Hansard, Thursday, 2 March 2023

1 Mr Yip Hon Weng asked the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance with the revision of Annual Values (AV) of most residential properties in 2023 (a) what are the communication plans to seniors that social support schemes will not be affected by this revision, as AVs as of 2022 will be used to determine scheme eligibility in 2023; and (b) what are the plans for scheme eligibility for 2024.

Mr Speaker, MOF had earlier issued a media statement to explain that the criteria for the Government’s social support schemes in 2023 will not be affected by the latest Annual Values (AVs) revision, as the AVs as of 2022 are used to determine scheme eligibility. We are also working with the Silver Generation Office (SGO) to engage seniors and provide them this assurance.

For many of our social support schemes, no application is required and Singaporeans receive the support automatically as long as they are eligible. These include the cash payments and MediSave top-ups under the GST Voucher scheme and the Assurance Package.

The Government regularly reviews our social support schemes, including the AV thresholds, to ensure that Singaporeans in need of support receive it.

Mr Yip.

I thank the Senior Minister of State for his response. Just two supplementary questions. How will the Government monitor and encourage seniors who are eligible in 2023 to continue to apply for social support that needs application, as some may not know? And two, how much lead time will the Government give to let seniors and their families know the scheme eligibility in 2024?

Sir, these are ongoing engagements and communications with our seniors. Part of it, we will go through the Silver Generation Office. The face-to-face interactions between our Silver Generation Ambassadors and the seniors would be helpful, to explain to them some of these schemes and what they are eligible for. We also rely on other means of communications, including the mass media.

2 Mr Leon Perera asked the Minister for Trade and Industry (a) what is the pattern of funding from the National Productivity Fund (NPF) by industry in the past five years; (b) whether the NPF uses research to benchmark Singapore's productivity according to sectors with other developed countries and when deciding how much to fund each sector; and (c) whether NPF is also funding initiatives undertaken by trade associations and business chambers in addition to Government agencies.

Mr Speaker, Sir, over the past five years, the National Productivity Fund (NPF) has disbursed over $1 billion across 47 projects relating to productivity improvements and continuing education and training (CET). About half was spent on productivity improvement projects and the other half was spent on CET programmes.

Some of the larger projects funded by the NPF include sector-specific schemes like the Construction Productivity and Capability Fund, as well as schemes that support enterprise and workforce transformation like the Inclusive Growth Programme and the SkillsFuture Enterprise Credit scheme. Projects supported by NPF complement our wider range of schemes and projects in driving productivity improvements.

In identifying areas for productivity improvement, sector agencies take into account feedback from the industry, best practices from Singapore and globally, as well as relevant benchmarking studies. For example, to identify suitable interventions for greater productivity in the retail and food services sectors, productivity benchmarking studies were commissioned on industry performance and efficiency in areas such as labour and space, in Singapore and overseas.

The design and implementation of projects are done in close collaboration and/or consultation with trade associations (TACs) and the Employment and Employability Institute (e2i). Working with the relevant TACs helps ensure that initiatives are designed to meet the needs of the industry. For example, the Hotel Innovation Committee (HIC), in an effort led by the Singapore Hotel Association (SHA) and supported by the Singapore Tourism Board (STB), steered the sector to adopt technology solutions to raise productivity.

The HIC developed initiatives like the Hotel Technology Directory to connect industry players with technology solution providers as they sought to transform their business processes. This has helped spur the adoption of solutions such as the self-check-in technology that is integrated with STB’s E-Visitor Authentication system, robotics and RFID tracking.

Mr Leon Perera.

I thank the Minister of State for her reply. Just a few supplementary questions. Firstly, to confirm my understanding, does the NPF restrict its funding to other Government agencies, to support the projects that those agencies are running, or is the NPF also open to funding TACs, business chambers or even individual companies for their productivity enhancement efforts?

The second supplementary question is, is the approach taken by the NPF more proactive or reactive, or is it a blend of both? Meaning to say that, can any organisation pitch a project to the NPF to request funding or is it the case that the NPF is not really open to that sort of modus operandi and they will just determine what sectors or what projects they want to do in any particular year?

And thirdly, I am wondering if the NPF makes easily available online a statement of its objectives, its KPIs, its strategies, maybe a review of what it has done in the past year. Many Statutory Boards and agencies do have their annual reports online where the CEO will talk about the agencies' priorities, what they did in the previous year, what their goals are for the coming year and so on. I found it quite difficult to search for this information – and I stand corrected if I just did not try hard enough – and I only found some information on the NPF for 2010 and 2017. For 2017, I was able to find the annual report; it is a very brief annual report and I found it through the National Archives website, actually. So, I was just wondering if this information is easily available and if not, will it be made easily available, going forward, given the tremendous amount of funding that is going into the NPF?

Two on observations. Please keep it concise and a reminder to try to keep it to two supplementary questions. Do not sneak in a third one.

Thank you, Mr Speaker, Sir. I want to thank the Member Mr Leon Perera for his three questions. Allow me to take a step back to recap.

Mr Leon Perera and Members would remember that the NPF was set up in 2010 to support programmes relating to productivity enhancement as well as Continuing Education and Training (CET). It came about because of the Economic Strategies Committee (ESC). It was part of the wider push for productivity growth arising from the ESC recommendations.

The NPF has been set up since 2010, so it has been about 13 years. The NPF, especially since the formation of the Future Economy Council, also supports the work of the 23 Industry Transformation Maps (ITMs). The Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) Committee of Supply (COS) on Tuesday has highlighted the work of the ITMs.

The ITMs are not just under the purview of MTI and our nine economic agencies. Some of the other agencies and Ministries are involved. For example, for the build environment, the Building Construction Authority (BCA) is very involved in spearheading the built environment ITM.

The NPF supports the work of the Future Economy Council that drives the growth and the transformation of Singapore's economy for the future. You would remember that for the ITMs, there are a few pillars. Productivity is one important pillar. Innovation, internationalisation, creating good jobs for Singaporeans today and tomorrow.

So, the establishment and the top-up for the NPF highlights the Singapore Government's strong commitment towards productivity enhancement and CET.

I want to assure the Member that the productivity projects that are funded by the NPF complements the wide range of schemes and projects, not just in MTI but, like I said, across the Ministries and agencies in improving productivity of all sectors of the economy.

I gave the number for the disbursement over the last five years. At this juncture, let me share one number, for a sense of our overall progress in productivity improvements. Our labour productivity growth rate was 2.6% per annum in the last five years, prior to COVID-19. This is consistent with the target growth rate of 2% to 3% set in 2010 when the NPF was set up.

