Singapore unveils 32 Economic Strategy Review recommendations for growth and jobs

Singapore has released the final recommendations of its Economic Strategy Review (ESR), setting out 32 measures to secure future economic growth, support workers through career transitions, and strengthen the country's position as a trusted global hub.

The recommendations were presented on 13 May 2026 at the Singapore Business Federation's (SBF) Future Economy Conference, following consultations with more than 7,700 stakeholders since the five ESR committees convened in August 2025.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade and Industry Gan Kim Yong said the report is not simply a response to immediate challenges.

"It is about how Singapore positions itself for the longer term to stay competitive, create good jobs, and remain relevant in a more fragmented, contested and fast-changing world," he said.

The 32 recommendations are grouped into eight thrusts — four aimed at securing economic growth and four focused on creating good jobs and opportunities.

Eight thrusts for a changed world

The ESR secretariat framed Singapore's challenge in terms of three overarching imperatives: sharpening the country's value proposition, enhancing agility and adaptability, and building resilience alongside efficiency.

Gan said Singapore has never competed on the basis of size, given its lack of a large domestic market, abundant land, or natural resources.

"We cannot try to do everything," he said, adding that the ESR asks a fundamental question of how Singapore should respond to the new global environment.

The first of the eight thrusts centres on building global leadership in areas of existing strength and taking bold bets for future growth.

Acting Minister for Transport and Senior Minister of State for Finance Jeffrey Siow, who co-chairs the ESR committee on global competitiveness, set out the ambition plainly.

"The aim is simple. We don't just want to be in the supply chain. We want to be the part of the supply chain nobody can afford to take out," he said.

Bold bets and emerging technologies

The ESR secretariat acknowledged that not all investments will succeed but argued that inaction carries a higher long-term cost.

"Not every investment will succeed, but we must persist — because the cost of inaction and missed opportunities will be far greater over time," the secretariat said in its final recommendations document.

Singapore should invest early in technologies with the potential to unlock breakthroughs across multiple sectors. The ESR identified quantum technologies and space technologies as promising areas that build on Singapore's existing semiconductor and aerospace capabilities respectively.

A new category of high-value trust-based services — including cybersecurity, artificial intelligence (AI) governance, audits and assurance, compliance and risk management — was also highlighted as an emerging growth engine.

Quantinuum, a leading quantum computing firm, was cited as an example of the kind of investment Singapore is seeking. The company announced in March 2026 a new research and development and operations centre in Singapore, bringing together its staff with local researchers to develop commercially relevant applications in pharmaceuticals, materials science and finance.

Brian Tan, Southeast Asia regional president of semiconductor equipment maker Applied Materials and an ESR committee member, said the goal is to create an environment and ecosystem that allows firms to thrive both locally and globally, rather than simply picking winners.

Tan Su Shan, chief executive of DBS Bank and a fellow committee member, said Singapore is well-positioned to attract capital inflows into Asia as investors seek stable and trusted jurisdictions amid geopolitical uncertainty and market volatility.

Evolving Singapore's hub role

The ESR warned that physical connectivity is no longer a sufficient differentiator for Singapore as a global hub.

The movement of goods, people, capital and data is increasingly shaped by security, resilience and trust considerations, the secretariat said. Competition among hubs is also intensifying.

"To stay relevant, we must move beyond being a hub through which flows pass, to one where flows are orchestrated, financed, governed, and translated into economic value," the secretariat said.

Siow elaborated, noting that even when cargo no longer passes through Singapore physically, the decisions about that cargo can still be made here.

The ESR recommends building next-generation sea and air hubs that integrate physical infrastructure with digital and AI-enabled systems. It also calls for stronger data governance frameworks to position Singapore as a trusted hub for data-driven economic activity.

Singapore's role as an energy hub was also flagged. The secretariat said the country should plan the next phase of energy infrastructure on Jurong Island and build capabilities in liquefied natural gas (LNG) trading, hydrogen, ammonia, and sustainable aviation fuels.

Supporting workers through AI disruption

On the jobs side, the ESR acknowledged that AI and automation are exposing previously stable roles to disruption.

"Singapore cannot hold back on technology, but should be deliberate about ensuring that technology uplifts workers, while widening the range of roles that offer meaningful and sustainable careers," the executive summary stated.

One recommendation is to raise the quality, productivity and wages of roles that are less susceptible to AI disruption, such as positions in early childhood education, allied health and social services.

Structured apprenticeship models that integrate training, accreditation and progression were proposed, alongside a gradual reduction in reliance on low-cost, low-skilled labour.

The review also recommended creating career bridges — structured pathways that map workers in at-risk roles to more resilient occupations, drawing on their existing skills and experience. These pathways would include targeted training, career guidance and job matching.

"The principle is to protect the worker, but not the job," said Siow.

DBS Bank was held up as a model employer. The bank uses AI to detect unusual transaction patterns and to reduce processing times for trade documentation, while reskilling workers into newly created roles such as AI agent monitoring managers. All 40,000 of its employees have been given exposure to AI.

Retrenchment support and earlier notifications

Workers facing retrenchment should receive support before they leave their jobs, the ESR recommended.

"Transition support cannot begin only after a worker loses his or her job. Earlier intervention significantly improves the chances of redeployment," the executive summary said.

Companies in Singapore with at least 10 employees are currently required to submit a mandatory retrenchment notification within five working days of informing affected workers. The ESR committees called for this notification period to be shortened, with firms encouraged to inform the government in advance.

The proposal echoed an earlier call by labour chief Ng Chee Meng. In response, the Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF) had previously noted that requiring advance notification carries significant implementation challenges. Manpower Minister Tan See Leng said in parliament last week that tripartite partners are studying how to encourage earlier notification, but that there is no need to raise penalties for late notices at present.

On Wednesday, SNEF issued a statement supporting the ESR's recommendations to help firms restructure and transition more smoothly, and said it would work with the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) and the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) to encourage earlier retrenchment notifications.

SBF said it stands ready to work with the government, unions and industry partners to translate the recommendations into concrete action. On the question of Singapore's foreign workforce strategy, SBF said a balanced and predictable approach remains important to business confidence.

Dynamic enterprise ecosystem

The ESR also called for a more dynamic enterprise ecosystem in which new firms can start, scale and succeed globally, while less competitive ones can restructure or exit more smoothly.

Singapore's startup ecosystem has developed significantly over the past decade, but companies still find it difficult to secure growth-stage capital, the secretariat noted. It recommended promoting different forms of private capital such as venture debt and private credit, alongside venture capital, and strengthening the public equities market.

Software firm AvePoint — founded in the United States but with Singapore serving as its Asia headquarters and a major research and development base — was cited as an example of how global technology companies can anchor, grow and innovate from Singapore.

The company's co-founder and chief executive, Tianyi Jiang, said Singapore's stability, high trust, and technology-forward posture create an ideal environment for AI diffusion across global industries.

The ESR also recommended setting an ambitious target to significantly increase the number of Singapore-headquartered companies with more than S$1 billion in revenue.

Siow offered a characteristically direct summary of the overall challenge, invoking the metaphor of a ship navigating rough seas.

"Singapore's answer has never been to wish for better weather. It has always been to build a better ship, for us to sail," he said.

The full ESR report is expected to be released by the end of May 2026, according to Gan, who chairs the Singapore Economic Resilience Taskforce that oversaw the review.