Transcription
Thank you DPM. Um, that was uh, you know, an encouraging message to us all. It encompassed a lot uh for us to digest with our lunch. Um, and we are collecting quite a lot of uh different um questions, which I will bucket into three different themes.
The first theme is really for so many people here who are in Singapore because we are investing in Singapore. So, a lot of um institutional investors and um uh business investors. So, one theme around why continue to choose Singapore.
Um, one prevalent theme is around AI and security. So, there's a lot of concern around data security, cyber security, methos, and AI security. And a very, and the third theme is around workforce and jobs, which is, I think we anticipated this too, right? And how, especially for white-collar jobs, uh, a lot of um people here in the room are in in large companies that employ a lot of white-collar workers, and how do we manage the narrative around that and balance that, right? Not easy.
So, shall we start with um, you know, why choose Singapore question, which is a macro question, which is, you know, as people are investing in Singapore, why should they continue to invest in our country? What's in it for them?
>> Thank you. I think today, the world is becoming a lot more competitive. I think the financial hub ranking is one example that you can see that financial centers around the world are competing with one another, and there's no time for us to become complacent. We need to continue to push on. But we can no longer just become one of the financial centers. We have to have our own unique offerings. And what does Singapore offer? If you look back in history, Singapore has always been a trusted partner, not just in finance, but in business, in data management, in security, in partnership. Whether in good times or bad, during crisis, we are here with you. Just like many of um financial institutions here, you always tell your clients, "We are here for you, always." I think this is something that we offer our partners. We are long-term partners. We are not short-term um uh uh partners for good times, but we are partners for the long term. I think this is very important, and this trust is built over decades. It doesn't happen overnight, and it's strengthened over every crisis because when when we are there for them at every crisis, I think that we will further strengthen the trust between the parties. So, I think this is something that is not easy for others to replicate, and we need to continue to deepen this trust between us, our clients, between Singapore and our partners. So, I think this is something that we will be able to offer, which is not easy for others to replicate.
The second uh factor is what Susan mentioned just now in passing, that Singapore is small. And small, like you said, is beautiful, but small is more than just beautiful. Small means that we can be very nimble. We can move very quickly. We can respond to crisis much faster than huge economies. There are many things to worry about and huge machinery to mobilize. But because we are small, we are compact, and we are very efficient, we are very responsive. We can respond very swiftly, and we have shown that over many crises in the past. And this is something that many businesses value. Many investors value. If you come to Singapore, you apply to register a company, it is much faster than anywhere else in the world. That's just one example. If you want to look for a loan from DBS, it is much faster than anywhere else in the world.
>> Thank you. Thank you.
>> And many other banks here too. So, I think we want to be able to be nimble. Not just because we are fast, but we are thorough, and we are fast at the same time. Because you can respond very quickly, but after that, you say, "But there's something else we left out. We didn't tell you." After that, another thing that you emerge. So, I think we need to be able to hold the hands of our investors, of business partners, take them through the journey. And what you see is what you get. So, we do so in a very decisive way, in a very responsive way, and in a very swift way. I think this way will make ourselves very attractive to potential investors. But of course, the traditional uh strength like our connectivity, our um uh good infrastructure, our lean and efficient government agencies are all very important. So, I think these factors will continue to be important.
Last but not least, what is also very critical for us is our workforce. Our workforce is highly skilled, well-educated, and they are able to handle high-value work. At the same time, our workforce is also very nimble. They learn all the time. They upgrade all the time. And that's partly because we have been investing in training and upgrading our workforce consistently over the years. And we continue to push our people to work very uh uh to continue to learn, to acquire new skills and knowledge so they are that they are ready for the future. And that's why we introduce a SkillsFuture system. And we are also very grateful that it's not only the government, the workers, but the companies, enterprises are also able to work with us. And that's why we have a very strong tripartite relationship. And that again is another very attractive factor for investors to want to invest in Singapore, particularly in today's world that is fragmented, that is uncertain, that is volatile. I think these factors matter a lot more than before.
So, I think um yesterday, you and I, I I went to to an event where you were guest of honor at SMU uh where you addressed a room full of uh graduates or undergraduate students, but you also talked a lot about lifelong learning, right? And that, you know, for all the talkes or or bosses in the room, um there are a lot of lifelong courses that we can our employees, our colleagues can apply for in our various institutes of higher learning so that, you know, even though we have skills that may not be needed, we can quickly relearn new skills through the help that all these programs can offer us, right?
>> I think it's important for us to also shift our mindset about uh skills upgrading and learning and training because if you remember when I first joined politics um about 25, 20, 25 years ago, we had um financial crisis during that time. We say, "Since this is a crisis, um some of the jobs uh were lost, employment was rising." So, we we encourage our workers to go for training because we always said, "When when business is good, you have no time to train. When business is no good, you have no money to train." So, our government said, "Don't worry, when the economy is down, we provide training support. You just go for training."