The Member also asked about TACs. The work of the ITM is such that the sector agency cannot create policies in isolation. We have to work with the TACs because they play a very important role, advocating for the sector, bridging the communication with the sector and connecting the sector together, being a voice for the sector. The TACs are very involved.

In my reply to the Parliamentary Question (PQ), you would have heard me using the example of the hotels. STB works closely with SHA to bring that about. That is really how we get buy-in to level up the productivity across the sector, sector by sector and in fact, sub-sector by sub-sector. Whether it is the hotel, retail, food services or construction sectors, and so on.

The Member also asked whether companies can apply for NPF funding. The companies that are interested can certainly approach the sector agencies or even the TACs that might be involved. I want to share with him that the funds from the NPF are used to support meritorious productivity and CET schemes. Each of the project will have different criteria to meet, whether it is the vertical sectoral-specific ones or the horizontal ones.

To the Member's last question to make available more information, this is certainly done across all ITMs, sharing about how we are working together with the TACs, companies in the sector and trade unions. The various trade unions are very involved in working with the TACs and the sector agencies to curate these jobs and also to implement the productivity drive.

Let me share this, if Mr Speaker could indulge me. I talked about hotels. Let me cite the example of Tranche 2 of the hotel productivity plan —

I will indulge to a point.

Thank you, Mr Speaker. The plan was completed in March 2022, just last year, with a $1.36 million of grant disbursed for a duration of 2016 to 2022. Amongst the eight initiatives under the hotel productivity plan, one of them is to proliferate shared services at the group level.

STB has exceeded the KPI in this initiative. I will not bore you with the details but I will highlight how it has done so. It embarked on more than 40 projects at group level to encourage our hotels to develop centralised systems in areas like IT, HR, property management, customer management, and also to adopt shared services such as group level branding and marketing. And in so doing, to raise the productivity such that we can create better well-paying jobs for Singaporeans.

Mr Perera, a quick one, please.

I will keep it to two and I thank you for your indulgence, Mr Speaker, Sir. First, to confirm my understanding, the NPF, if I read the Minister of State correctly, only funds other Government agencies and programmes. It does not give funding directly to TACs or to companies.

The second supplementary question is, would the Ministry commit to making available clear statements online of what the NPF activities are, what its goals are, what its priorities are, based on the research that it is doing and to make this available to the members of the public?

Mr Speaker, I will also keep it short.

Yes, please.

I want to thank the Member for his two supplementary questions. The NPF is available for the Ministries and agencies to tap into to spearhead productivity enhancement projects and CET that will benefit the TACs and the sector. In a way, the TACs and the companies are tapping on the funding as well.

For the second question, as our companies and workers benefit from a wide range of schemes, in addition to the NPF, the various schemes are also subject to scrutiny. I want to assure him that within the NPF, we regularly monitor the progress of the project that is funded by NPF to ensure they meet project level targets. For example, the hotel productivity plan I shared. And that is just one initiative. We will monitor how they have met the targets and the KPIs, item by item, such as number of firms or individuals who benefited from the projects.

I also want to assure him that MTI economists also conduct regular studies to examine the individual impact of key schemes under NPF.

3 Mr Yip Hon Weng asked the Minister for Social and Family Development (a) whether the Ministry will consider under the simplified track to grant default approvals for uncontested deputyship applications from the spouse or children of individuals who are assessed as lacking mental capacity; and (b) If not, what are the reasons for not implementing this approach.

Mr Speaker, the Court today can already approve a Deputyship application without a hearing, if it is uncontested.

Very good. Mr Yip Hon Weng.

I thank the Senior Parliamentary Secretary for his very quick answer. I am heartened to know that this option is already available today. How can the Government increase awareness of this option as many may not know and how long will this process take?

Mr Speaker, I thank the Member for his supplementary question. Like him, I am concerned about the awareness as well as update, of not just the awareness of the Lasting Power of Attorney (LPAs) but also relevant instruments. So, rest assured that we will continue to work with Government agencies as well as community groups to make sure that awareness and take-up of these instruments are enhanced in future.

4 Mr Leon Perera asked the Minister for Trade and Industry of the 1,000 companies that qualify under Condition 1 of the Manpower for Strategic Economic Priorities scheme, what is the breakdown of the number between foreign companies and local enterprises.

All Manpower for Strategic Economic Priorities (M-SEP) beneficiaries are locally incorporated or registered business entities. They would need to be as such in order to hire Work Permit or S Pass holders to benefit from the M-SEP scheme.

Let us keep the ball rolling. Mr Leon Perera, please.

I thank the Minister for his concise answer. My question was really, of the 1,000 or so who are qualified, how many are locally owned businesses as opposed to foreign MNCs?

I have another supplementary question, which is relating to the press release that was put up by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM). The press release said that "at the end of the two-year period, firms would have to demonstrate that they maintained their local workforce share during this period". So, the M-SEP scheme is actually allowing firms to hire more work pass and S Pass holders during the two-year period.

I just wanted to clarify, what that sentence is referring to: at the end of the two-year period, firms would also have to maintain their local workforce share. Because, if you are allowed to hire more of these work pass and S Pass holders, by definition, would your local workforce share not go down at the end of that two-year period? Unless you are not exercising as a company, the ability to hire more of those, which would also defeat the point of the scheme. I just want to clarify that.

Mr Speaker, I beg your indulgence because this needs a bit of time to go through.

To the Member’s first supplementary question, the actual proportion depends on the firms which successfully apply for the initiatives listed, which is under Condition 1. Under Condition 1, in terms of fulfilment of the M-SEP scheme, there are 16 programmes that are listed. For me to go through the exact details of the M-SEP scheme itself, perhaps the Member could separately file a Parliamentary Question. I am happy to walk the Member through.

So, that is the qualifying criteria.

Of the firms today that are currently eligible for M-SEP, about 40% of them have local shareholding of at least 30%. Having local shareholding is not a prerequisite for M-SEP. What is more important in the entire M-SEP scheme is that they contribute to our growth and they create opportunities for Singaporeans. Hence, these firms must be locally incorporated or registered.

In this particular way, M-SEP is very selective in targeting firms or investments which will grow our economy and our competitiveness. And to be part of these programmes, the firms would have been working closely with our economic agencies like Economic Development Board (EDB) or Enterprise Singapore (ESG).

To the Member's second point in terms of the end of the two-year period, it should not be taken in isolation. If you look at the overall flow in terms of the scheme from the fulfilment of Condition 1, then the two-year mark in terms of a higher concentration of foreign workforce or that potential should not be any impediment whatsoever. Because the ultimate fulfilment of the conditions is really about growing our economy, our competitiveness and at the same time, making sure that our locals continue to be put up front in terms of training and in terms of upskilling.

