Singapore’s Standards & Conformance 2035 Roadmap

DISCLAIMER: This update is intended for your general information only. It is not intended to be nor should it be regarded as or relied upon as legal advice. You should consult a qualified legal professional before taking any action or omitting to take action in relation to matters discussed herein.

WongPartnership LLP (UEN: T08LL0003B) is a limited liability law partnership registered in Singapore under the Limited Liability Partnerships

Act 2005.

Singapore’s Standards & Conformance 2035 Roadmap

On 12 June 2026, Enterprise Singapore (EnterpriseSG) issued a media release announcing the Standards and Conformance (S&C) 2035 roadmap, setting the direction for how Singapore businesses will compete and grow in an increasingly complex global environment. The roadmap was announced by Deputy Prime

Minister and Minister for Trade and Industry Mr Gan Kim Yong on 11 June 2026, and elaborated on by

Minister for Sustainability and the Environment and Minister-in-charge of Trade Relations, Ms Grace Fu, on 12 June 2026.

We highlight below the key features of the S&C 2035 roadmap.

S&C 2035 Roadmap

The S&C 2035 roadmap will strengthen foundations in areas such as public health and safety, sustainability, business resilience, and digital trust, while reinforcing Singapore’s position as a trusted, future-ready hub.

S&C 2035 is anchored on three strategic pillars:

(a)

Driving economic growth: EnterpriseSG will support Singapore companies at every stage of growth to develop and adopt standards and achieve certification early, especially in key growth sectors such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), precision medicine and offshore wind. This will enable companies to innovate and scale with confidence.

(b)

Building a future-ready ecosystem: EnterpriseSG will strengthen Singapore’s S&C ecosystem, including its Testing, Inspection and Certification (TIC) sector, to support innovation and talent development, and to keep pace with regulatory developments.

(c)

Strengthening Singapore’s role as a trusted partner in regional and global S&C ecosystems:

Singapore will deepen partnerships across regional and international platforms, and build on its strength as a trusted regional quality hub to facilitate trade and market access for Singapore companies.

Key Strategies Under Each Pillar

First pillar: Driving economic growth

EnterpriseSG will:

(a)

Partner industry partners in key and emerging sectors to drive development and adoption of standards and accredited TIC services for growth and market access. This includes: (i) driving standards development in emerging sectors such as AI, clean energy, and offshore wind to enable companies to shape markets, capture early-mover advantages, access new markets, and unlock sector growth; and (ii) actively contributing to global standard-setting in key areas such as AI, precision medicine and carbon management.

Standards | Technology & AI

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DISCLAIMER: This update is intended for your general information only. It is not intended to be nor should it be regarded as or relied upon as legal advice. You should consult a qualified legal professional before taking any action or omitting to take action in relation to matters discussed herein.

WongPartnership LLP (UEN: T08LL0003B) is a limited liability law partnership registered in Singapore under the Limited Liability Partnerships

Act 2005.

(b)

Position S&C as a competitive advantage within the innovation ecosystem that supports market access and growth, including partnering with incubators, accelerators and venture capitalists to raise awareness and encourage early adoption of S&C by start-ups and early-stage companies.

(c)

Leverage “Queen Bee” companies to drive wider adoption of standards across supply chains, working with such companies to demonstrate the real business impact of adopting standards and certifications.

Second pillar: Strengthening and scaling Singapore’s S&C ecosystem

EnterpriseSG will:

(a)

Leverage regulatory sandboxes to shape and pilot standards in emerging areas, ahead of broader market adoption. This includes piloting cross-agency regulatory sandboxes (e.g., embodied AI), where new S&C frameworks can be validated and refined in real-world conditions before formalisation, while managing risk.

(b)

Develop local expertise in strategic sectors, growing a strong pipeline of professionals with deep technical expertise and a strong command of the governing S&C frameworks in emerging areas, including AI, bioinformatics, and digital health.

(c)

Attract, anchor, and build TIC capabilities to address emerging regional market opportunities, establishing and expanding strategic partnerships locally and globally, and anchoring niche competencies in key and emerging areas such as carbon and AI.

Third pillar: Strengthening Singapore’s role in regional and global S&C ecosystems

Singapore will:

(a)

Enhance local and international partnerships by deepening collaborations with regional and international stakeholders to shape standards, drive harmonisation and expand mutual recognition.

This includes deepening ASEAN standards cooperation in emerging technologies and sustainability to ensure the relevance and coherence of industry practices, and address cross-border technical barriers.

(b)

Strengthen bilateral and multilateral agreements to ease market entry, lower compliance costs and help companies accelerate market access and secure trade opportunities.

Memoranda of Understanding

EnterpriseSG formalised five Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) signed with international and regional partners on 11 June 2026, reflecting strong interest in collaboration in Critical and Emerging Technologies

(CET), AI and sustainability. The MOUs are as follows:

(a)

Deepening cooperation in CET: The MOU with the American National Standards Institute (ANSI)

aims to establish a bilateral framework for cooperation on standardisation, conformity assessment, and information exchange. The initial focus will cover CET, including AI, Quantum Technologies,

Biotechnology, and Additive Manufacturing.

© WongPartnership LLP

DISCLAIMER: This update is intended for your general information only. It is not intended to be nor should it be regarded as or relied upon as legal advice. You should consult a qualified legal professional before taking any action or omitting to take action in relation to matters discussed herein.

WongPartnership LLP (UEN: T08LL0003B) is a limited liability law partnership registered in Singapore under the Limited Liability Partnerships

Act 2005.

(b)

Advancing AI pre-standardisation: A multilateral MOU with the British Standards Institution (BSI),

Korean Agency for Technology and Standards (KATS), Standards Australia (SA), and Standards

Council of Canada (SCC) will bridge the gap between rapid AI development and formal standardisation processes. The MOU covers knowledge exchange and capacity building, technical collaboration on the co-development of toolkits, frameworks, and implementation guidance as key pre-standardisation materials, cross-border test-bedding and pilots in priority sectors such as healthcare, and coordination in international standards forums to align positions and jointly contribute new proposals to ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 42.

(c)

Expanding regional collaboration: A multilateral MOU with the National Commission for

Standards, Metrology and Quality of Viet Nam (STAMEQ) and the National Standardization Agency of Indonesia (BSN) will enhance regional capacity building in AI standards and conformance. The

MOU covers knowledge exchange and capacity building through joint workshops, seminars, and roundtables on best practices for AI standardisation and conformity assessment, and information sharing and coordination in international standards forums.

(d)

Strengthening carbon markets and sustainability: Two MOUs with Gold Standard Foundation and Verra will enhance assurance frameworks for carbon projects and credits. These partnerships will support Singapore’s position as a trusted regional hub for carbon services and trading. The

MOUs will recognise the Singapore Accreditation Council (SAC) as the partner accreditation body for

Gold Standard Foundation and Verra, with accreditation serving as a prerequisite for Validation and

Verification Bodies (VVBs) seeking approval under each organisation’s accreditation programmes.

If you would like information and/or assistance on the above or any other area of law, you may wish to contact the Partner at WongPartnership whom you normally work with or any of the following Partners:

LAM Chung Nian

Head – Intellectual Property,

Technology & Data d: +65 6416 8271

e: chungnian.lam@wongpartnership.com

Click here to view Chung Nian’s CV.

Kylie PEH

Partner – Intellectual Property,

Technology & Data d: +65 6416 8259

e: kylie.peh@wongpartnership.com

Click here to view Kylie’s CV.

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