>> So, >> so when we have time to train, you pay for the training.
>> That's right. Yeah. So, I think we, we now today, even if you have time for training, we, you don't have time for training, we are still paying for training because we do want our workers to continuously train themselves so that they are ready for the future. But we need to shift our mindset a little bit because training is not done just when during crisis time. It's not done when you are out of job. In fact, training has to be done all the time. Whether you are out of job, whether you're on a job, whether you are very busy or you're very free, training must be at the back of your mind that you focus on training all the time. And it is not just the workers that should focus on training. I think it's also critical for employers to shift their mindset to to believe and to embrace training as part of your competitive advantage. If your workers, your workforce is not training and upgrading, very soon you'll find that they'll fall behind, and the company will begin to fall behind your competitors. If your competitors continue to train, I think you better train also train your people. Make sure that they are ahead of the game. They stay keep pace with technological development and even changing business environment. This way, I think you will remain competitive and relevant to the global economy. So, we encourage employers who are here to think about uh uh adopting and embracing training as part of your core business strategy and not something that you think about it when the business are bad, when the uh market is down. So, now you have more time, let's go for training. But you must train them all the time. I think this will be our key advantage.
>> It's unc you cannot compromise on training. That's a key differentiator for our success. Um, so that's a good segue to to to the future of jobs. Um, and and you talked about workforce training, but a couple of questions came in, and this is more uh that employers are worried also about the impact of AI or entry-level jobs. Um, as AI changes the future of work, how can all companies, including government and GLCs, rethink hiring beyond academic results? Very Singaporean. And develop better ways um, better ways to assess capability, adaptability, creativity, and real-world problem-solving, especially for young people taking unconventional paths to innovate.
>> Thank you. I think uh we talked about this yesterday too with our uh young graduates and undergraduates. While they're going through their education, they are also thinking about, "What do I do when I graduate, given that um the uh entry-level jobs are changing very quickly?"
>> Did you sense a level of insecurity, or you felt people were still pretty confident?
>> I think there's a sense of anxiety, and then this sense of anxiety is not unhealthy in the sense that they ought to be aware of the changing environment so that they are prepared for it. I think I will be concerned if they are complacent and feel that everything is all right, and when I graduate, I there will just be jobs waiting for me. I think that will be challenging. So, I think it's good for them to understand that the market is shifting, and they need to change the way they approach uh uh job search, they prepare themselves for the employment. So, that's why yesterday we talked about how do can we help our graduates to be more work-ready? Because work, especially entry-level work, is changing all the time. Uh, it it will be very different the time when they enter the university and by the time they graduate. I think the nature of job would have changed. I think we are also working with um institutes of higher learning to prepare them better, including introducing more robust and structured internship training programs so that they are exposed to the working environment. They are kept uh uh at the uh front end of the technological development so that they know how the workplace is changing, and also provide them an opportunity to have a connection with their potential employer, their future employer, and to have a better sense of what the workplace is like, how fast it's changing, so that they're better prepared. And we also encourage employers uh who are here to offer more trainingship opportunities and internship opportunities so that you have uh access to some of these bright graduates and give them a chance to experience working environment. And I think by the time they graduate and join your company, they'll be even more work-ready. I think this is the way we help our workers, our uh students, young workers to be more ready for the changing.
>> So, basically getting the domain knowledge earlier rather than than when they start work.
>> Right.
>> That's right. And and not just the knowledge itself, but the sense of how the direction that work is changing so that they themselves are prepared for the future. At the same time, I think even the universities, the government, Ministry of Manpower are strengthening career support and guidance so that we hold their hand, we guide them along the way to show them uh the opportunities that are available. This way, I think we will give them greater assurance that there are opportunities around. But it's important for them to be adaptable, to keep their options open, to try new things, maybe take a path that is less taken before, and maybe they're less familiar with, but u give it a try, take some risk, and maybe you'll discover exciting opportunities that will be awaiting you.
>> Yeah. I I uh we for one DBS really believes in internships. Um, DPM, and yesterday on stage with you, we had someone, a young graduate who joined DBS, and she had had not one, not two, but three years of internship with us. So, by the time she joined us as a full-time graduate, she was already up and running quite quickly and knew what you know, what to do quite quickly as well.
Um, next, I have a question from um Chi Ming Kong. I don't know, uh, your last year's great IPO success. Um, but Singapore government is promoting AI nationally. Um, and this is executed across all government departments. This will disrupt employment as AI agents may replace people. And his question is, there is if there is a system failure due to disruption of energy or a cyber security incident, what's the backup plan, right? For manual processing? Are you talking about back to paper, uh, for business continuity, since um AI agents will have to stop work if there's no power?