Mr Perera.

I thank the Minister for his reply. Just a very quick one on the second supplementary question. In terms of this reference “at the end of the two-year period where you have to maintain your local workforce share”, if I understand the Minister correctly, I suppose that is referring to just maintain the absolute number of locals that the firm is hiring, rather than the share of locals as a percentage. Is that the correct understanding?

I thank the Member for his persistence in trying to extract some measure so that he can come back in two years' time and put a check. The entire focus as I have spent over an hour yesterday in my Committee of Supply (COS) speech doing, is to focus on levelling up our competitiveness, maintaining our lead against the whole business world.

Therefore, it is important that in the scheme that we put up – and today given where we are, we have actually very tightly scoped these companies that qualify under the M-SEP scheme.

So, you should look at it from that context.

In the broader macroeconomics of how we look at our workforce, and the overall change, the one-third to two-third ratio will still maintain. If you are going to look at one particular aspect of the entire plethora of schemes that we have available and say that this particular scheme is going to result in over-concentration, that is not going to happen. I hope that gives you enough reassurance.

This is again very tightly scoped. These are companies that EDB and ESG work very closely with and the number of work passes that is going to be awarded through M-SEP would not move the needle significantly. It is really meant to see how we can provide these companies to have a leg-up to fulfil our strategic economic priorities.

Order. End of Question Time. The Clerk will now proceed to read the Order of the Day.

[ Pursuant to Standing Order No 22(3), provided that Members had not asked for questions standing in their names to be postponed to a later Sitting day or withdrawn, written answers to questions not reached by the end of Question Time are reproduced in the Appendix.]

[(proc text) Order read for consideration in Committee of Supply [5th Allotted Day].(proc text)]

[Mr Speaker in the Chair]

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

[(proc text) Resumption of Debate on Question [1 March 2023], (proc text)]

[(proc text) "That the total sum to be allocated for Head L of the Estimates be reduced by $100." – [Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang]. (proc text)]

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

Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu.

Mr Chairman, before I address the cuts filed by Members, I would like to thank many Members who spoke on sustainability during the Budget debate. In particular, Prof Koh Lian Pin's call for climate change and sustainability to always be among the bread-and-butter issues we focus on. And Ms Carrie Tan's motto to Share More, Use Less, Waste Not, resonated with me. Senior Minister Teo Chee Hean also spoke about our raised climate ambition and the urgent need for climate action. He explained that a whole-of-nation effort was needed to transition to a greener future.

This nationwide effort is underpinned by the Singapore Green Plan 2030, which we launched two years ago. The Green Plan charts bold and concrete policies and actions for Singapore to achieve our net-zero emissions goal. It serves as a critical compass on our path to sustainability. My colleagues from other Ministries have been or will be providing updates on their green plan initiatives over the Committee of Supply (COS) debate.

We must press on with this intergenerational effort to steward a green, liveable and climate-resilient home for Singaporeans and our future generations. Today, my colleagues from the Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment (MSE) and I will share how we are laying the foundations for a green nation that is Climate-Resilient and Climate-Friendly.

First, I will elaborate on how we are leading, enabling and facilitating Singapore's transition to a climate-friendly nation.

The public sector will lead the way for Singapore's decarbonisation journey and pave the way for green efforts to take root. Under the GreenGov.SG initiative, the public sector has committed to achieving net-zero emissions around 2045, five years ahead of our national target. Prof Koh Lian Pin and Mr Don Wee asked for a progress update.

To spearhead the effort, we have appointed Singapore's first Government Chief Sustainability Officer (GCSO). Each Ministry has also appointed a Chief Sustainability Officer to oversee sustainability matters across their Ministry family. They will work closely with the GCSO to develop and coordinate strategies to meet this ambition.

Our public sector agencies are pushing ahead with decarbonising their systems and processes. For instance, the National Environment Agency (NEA) is working with Keppel Seghers on a joint feasibility study to capture carbon dioxide emitted from Waste-to-Energy plants.

Ms Poh Li San asked about PUB's decarbonisation plans and solutions. PUB has also committed to achieve net-zero emissions around 2045, in line with our GreenGov.SG ambition. Their decarbonisation strategy is underpinned by 3Rs – Reduce, Replace and Remove.

First, PUB will reduce carbon emissions by improving the efficiency of energy-intensive processes such as desalination and NEWater. It targets to reduce the energy consumption for desalination from 3.5 to less than 2 kilowatt-hour per cubic meter by 2025. PUB's upcoming Tuas Water Reclamation Plant (WRP) will be fully energy self-sufficient by harnessing synergies with NEA's Integrated Waste Management Facility.

Next, PUB will also replace carbon-based energy sources with renewable energy, including solar. We are already home to one of the world's largest floating solar farms at Tengeh Reservoir. We are deploying the next floating solar farms at Pandan Reservoir and plan to call the tender for this later this year.

PUB is also exploring innovative technologies to remove carbon. In partnership with the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), PUB is test-bedding the use of novel electrolysis technology to capture carbon dioxide in seawater as part of the desalination process. This will produce hydrogen and pre-treated seawater so that it can be desalinated at lower energy.

Mr Don Wee and Miss Cheryl Chan will be pleased to hear that from this financial year onwards, the Government will publish an annual GreenGov.SG report, the report will show our efforts, progress and plans. We will start with reporting Scope 1 and 2 emissions, electricity and water consumption with reference to international standards and frameworks.

From FY2024, all Statutory Boards will also make their annual environmental sustainability disclosures. Several statutory boards have started making sustainability disclosures. They have been systematically incorporating sustainability in their decision-making and risk management frameworks to achieve concrete sustainability outcomes.

As Mr Don Wee, Mr Louis Ng and Prof Koh pointed out, the public sector can drive the nation's transition to a green economy by leveraging on its procurement budget. Let me elaborate on our plans for green procurement in the public sector.

The public sector has adopted green procurement since 2007. Thus far, we have introduced sustainability requirements for selected goods and services. For example, Information and Communications Technology (ICT) equipment, electrical appliances and printing paper must first meet environmental standards before they are assessed on price and quality attributes.

Building on this foundation, we intend to raise the bar. Starting from 2024, besides pre-qualifying the products on environmental standards, we will also consider the sustainability practices of the company we buy from. As announced by Senior Minister of State for Finance, Mr Chee Hong Tat, we will start with large construction and ICT tenders. These make up more than 60% of the value of Government procurement contracts. Such projects include public infrastructure, industrial buildings and office ICT equipment contracts.

