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Ministry of Energy, Trade and Industry
2. Speeches

Opening Address by Minister of State for Energy, Trade and Industry Gan Siow Huang at Industrial Transformation Asia-Pacific (ITAP) 2026

21 October 2026

  1. Good morning. It is my pleasure to welcome all of you to the Industrial Transformation Asia-Pacific, or ITAP.

  2. Industrial transformation has never been more important. Manufacturers today are operating in a much more complex environment. Labour markets are tight and our workforce is ageing. Global competition for investments is intensifying. Geopolitics is reshaping supply chains. And companies must become more sustainable, even as they remain competitive.

  3. Manufacturing accounts for close to 20 per cent of Singapore’s GDP.

    1. Advanced technologies such as robotics, digital twins, and AI can help our manufacturers raise productivity, strengthen competitiveness, and bring about skilled roles for our workforce.

    2. Just as digitalisation and automation gave us connected factories, AI is now enabling factories to become more flexible, modular and autonomous.

    3. If we move decisively, Singapore can strengthen our position as a critical global node for advanced manufacturing, where companies develop new technologies and engineering capabilities, deploy them at scale, and contribute to global manufacturing. Let me highlight some key areas for action.

AI as the next engine of manufacturing transformation

  1. We will harness AI to accelerate manufacturing transformation. At Budget 2026, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong announced the AI Mission in Advanced Manufacturing.

  2. Our ambition is not simply to use more AI. Our aim is to reimagine manufacturing to grow our manufacturing output and productivity. This involves anchoring best-in-class plants, advancing product and process innovation in manufacturing, and building a strong base of industrial AI companies that develop AI solutions from Singapore and export them to the rest of the world.

  3. One important enabler is our AI Centre of Excellence for Manufacturing, or AIMfg.

    1. Jointly established by A*STAR and METI in 2024, AIMfg has made strong progress in driving AI transformation and adoption.

    2. It has collaborated with 30 manufacturers in sectors such as aerospace, semiconductor, pharmaceuticals and energy, completing 23 projects with AI solutions deployed to companies.

    3. These include local companies such as Sunningdale Tech, as well as MNCs such as Rockwell Automation, whose Singapore manufacturing facility was recognised as a World Economic Forum Global Lighthouse this year.

  4. AIMfg will now enter its next phase.

    1. Supported under the Research, Innovation and Enterprise 2030 plan, AIMfg will deepen its capabilities to tackle more complex and mission-critical manufacturing problems, supporting end-to-end AI-enabled transformation and scaling AI adoption to the broader base of manufacturers.

    2. It will also draw more extensively on the strengths of our research and innovation ecosystem, working with our Institutes of Higher Learning, frontier AI start-ups, and technology providers to develop relevant, industry-ready AI solutions.

  5. At the same time, we want AI to be accessible not just to large manufacturers, but also to our SMEs.

    1. To support this, Enterprise Singapore's Catalytic AI Solutions will help manufacturers overcome common barriers to AI adoption.

    2. Through this initiative, manufacturers can access ready-to-deploy AI solutions to improve productivity, optimise efficiency, and strengthen their competitiveness.

    3. Enterprise Singapore will offer a suite of AI solutions to SMEs, including solutions to optimise product and component design, automate processing of Request for Quotation documents, and enhance production scheduling and predictive maintenance.

    4. More than $45 million has been set aside over the next three years to support Catalytic AI Solutions for Advanced Manufacturing.

    5. I’m pleased to share that some SMEs have confirmed their interest to adopt AI solutions with the support of this new initiative by EnterpriseSG.

  6. Beyond adopting technologies that already exist, Singapore must also help shape what comes next.

    1. One exciting frontier is Embodied AI: bringing AI together with robotics and physical systems, so that machines can perceive, reason and act in the real world.

    2. There has been tremendous progress globally. But moving from impressive demonstrations to reliable, safe and cost-effective deployment on the factory floor remains difficult.

  7. I am therefore happy to announce the launch of the Singapore Embodied AI Challenge for Manufacturing.

    1. Organised by the National Robotics Programme, A*STAR, and PINE Lab@NTU, the inaugural edition will start with a use case in semiconductor manufacturing provided by leading semiconductor company Micron.

    2. This global competition will bring together researchers, industry players, start-ups and global talent to develop embodied AI solutions to real industry problem statements, with a pathway towards commercial deployment.

Building a connected, sustainable, and future-ready ecosystem

  1. Successful transformation requires a strong ecosystem – one that is globally connected, sustainable, and powered by a future-ready workforce.

    1. Our strength comes from being connected to the best capabilities, ideas and partners around the world.

    2. The National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Cluster, or NAMIC, and Bavaria Makes will establish a partnership connecting the additive manufacturing ecosystems of Singapore and Bavaria, one of Europe's leading advanced manufacturing hubs.

    3. This partnership will go beyond institutional exchange. It will bring together companies, researchers, start-ups and talent from both regions to develop joint R&D and industrialisation projects, test and validate new technologies, support start-up and market access, and deepen researcher and talent exchanges.

  2. Similarly, business partnerships play an important role in strengthening our competitive edge.

    1. SMF’s MNC-Local Enterprise Alliance helps global companies boost supply chain resilience and time to market through partnerships with the local ecosystem, while enabling our local enterprises to build deeper capabilities and pursue new business and markets.

  3. Our manufacturing ecosystem also needs to be sustainable.

    1. Manufacturers increasingly must achieve two objectives at the same time: improve productivity while reducing their use of energy and resources.

    2. For SMEs in particular, the challenge is often not a lack of intent, but the time, cost and expertise required to measure, report and act on their sustainability performance.

  4. We therefore need to make this journey simpler. The agreement between the Singapore Manufacturing Federation, the Asia Pacific Green Alliance and Gprnt will establish mutual recognition between their respective sustainability credentials.

    1. This means that a company which has already done the work under one credential will not have to repeat essentially the same exercise for another.

    2. Importantly, technology transformation must go hand in hand with workforce transformation.

    3. As AI and automation change the way we work, our goal is to help Singaporeans, including non-tech workers, become “AI-literate”.

    4. This requires close partnerships between industry and our education and training institutions.

  5. SMF and Republic Polytechnic, for example, will partner in areas including AI, sustainability and leadership development.

    1. Companies will gain access to applied research, training and talent, while students and educators gain exposure to real-world manufacturing challenges.

  6. We also want more Singaporeans, whether fresh graduates or mid-career workers, to see advanced manufacturing as an exciting career.

    1. Supported by METI, EDB, Enterprise Singapore, A*STAR, JTC, and SWDA, SMF has worked to develop a Manufacturing Jobs Portal.

    2. Titled MATCH, or Manufacturing and Talent Connection Hub, the jobs portal will bring manufacturing job opportunities together in one place.

    3. I encourage prospective employers and jobseekers alike to sign up for MATCH.

Conclusion

  1. We need platforms that bring all these elements together – manufacturers with problems to solve; technology providers and researchers with solutions; and partners and talent who can take these solutions from pilot to deployment.

  2. As Singapore continues to build an advanced manufacturing ecosystem, platforms such as ITAP will be instrumental in cultivating our various strengths. This is how we will keep Singapore a trusted global node for advanced manufacturing, create new opportunities for our companies, and good jobs for our people.

  3. I wish all of you a productive and successful ITAP 2026. Thank you.