for power sourcing infrastructure in terms of landing points? I know ammonia and hydrogen and nuclear is still at the research phase and we are still investigating on those. But how are our plans of planning or investing on infrastructure for those, including the landing points for imported energy sources?

Dr Tan See Leng : I thank Mr Saktiandi for his clarification. For the renewable energy imports, I have shared that, given the progress that we have had in our negotiations with our neighbours, we have upped the ambition from four gigawatts to six gigawatts. And the interconnectors, for the landing sites, we have preliminarily identified some of the sites, the details of which I am not at liberty to reveal at this point in time.

For the interconnectors, broadly, there are two types – the high voltage direct current, which entails significantly longer distance traversing the subsea distances. And then, you have the relatively less expensive alternating current type of subsea cable. So, depending on the site, the source of the generation of that renewable energy source, the appropriate type of cable would be utilised.

At this particular point in time, the conditional licence that we have issued are for relatively closer source generation sources, namely, coming from the Batam, Bintan and Karimun corridor. The Member would have read in the open-source media that we have also awarded conditional approvals to further up north from Indochina and also, at the same time, potentially from Australia as well. Those would involve higher cost cable, involving high voltage direct current subsea cables. That covers one big part of renewable energy imports.

On the carbon capture storage, we are still studying the model working with the S-Hub. Looking at the aggregation of the hard to abate carbon intensive sectors, this would be quite a fair bit of the petrochemical industry on Jurong Island. Looking at the transportation and, eventually, the storage of the carbon that we have captured, at this point in time, given the amounts that are involved, we are still working with some of the potential partners.

For ammonia and hydrogen, I have also stated earlier on that hydrogen, at this point in time, even though it is a technically feasible pathway, the transportation of hydrogen, by itself, is very costly. So, we are using ammonia as a pilot. We have a pathfinder project where we are going to work with a couple of potential consortia to work out when it comes of scale, whether it would be a feasible and a commercially viable pathway. For the project, because it is very small, it is going to constitute like 0.5% of our overall energy mix. We are looking, as a pilot pathfinder, about between 50 to 60 megawatts. We will provide initial seed funding to assess the viability of that pathway.

The sum of it all is that we have set aside the budget. Today, given the different thresholds that we have not arrived at yet, the drawdown from the FEF is still not there. But we have topped it up because we envisage that in the coming quarters ahead, once we cross certain key thresholds, the drawdown will happen.

The Chairman : I am sorry. We have reached our guillotine time. Can I invite Mr Liang, if you would like to draw your amendment?

2.25 pm

Mr Liang Eng Hwa : Chairman, allow me to thank Deputy Prime Minister Gan, Minister Tan See Ling, Senior Minister of State Low Yen Ling and Minister of State Alvin Tan for their very thorough responses to our cuts and clarifications. It leaves me to just wish the MTI family every success in growing our economy, hopefully, once again, to outperform our forecasted range of 1% to 3% growth for 2025. Sir, with that, I seek leave to withdraw my amendment.

[(proc text) Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. (proc text)]

[(proc text) The sum of $1,638,234,500 for Head V ordered to stand part of the Main Estimates. (proc text)]

[(proc text) The sum of $6,309,880,900 for Head V ordered to stand part of the Development Estimates. (proc text)]

The Chairman : We have sat for almost four-and-an-half hours. I propose to take a break now. Order.

[(proc text) Thereupon Mr Speaker left the Chair of the Committee and took the Chair of the House. (proc text)]

Mr Speaker : Order. I propose to take a break now. I suspend the Sitting and will take the Chair at 2.45 pm.

Sitting accordingly suspended

at 2.27 pm until 2.45 pm.

Sitting resumed at 2.45 pm.

[Deputy Speaker (Ms Jessica Tan Soon Neo) in the Chair]

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