Using ICT as an example, in addition to the requirement of matching the best-in-class in energy efficiency, we may evaluate the efforts of the tenderers in reducing packaging and carbon footprint of their operations, when we evaluate the tender bids.

As this is a new concept, we will start with setting aside up to 5% of the evaluation points for environmental sustainability. We will review the amount and engage industry closely as we expand the adoption of sustainability criteria to more public sector procurement sectors.

Mr Don Wee asked if such efforts to green the public sector will entail additional costs. Environmental sustainability is not costless and we will have to pay a bit more for greener goods and services. But as the world decarbonises, the demand for green products and services will grow.

And green procurement in the public sector will encourage suppliers to adopt sustainability practices and develop green products and services. Thereby, enhancing the growth of the green economy in Singapore and the competitiveness of our companies globally. The Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) had outlined initiatives that support businesses in adopting sustainability practices, such as measuring carbon emissions sustainability reporting and seizing opportunities in the green economy.

I hope that these initiatives under GreenGov.SG will spur many in the private sector to follow suit, in publishing their own sustainability reports and incorporating sustainability considerations in their procurement policies. Together as a nation, we can transform our economy.

This leads me to talk about enabling the transformation through partnering businesses and the community. Building a green nation requires the participation of all – businesses, communities and persons. The Government cannot do it alone and all of us must work closely alongside each other, as partners, to deliver on the Green Plan.

We will be raising our carbon tax progressively over the next few years to further incentivise carbon and energy efficiency throughout the economy and society. The Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) had addressed queries on allowances under the transition framework that Miss Cheryl Chan asked about.

As raised by Prof Koh, we will allow companies to use high-quality international carbon credits or ICCs, to offset up to 5% of their taxable emissions. We will publish a whitelist of acceptable ICCs later this year, which will include eligible host countries, carbon crediting programmes and methodologies.

Businesses should do more with less. Creating more products and services with less resources and less waste will raise their competitiveness in the long run, particularly against higher carbon and energy prices.

Businesses must invest in energy efficient equipment or manufacturing processes. Some upfront costs may be incurred. However, over the long run, lower energy and resource use will lead to lower costs over the equipment's lifecycle. Mr Gan Thiam Poh asked about the support provided for businesses, including SMEs, in making this upfront investment.

We recognise that upfront capital investment can be challenging for our businesses, particularly SMEs. To support an inclusive transition, we will help SMEs make the switch. Enterprise Singapore introduced the Energy Efficiency Grant (EEG) for food services, food manufacturing and retail sectors last year. NEA also enhanced the Energy Efficiency Fund (E2F) for manufacturing companies to invest in energy efficient equipment.

One SME that benefited from the enhanced E2F is ACP Metal Finishing Private Limited (ACP), which specialises in metal surface treatments and finishes. ACP tapped on the enhanced E2F to replace over a thousand fluorescent lightings in its facilities with more energy efficient LED lightings. The E2F funded 70% of the $60,000 project cost. With these retrofits, the company improved the energy efficiency of its operations. They enjoyed annual energy savings of about $30,000 which represents a payback period of less than a year with support from the E2F.

I am happy to announce that we will further enhance the Energy Efficiency Fund to provide manufacturing companies with certainty of the grant amount, upfront, when they invest in energy efficient equipment. We will also further simplify the grant application process by streamlining the measurement and verification requirements. I encourage eligible companies, particularly our SMEs to tap the enhanced scheme to defray the cost of switching to more energy efficient equipment. This will enhance their competitiveness, as they participate in the greening of our economy.

Mr Gan and Dr Lim Wee Kiak also called for support for households to be more energy efficient. With rising number of households, more working from home and usage of appliances, increasing energy efficiency in our homes is more important than ever.

Our energy labels, with the number of ticks, have enabled consumers to make informed decisions when purchasing appliances. I am heartened that more consumers are choosing appliances with higher energy efficiency. Suppliers have noticed this and are responding by expanding their offering of energy efficient appliances.

We will enhance these efforts. We will add energy labels to portable air-conditioners and more types of lamps next year. The standards of air-conditioners, refrigerators, lamps and televisions will also be raised over the next two years to lock in efficiency gains and remove less efficient appliances from the market. These will help to further reduce energy consumption in our households and help consumers reduce their utility bills by choosing more energy efficient appliances. Mr Chairman, in Mandarin, please.

(In Mandarin): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] We recognise that purchasing energy efficient appliances may involve some additional costs upfront, in order to benefit from lower utility bills in the long run. Some families may have difficulty making the payment. We introduced the Climate Friendly Households (CFH) Programme in 2020 to help households in 1- to 3-room HDB flats offset the higher cost of energy- and water-efficient household appliances.

For example, last year, a family bought a 3-tick refrigerator that cost about $800. A comparable 2-tick model would cost about $200 less. With the $150 climate voucher, they could offset most of the higher cost of the 3-tick model, on top of further savings in their monthly electricity bill.

We have been working with community partners to increase awareness of the Programme, through outreach activities to residents, posters at community clubs, and digital display panels at HDB blocks. We have also worked with retailers to display CFH Programme collaterals on eligible appliances for easy identification and reminder. I urge eligible households to tap on the climate vouchers to switch to more efficient appliances and fittings.

We will be extending and expanding the eligibility criteria of the Climate Friendly Households Programme. This will enable more households to be eligible for the scheme, to tap on the vouchers and to benefit from bigger savings in their utility bills. More details on the programme's extension, as well as the list of eligible appliances, will be released later this year, likely to be effective in the following financial year.

(In English): Aside from increasing efficiency, circularity is another avenue of being climate-friendly. Senior Minister of State Amy Khor will elaborate further on our efforts towards a zero waste nation, in particular, to reduce packaging waste and boost our recycling rate. She will also share about continued efforts to partner hawkers in ensuring Singapore's treasured hawker culture is safeguarded for years to come.

Grants and policies are but tools and enablers. To unlock the next bound of the green transition, we must change our collective mindsets and behaviours. Individually, our actions may feel insignificant, but collectively, we can build a new social compact necessary for a green Singapore.

The Government has been facilitating the green transition through our engagements and partnerships with the community under our Forward Singapore Steward Pillar. Prof Koh asked for an update. He will be heartened to hear that many Singaporeans share our ambitions and hopes for a greener Singapore and have great ideas to help us get there.

To date, over 1,400 Singaporeans ranging from the youth to the elderly have attended close to 20 engagement sessions under the Forward Singapore Steward Pillar. The engagements focused on the challenges and trade-offs in fiscal and environmental sustainability topics, such as our net-zero ambition, resource circularity, coastal and flood resilience and food security.