>> I think this is a question that's at the top of everybody's mind. I think this question uh doesn't just happen today or that's just being asked today. I think since the years of uh electricity, we have already started asking the same question. What happens if there's electricity failure? Banks are very concerned that your ATMs may not work if you have a electricity failure. Now, with digitalization, uh, our financial institutions are concerned if the data system is disrupted, what do we do? I'm sure every institution, every company, every enterprise must have your business continuity plan, and it's not just the technology system. I think during COVID-19, all of us remember when the causeway between Singapore and Malaysia was disconnected because of infection control, many things stopped. It's not just digital, it's not just technology, it's physical movement that's going to be quite critical for us too. So, I think for companies who have critical systems, you have to think about security, you have to think about uh uh continuity, always have a backup plan, whether it's going back to paper, or whether you have a backup uh system that can kick in uh instantaneously. I think this is something that you will need to think about. Even for Singapore as a whole, for our energy, we do have our resilience planning. So, we do have our uh stockpile, our reserves to ensure that we are able to continue operating uh until the supplies are a uh we are able to restore the supplies. But I think it's something that we will have to constantly uh prepare ourselves, replenish, constantly think about how can I further strengthen our resilient system. But at the same time, we also be bear in mind that there's cost involved.
>> Yeah.
>> The more you want your system to be resilient, the more costly it will be. So, there's a calibration, there's a balance you need to strike. You need to have sufficient resilience to allow you to continue to operate at the same time uh cost-effective enough for you to remain competitive.
>> Yeah. How true, right? DPM. I think also in our case, we realize the importance of having alternative pathways for all your crucial uh customer journeys, especially for day-to-day payments. Receiving companies don't get paid, then you know, they can't survive. So, for us, you know, having alternative uh channels for payments in case one fails, you always have a backup plan is important, right? Um, next.
>> Maybe I just add on. The energy is a very interesting topic because uh yesterday we just announced uh that we have uh going to embark on a study on the nuclear readiness. So, I think nuclear is one option, but before nuclear is being considered, because we still need to uh complete the study and make an assessment. But before even embarking on the nuclear, we have already strengthened our current uh energy supply, electricity supply system. I don't know how many of you are aware that all our power generators in Singapore today are able to run on both natural gas and diesel.
>> And because natural gas cannot be stored for long term, because it's very volatile, it evaporates very quickly, and therefore it's not possible to store natural gas over the long term. The only way for us to be able to have stockpile for reserve fuel is to rely on diesel. So, we have required our power generators over the last decades to convert into dual use. So, anytime when gas supply is disrupted, we can switch uh to diesel. It will take some time for us to switch, but we can continue to operate on diesel. And of course, we have a diesel stockpile. And as to how many days of diesel stockpile we have, I cannot tell you.
>> Oh, I was rather hoping that would come out, but uh, yeah, I was going to be cheeky and ask him that. Um, but in future also, we could be hydrogen-ready, right, for our our dual gas turbines. Okay, changing tank.
I have a question or well, actually quite a good suggestion and a question from Avin Sankaran. Um, his quote is, Yogi Berra famously said, "The future ain't what it used to be." So, Singapore's position of trust, safety, and connectedness will help navigate. Um, are there countries or corridors looking to partner or capture AI leadership? Of course, right? There's always competition. For example, he says, India, a global app developer, could test their new AI solutions in Singapore, get golden seal of AI trust and safety, and then go after global markets. So, we're a good kind of test bed. I think I mentioned that myself. Uh, and maybe a kind of a standard smark. How do you see us positioning ourselves as that trusted international standards um, you know, hub?
>> Thank you very much. I think first and foremost, I should emphasize that we welcome competition. I think competition will make us better, and therefore we are happy that uh whether it's India, whether it's any other country who wants to uh compete for AI leadership, we are very happy to work with them, to partner them um, to work together and to succeed together, to make progress together. I think it's a competition is not a zero-sum game. Eventually, if you have a healthy competition, it can be win-win uh for both uh competitors. So, we are happy to work comp to partner India and any other countries in this area to be able to develop our AI capability. Uh, and in addition, I think what is uh also very critical is AI talent because we will never be able to have enough AI talent among our own population because we are a very small population, and the world is so big, and AI is moving so quickly. We need to make sure that we have access to global AI talent. And even global AI talent will not be able to have all of them housed in Singapore because we are only an island, a small island. So, we must look for ways that we can tap on global AI talent. They are not even in Singapore. Those who are able to come to Singapore and partner us, we welcome them. Those who are not in Singapore, we welcome partnership with them wherever they are. So, I think AI digital technology allow us to have cross-border collaboration and partnership. So, I think we should not rule that out. For countries who are happy to partner with us, we are happy to explore different ways of uh partnership among our member countries. Uh, our our various uh partners, and even within ASEAN, we are now negotiating Digital Economy Framework Agreement. Many of you will be aware of, and we are close to finalizing it, and we hope to be able to sign it this year. And beyond the Digital Economy Framework Agreement, the next step is to think about how can we cooperate among ASEAN members to look at how we can develop AI systems jointly, to help each other, to um uh leverage on each other's strength, to level up the AI capability within ASEAN members. So, I think this is uh the arena for cooperation and collaboration, especially in AI capability development.