In a dialogue with seniors at Toa Payoh, I was particularly inspired by their ideas and enthusiasm towards recycling and reducing their carbon footprint. I remember Mr Wang, who sold his car and switched to cycling after the completion of a MRT station in his neighbourhood. He is also a handyman, repairing discarded electrical appliances regularly for his neighbours to reuse. We can certainly take a leaf out of the book of these residents in embodying the spirit of stewardship.

In a bid to turn more of these ideas into action, we have launched the Green Nation Pledge. We are calling on individuals and organisations to pledge as a contributor, advocate or champion. More than 350 educational institutions and organisations representing 200,000 employees and students and more than 10,000 individuals have made Green Nation Pledges thus far.

My Ministry will continue to facilitate ground-up sustainability initiatives and partner the community in building a green nation. Senior Parliamentary Secretary Baey will share more on our efforts in his speech and also about our efforts on public health resilience.

Mr Chairman, the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report found that the Southeast Asia region is one of the most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.

Rising sea levels pose an existential threat to us. We are especially at risk as a low-lying island state. We also expect significant increases in temperature and extreme weather patterns by the end of the century. The impacts of climate change are far-reaching and have downstream implications on food security when harvests are affected and on water security when sources of water dry up during heatwaves.

My Ministry is laying the foundation for Singapore to be a climate-ready nation. I will elaborate on how we will bolster our water security and Senior Minister of State Koh Poh Koon will share how we are shoring up our coastal defences, inland flood protection and food resilience.

Singapore has four national taps – water from local catchments, imported water, NEWater and desalinated water. NEWater and desalinated water are weather-resilient sources. In addressing the threats of climate change, we will invest further in these weather-resilient taps.

Ms Poh has asked for an update on our water infrastructure. We will increase the capacity and efficiency of desalination capabilities. Last year, we opened our fifth desalination plant – the Jurong Island Desalination Plant (JIDP). It is co-located with the Tembusu Multi-Utilities Complex (TMUC). This enables the plant to be about 5% more energy efficient compared to earlier desalination plants.

We will strengthen our systems for managing used water and recycling it into NEWater. Used water is a precious resource that can be recycled endlessly to fortify our water resilience.

We capture our used water through our Deep Tunnel Sewerage System (DTSS) – a network of deep tunnels that form a superhighway for our used water. The used water travels through the DTSS by gravity to Water Reclamation Plants (WRPs) and NEWater factories. They are then collected, treated and reclaimed to produce NEWater.

When completed, the DTSS will reduce by 50% the amount of land that would otherwise have been needed for used water infrastructure. This is significant in land-scarce Singapore and will make room for more spaces for Singaporeans to live, work and play.

We are making good progress on DTSS Phase 2 and expect tunnelling works to be completed by the second half of this year. This will connect the existing Changi WRP on the eastern side and the upcoming Tuas WRP in the west. The Tuas WRP will be completed by 2026, alongside the new Tuas NEWater Factory.

We will be redeveloping the Kranji Water Reclamation Plant and NEWater Factory in the north as the new piece of our three-node DTSS. Preliminary design will commence this year. Together, these developments will strengthen Singapore's water reclamation system, increase the treatment capacity of used water and bolster our NEWater production.

Efforts to secure our water supply must be accompanied by efforts to manage our water demand. Mr Gan asked about our efforts in improving water efficiency in the non-domestic sector. The non-domestic sector currently accounts for more than half of our total water demand and can play a big part in water conservation.

We have required large water users to establish water management systems and submit annual plans for water efficiency to PUB, under the Mandatory Water Efficiency Management Practices. Through this exercise, large water users are made aware of water intensive parts of their operations and identify opportunities to increase efficiency.

To further improve water efficiency in the non-domestic sector, PUB will introduce mandatory recycling requirements on new and expansion projects in industries that have high water consumption. These are namely the wafer fabrication, electronics and biomedical industries. They are water intensive and have high potential for water recycling. PUB will also enhance the incentive schemes to encourage companies to go beyond the mandatory recycling rate. This will come into effect on 1 January 2024. More details will be released later.

Households can play a part through sustainable living practices and being mindful of our consumption. It is easy to take for granted that clean water is available in every household today. It is unfathomable that 60 years ago, water rationing was imposed in Singapore. The water supply had to be cut off for 12 hours, three times a week, for about eight months. We must, therefore, continue to promote water conservation among our population.

A resilient water supply is critical in safeguarding our water needs from external shocks arising from climate and environmental impacts. The Singapore Water Story is one that must carry through to future generations. And that is the goal of a green nation: to steward a green, liveable and climate-resilient home. A home that is sustainable and will last for generations. The Government will lay the foundations for a green Singapore that is climate-friendly and climate-ready, but we will only make headway if this is a shared vision and if we all take collective steps along this journey.

I invite businesses to partner us in being catalytic agents to the transition, by moving ahead of the curve to bring about the next bound of sustainability. I invite the community to partner us in building a social compact that will make us the greenest generation so far. I invite everyone to partner us in building a green nation together. [Applause.]

Senior Minister of State Dr Amy Khor.

Chairman, let me now elaborate on our vision for a zero-waste nation and my pet topic – no, not smoking, but hawkers and hawker centres.

Since the launch of the Zero Waste Masterplan in 2019, my Ministry and NEA have taken concrete steps to move from a throwaway culture towards a more sustainable paradigm. We are making good progress, addressing our priorities waste streams of electronic waste, or e-waste, packaging waste and food waste.

Mr Louis Ng asked for an update on the e-waste Extended Producer Responsibility, or EPR, scheme that was implemented in July 2021. Since then, we have more than doubled the number of nationwide e-waste collection points, from 300 to over 700 today. These collection points are situated at accessible locations, like community centres and shopping malls.

To date, ALBA, the appointed Producer Responsibility Scheme operator, has collected more than 9,000 tonnes of e-waste. It is a start, but is only a fraction of our collection targets. Since 1 July 2021, for Information Communication Technology (ICT) equipment, batteries and lamps, the collection rate is under 4%. We have done better for large household appliances, with a collection rate of 18%. There is still much room for improvement.

Together with ALBA, we will roll out extensive publicity and outreach efforts throughout the year, across various marketing and online platforms, focusing on events such as International E-waste Day in October. ALBA has also worked with all 17 Town Councils to organise quarterly collection drives at housing estates to collect bulky e-waste.

On 6 February 2023, I moved the Resource Sustainability (Amendment) Bill for first reading. There will be a full debate on the Bill during the Second Reading.

Today, I will share more details on two key initiatives under the Bill: a disposable carrier bag charge and a beverage container return scheme. They are decisive steps to reduce packaging waste and increase recycling, including single-use plastics.

First, on the disposable carrier bag charge. By making the cost of disposable bags visible to consumers, the charge will nudge consumers to be mindful of and reduce their usage of disposable bags.

Based on NEA's 2021 survey of around 1,000 residents, close to 90% agreed that they had a part to play in reducing the usage of disposable carrier bags. More than 70% also agreed that a mandatory charge will help to reduce the usage of these bags.

From Monday, 3 July 2023, supermarket operators with a company-level annual turnover of more than $100 million will be required to charge at least five cents per disposable carrier bag at their Singapore Food Agency (SFA)-licensed supermarket outlets. Following consultations with supermarket operators, we understand that the majority will be charging five cents per bag, and this would moderate potential cost impact on consumers. We can avoid the charge by bringing our own reusable bags.

The mandatory charge will cover around 400, or about two-thirds, of all supermarket outlets. These include large supermarket chains, such as FairPrice, Cold Storage, Giant and Sheng Siong. These supermarkets will be easily identifiable through collaterals displayed at their premises. The mandatory charge would not apply at other retail outlets, such as convenience stores, as suggested by Mr Ng. Nevertheless, I note that many retailers already charge for bags voluntarily, including large convenience store chains, such as 7-Eleven and Cheers. We will monitor the effectiveness of the charge and assess the need to expand the mandatory coverage in the future.

The charge will apply to all disposable carrier bags, not just plastic bags, as all bags require resources and generate carbon emissions during their production and disposal. Other similar schemes in Hong Kong, Taiwan and the UK, have led to a reduction of plastic bags used by 60% to 90%.

We have heard concerns about supermarket operators profiting from the charge. I am happy to share that all covered supermarket operators have indicated that they intend to apply the charge proceeds towards environmental and social causes. For transparency and accountability, supermarket operators will be required to publish information on the number of bags issued, amount of proceeds collected and how the proceeds are used.

Mr Gan Thiam Poh asked how we can balance the charge and the need for bags for waste disposal. The charge will not remove the public's access to disposable bags. Bags will still be available at supermarkets and other retail outlets. By reducing waste and recycling right, we will require fewer bags for waste disposal. Additionally, we can repurpose product packaging to bag waste, including toilet roll bags or packaging from online purchases.

Second, a beverage container return scheme, which Mr Gan mentioned. The scheme is part of an EPR approach to manage packaging waste. Beverage producers will be responsible for collecting and recycling the products they put to market.

Consumers will pay a small deposit when buying a pre-packaged beverage and receive a full refund when the empty beverage container is returned for recycling at a conveniently located return point. The scheme will cultivate recycling habits and aggregate clean and high-quality recyclables, which can be made into new products.

The scheme framework has been developed following extensive stakeholder consultations since 2020. Around 80% of 1,000 households surveyed in 2021 generally supported implementing the scheme.

The scheme will cover plastic bottles and metal cans of volumes ranging from 150 to 3,000 millilitres, for all types of pre-packaged beverages. Plastic bottles and metal cans comprise about 70% of beverage containers put to market. They are easy to collect, compactible and have high material value.

Similar schemes have been implemented in over 50 jurisdictions, such as Norway and Sweden. Many have seen return rates increase to over 80%. For Singapore's beverage container return scheme, NEA will set an 80% return rate target on the scheme operator at steady state. With this, we expect about 800 million plastic bottles and metal cans to be returned for recycling annually.

Even as we strengthen legislation to drive behaviour change, we must continue with outreach and education. Prof Koh Lian Pin spoke on The Waste Café. As noted in my Parliamentary Question reply yesterday, we will take into consideration the views of those who felt that this experiment could have been done differently, to improve our future campaigns.

I also thank Prof Koh for his queries on our initiatives to encourage household recycling. On transparent recycling bins, we will be releasing our findings soon. On recycling chutes, HDB introduced dual chutes for refuse and recyclables for all new public housing developments from 2014. Since 2018, NEA has also required them at all new non-landed, private residential developments higher than four storeys.

Mr Gan and Ms Hany Soh spoke on the contamination rate of recyclables, which is about 40%. In tandem with education campaigns, the E-waste EPR scheme, the upcoming beverage container return scheme and initiatives by other organisations to sort recyclables, such as paper and textiles, will reduce contamination in our blue bins.

Members will be heartened to learn that all households can collect a Bloobox from vending machines deployed island-wide later this month, to set up a recycling corner. Designed by a team of students from the Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT), the Bloobox is foldable, reusable and light. It has labels to help households identify what can and cannot be recycled, with reminders that plastic bottles, metal cans and glass containers for recycling should be empty, and free of food and liquids. Members may pick up a Bloobox from the Parliament Library to start your own recycling corner.

I will now speak about our hawker centres and hawker culture. Our hawker centres are an important institution, providing us with affordable and tasty hawker food.

Miss Cheryl Chan and Ms Nadia Ahmad Samdin asked about planning considerations for new hawker centres and markets, and the progress of the new hawker centres. Mr Pritam Singh also asked about plans for hawker centres in the Marina Bay Financial area.

The Government had previously announced plans to build 20 new hawker centres, prioritising new estates and existing estates in the heartlands that are relatively under-served, in terms of affordable dining options. These sites are selected after carefully considering factors, including residential catchment, availability of comparable dining options and complementary facilities in the vicinity. This ensures the centres serves the demand of the residents, while avoiding over competition amongst comparable F&B establishments.

Even as we build new centres, we need to ensure that there are hawkers and that they can make a decent livelihood.

CBD hawker centres face additional challenges due to their heavy reliance on the working lunch crowd and the lack of residential catchment. Today, there are already existing food options in the CBD for workers. These include four hawker centres such as Market Street Hawker Centre that just reopened last year, as well as about 50 coffeeshops, food courts and canteens.

Last year, four new hawker centres opened in Senja, Bukit Canberra, Fernvale and Punggol. Besides Market Street Hawker Centre, another redeveloped centre that commenced operations was Margaret Drive Hawker Centre. Repairs and Redecoration (R&R works) were also completed at 15 centres. Many Singaporeans have explored these centres as part of hawker centre hopping circuits, which is becoming a national pastime. Chairman, in Mandarin, please.

(In Mandarin): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] This year, we can look forward to the opening of two new hawker centres in Buangkok and Woodleigh Village. Both hawker centres will have around 40 stalls and 700 seats.