>> Okay. I think we have time for one last question. DPM, is that okay? Um, and I'm going to combine uh two into one because there are quite a lot of thememes in the room. One from Rand, which is um, the fast-changing AI landscape and high implementation costs for of AI implementation for SMEs in the room. They have to balance the risk of moving too early or run the risk of falling behind. And then, and in a way, some of the things you do today could become obsolete tomorrow as well. All right. So, the question is, should they just wait until the tech becomes more mature? And another question around the same veins, but asking that, you know, it's um as as they are running AI pilots themselves, but scaling integration across an industry is much harder. And how can the government help companies like this by creating a shared framework or capabilities or standards so you know, industries can can can work together? Your point about the ecosystem rather than struggling will struggle on their own.
>> That's a very good question. In fact, uh the government is quite mindful of this challenge because AI is very complex and it can be very costly, and in the initial uh uh stages of um AI uh development, uh there's no guarantee that it will succeed. But if we wait for uh assurance of success before you embark on it, I think it'll be too late. We encourage companies to embark on this journey and in partnership with the government. And that is why we have developed several centers of excellence, both at the company level as well as the sectoral level. One example is uh Center of Excellence for AI for Manufacturing. So, in the recognition that the manufacturers will find adoption of AI may be quite prohibitive. They don't know what to do to start with. They don't have the technology. They don't have the know-how. And to adopt it, to to introduce technology may be quite costly for them, especially for SMEs. That's why we have set up a National Center of Excellence for AI in the manufacturing sector so that SMEs in the manufacturing sector will then be able to tap on the national capacity, whether it's compute capacity, whether it's expertise, consultants, knowledge partners, it's there so that you are able to tap on this resources to experiment, to try out adoption of AI solutions in your company. Once it's successful, once you have gained the confidence, I think you will then be able to embark on your own, and you are able to develop your own center of excellence. We're happy to allow you to continue on your own. I think this is one way for us to help you to kickstart your AI journey. And for companies who are more ready to embark on AI, we are also partnering you to develop in-house center of excellence on AI. Particularly, I think some of our banks have already set up your internal center of excellence, and we encourage these companies who have center of excellence within your company to open up your centers for your clients, for your suppliers, for your partners, for your whole ecosystem because if you are able to level up the AI capability in your ecosystem, eventually it will benefit you as a member, as a player in the ecosystem. So, I think this is something that we hope to be able to leverage on each other's strength and capability to uh uplift our AI capability. And we are also looking at the possibility of partnering um major uh AI leaders, champions of AI, we call them. We hope to be able to identify a few companies that are willing to adopt AI uh from from end to end to uh to re uh transform their entire business model to be built on AI capability. So, this way, I think we hope that these leaders and champions of AI will be pathfinders to show as an example of how AI can impact businesses, can help and enhance business competitiveness. And this way, we hope to that that SMEs will then be able to follow suit and follow the pathway that's created by these champions of AI. And in order for us to support many of these efforts, we are also developing an AI park to to sort of bring together and to create the ecosystem community.
>> Is this in Punggol?
>> Uh, Punggol is one of it. But the AI park is uh in in One-North. I think we have identified a location for the AI park to be built, and this will bring together all the AI practitioners, researchers, um, even those with AI problems that are looking for solutions. I think this will create a community of practitioners and create synergy among the AI community. I think this will be able to help many of SMEs who need to have uh uh AI resources provided for them. So, I think these are our efforts to help SMEs to embark on this uh AI journey. Of course, Punggol, Punggol is known to be the Punggol Digital District. So, actually, it is one of a key component in the entire AI ecosystem.
>> Yeah. So, looks like you're looking at it end to end from talent, startups, capital, hubs, industry know-how um, and also don't forget DBS also, we have our Spark AI for SMEs toolkit. Talk to your RM's and we'll be delighted to help you. So, with that, DPM, this has been to defrost. Thank you so much. I think our our clients are very appreciative that you spend this time with us, and it gives us comfort that we are on this journey together. We will create the ecosystems um, and and and make Singapore the best AI uh hub in the world, hopefully not sometime soon. So, with that, please join me in thanking DPM for for his sharing.