Both hawker centres will be connected to neighbourhood amenities and transport nodes, making it convenient for residents. The seating areas are spacious, family friendly, and inclusive. Ceilings are high to ensure better ventilation and airflow.

Additionally, the refreshed Jurong West Hawker Centre is slated to reopen in the third quarter of 2023 after the completion of reconfiguration works.

Besides these new centres, to enable our patrons to enjoy their meals in a pleasant and well-ventilated environment, we will also upgrade 25 existing hawker centres, including Holland Village Market and Food Centre and North Bridge Road Market and Food Centre.

(In English): We are also futureproofing hawker centres through the Hawker Centres Transformation Programme (HTP). As Ms Nadia would be aware, we are piloting the HTP at Cheng San Market and Food Centre and Geylang Serai Market. NEA will be engaging stallholders before targeting to start works from 2024.

Let me address Ms Joan Pereira and Miss Cheryl Chan's questions about inflationary pressures and the impact on rental and cooked food prices.

We have provided hawkers with a conducive business environment including ensuring reasonable rentals at our hawker centres. For NEA's monthly tender exercises, we adopt a transparent and fair system with no minimum bid. Individuals can bid for a stall at a monthly rental as low as $1 per month, while others may submit higher bids to secure stalls at popular locations. After the first three years, rent is adjusted towards assessed market rent. In fact, only about 4% of cooked food stalls in hawker centres today are paying rent at above the assessed market rent. The remaining over 5,600 stallholders are paying rent no higher than the assessed market rate.

Median rental across our non-subsidised cooked food stalls has remained constant at about $1,250 per month since 2018. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we have also supported hawkers by providing 10 months of rental waiver and six months of subsidies for table cleaning and centralised dish-washing. In fact, stall rentals at hawker centres are generally lower than most other comparable food establishments in their vicinity. Nonetheless, rental only accounts for about 9% of our hawkers' operating costs.

Hawkers price their food based on multiple factors including operating costs, location, business level and patron demographics. They delicately balance these factors to attract patrons while trying to make a decent living. Today, patrons can continue to find affordable options in our hawker centres – as Mr Singh also acknowledges – including the Socially-conscious Enterprise Hawker Centres (SEHCs), where operators have committed to provide at least one budget meal option per stall.

To help Singaporeans cope with inflationary pressure, the Government is, among other measures, providing CDC and GST vouchers under the Assurance Package, and with more assistance provided to the lower income. CDC vouchers can be used at our hawker centres. The Government will continue to monitor the situation and consider if further support is needed.

We are taking additional steps to futureproof our hawker centres. Under the Productive Hawker Centres (PHC) Programme, the Hawkers' Productivity Grant (HPG) provides co-funding to purchase kitchen automation and queue management equipment. Ms Rahayu Mahzam would be happy to know close to $3 million has been provided to more than 900 hawkers under the HPG. Additionally, eight existing centres have tapped on PHC funding to implement centre-level Centralised Dish Washing (CDW) and Automated Tray Return System (ATRS).

Today, more than 70% of cooked food stallholders in our hawker centres are already using e-payment. Support groups have been set up at 37 hawker centres to help hawkers embrace digital opportunities.

Mr Gan asked what can be done to support hawkers to digitalise. We will be expanding the HPG to include stall-level digital solutions such as e-ordering solutions which are becoming more widespread. We will maintain the co-funding quantum at 80% but will increase the total claimable amount from $5,000 to $7,000 per stallholder. The funding period will also be extended to March 2026.

Additionally, we will broaden the ATRS component of the PHC programme to cover Cleaning Process Automation (CPA) solutions. This helps to address challenges such as ageing cleaners and rising manpower costs. Examples include autonomous systems that clean tables and transfer used trays and crockery from tray return points to centralised dishwashing areas. This will reduce cleaners' workload especially during peak hours. We will co-fund up to 80% of deployment costs incurred by the cleaning operator for CPA solutions.

Coupled with the mandatory tray and crockery return, these would help to improve the cleanliness situation and bird nuisance issues raised by Ms Nadia. With everyone doing their part to return their used trays and crockery, we noticed that the situation has generally improved and bird nuisance feedback at hawker centres has been declining annually from 2019 to 2022.

As we celebrate our veteran hawkers, I am also heartened by the new hawkers who have joined the trade. Miss Chan would be happy to hear that many of them have benefited from NEA's Incubation Stall Programme (ISP) and Hawkers' Development Programme (HDP). Together with other similar programmes by our SEHC operators, over 50 aspiring hawkers have joined the hawker trade through these programmes.

As part of our tradition, you would have tried some hawker fare from our ISP and HDP hawkers at yesterday's tea break. This included delicious halal braised duck kway teow from an ISP stall by Jonathan Tan and Habri Hammad Bin Mohammad at Amoy Street Food Centre. Johnathan adapted his grandfather's Hokkien braised duck recipe into a halal recipe so the Muslim community can enjoy his food, while continuing his grandfather's legacy.

We are constantly reviewing our programmes. Through feedback, we realised that additional emphasis on culinary readiness alongside close mentorship from hawker mentors will raise participants' chances of success. Therefore, the HDP's classroom programme will spend more time honing culinary skills. At the apprenticeship stage, hawker mentors will also help to assess the participants' culinary readiness. Participants can have the option to extend their apprenticeship by four more weeks, on top of the current eight weeks.

Finally, we have also received feedback that some local snacks are increasingly less commonly found. Those selling such snacks usually find it difficult to sustain an entire cooked food stall. We will work with SEHCs operators to pilot the use of kiosks, which would incur lower rental and operating cost to support the sale of snacks such as muah chee and putu piring. We hope this will help to preserve these snacks as part of our hawker culture. We will monitor the viability of such kiosks before deciding if we should scale up this pilot.

Chairman, I am heartened that many Members have called on Singaporeans to embrace sustainability, reduce consumption and green business practices. I remember the slogan "Courtesy begins with you and me". Likewise, "Sustainability begins with you and me". The Government cannot build a green nation alone. I urge everyone to incorporate sustainable practices into your daily routines, starting with the three Rs and support our hawkers to sustain our hawker culture.

Senior Minister of State Dr Koh Poh Koon.

Mr Chairman, as a low-lying tropical island state that imports most of our food, food security, sea level rise and inland flooding are critical concerns. We are making strong efforts to strengthen our resilience on these fronts.

Food security is an existential concern for Singapore. We import more than 90% of the food we consume, making it impossible for us to insulate ourselves completely from global food supply and price shocks. Over the past two years, we have experienced first-hand the effects of supply chain disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, geopolitical disruptions and developments elsewhere as well as policy decisions taken by foreign governments.

But this does not mean that we are completely at the mercy of such external factors. We can shore up our resilience if we work together as a nation – with Government, industry and consumers each playing our part.

Mr Gan Thiam Poh asked about lessons learnt during the COVID-19 pandemic pertaining to food resilience. Dr Lim Wee Kiak similarly wanted to know how our importers and consumers can become more resilient towards food supply shocks.

We take a multi-pronged approach. A core strategy is import source diversification for our key food items. We have increased our number of food supply sources from 172 countries and regions in 2019 to 183 countries today. We have accredited Indonesia as a new source of chilled, frozen and processed chicken meat. So we now have 25 accredited countries for chicken imports. We have also approved Brunei as a new source of eggs, and we now have 17 countries accredited to export hen shell eggs to Singapore, up from just 12 in 2019. The Singapore Food Agency (SFA) will continue to accredit more import sources and facilitate the industry's further diversification through sourcing trips and business networking sessions.

Having new sources for food imports will strengthen our resilience but only if the companies put in place robust business continuity plans (BCPs), continue to diversify sources at the company level and maintain warm links with multiple import sources. This would help them to pivot more easily when needed and protect their businesses during supply disruptions. Dr Lim Wee Kiak will be happy to note that the industry is adapting and working with SFA to review their BCPs and diversify their supplies.

While Singapore imports most of our food and is a price-taker, consumers too can exercise flexibility in their food choices when supply disruptions occur and pivot to other alternatives. We saw how Singaporeans readily switched to frozen chicken when Malaysian fresh chicken imports were disrupted last year.

I want to assure Dr Lim Wee Kiak that Government is pressing with our "30 by 30" goal of building Singapore's capability and capacity to sustainably produce 30% of our nutritional needs locally by 2030. Last year, we announced the enhancement of our Agri-Food Cluster Transformation Fund to offer farms a higher co-funding quantum to a wider range of food types such as fruited vegetables and mushrooms.

I am glad to announce that SFA will launch the first land tender for this wider range of food types in the later half of this year. This will provide consumers with more food choices that are produced locally. SFA will provide more details when the tender is launched.

To build up even more industry capacity, we will need to optimise our limited agriculture spaces. We are making good progress in master planning Lim Chu Kang, where we will transform the region into a high-tech agri-food zone. We intend to reap synergies between land-based farms in the Lim Chu Kang region and sea-based farming in the adjacent West Johor Strait.

Mr Chairman, may I have your permission to display a slide on the LED screens please?

Yes, please. [A slide was shown to hon Members.]

A multi-disciplinary consultancy study will holistically plan the development of LCK and the adjoining West Johor Strait. For example, we are exploring siting our fish hatcheries and other key infrastructural and processing facilities on land, to provide support to both land-based and sea-based fish farms. We will also incorporate upcoming regional studies for coastal protection measures at the LCK coastline, to enable our farms to be climate resilient.

Some of these ideas will be showcased in the LCK Master Plan exhibition, which SFA will launch in the second half of 2023. I hope Members will look out for the exhibition when it is finally launched.

In the East Johor Strait shown on the slide, which is separated by the Causeway from the West Johor Strait, we have a distinct and separate cluster of fish farms, supported by key aquaculture facilities. The separation of the fish farms into two distinct clusters is especially important to enhance fish resiliency in the face of climate change, which may result in harmful algal blooms as has happened in the past before.

Miss Cheryl Chan and Prof Koh Lian Pin asked how aquaculture would contribute to our "30 by 30" goal. Prof Koh Lian Pin also asked how we would ensure that the development of aquaculture in sea spaces is environmentally sustainable. We have identified fish production as one of our priority areas. It is a nutritious source of protein that can be grown efficiently.

This is why we launched the Singapore Aquaculture Plan last year, to transform the sector in three ways. First, to increase and optimise spaces for farming. Secondly, to help the industry adopt technology and better farm practices. And thirdly, to invest in research and innovation.

Miss Cheryl Chan asked how lessons from other countries with established aquaculture industries can be applied to our context.

We plan to conduct a joint study trip this year with industry and academia, to countries with advanced aquaculture production, to understand how they have managed to grow their commercial aquaculture sectors without negatively impacting marine biodiversity.

SFA will also dedicate significant resources and work closely with industry and academics to enhance our understanding of the effects of aquaculture on our local marine environment. For example, SFA is collaborating with NUS and the Barramundi Group to study the impact of aquaculture on the marine environment and marine life surrounding St John’s Island. The study will conduct reef surveys and measure water and sediment quality prospectively over a period of time, to better understand in real-time, how aquaculture practices and farming activities could potentially affect these environmental parameters. We will adopt relevant practices from our overseas learning trip and detailed insights gained from our own local studies to suit our Singapore context.

To further support Singapore's ambitions in leading aquaculture research and innovation, we will enhance our R&D facilities to attract more companies and researchers to base themselves here.

In November 2022, we launched AquaPolis to transform the aquaculture research landscape. The brain trust of AquaPolis will comprise scientists from various research institutions, including the National University of Singapore (NUS), Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory and many others.

They will work on addressing real world aquaculture challenges to enhance the productivity of farms and quality of fish farmed in Singapore. For example, by developing superior fingerlings with traits, such as faster growth rates and higher Omega-3 content and reducing fish mortality from common fish diseases.

SFA's Marine Aquaculture Centre, located on St John's Island, will serve as the anchor research campus of AquaPolis. We will undertake two new initiatives.

First, we will enhance its facilities with upgrades, such as the installation of recirculating aquaculture systems for research in intensive farming within closed environments, to cater to evolving R&D needs. Second, we will also embark on a study to review how our future research facilities can be better integrated with aquaculture infrastructure, such as jetties and hatcheries.

In the steady state, our Singapore Aquaculture Plan will comprise three distinct centres, as you can see on the slide: the West Johor Strait, the East Johor Strait and AquaPolis in the Southern Waters. This will provide critical diversification of our aquaculture production across three different sites and ensures our aquaculture sector expands in a climate-resilient manner. The enhanced research capabilities and facilities will also be better integrated with aquaculture infrastructure.

Miss Cheryl Chan asked about plans to build the manpower pipeline for our farming industry.

For students, Republic Polytechnic has broadened the scope of their Diploma in Biotechnology to include a specialisation in Food and Agro-technologies. For mid-career professionals, SFA partnered with Workforce Singapore and Republic Polytechnic in 2022 to launch a Career Conversion Programme to equip them with the knowledge and skills as Agri-tech Specialists or Agri-tech Operators.

I am glad to announce that for Nitec and Higher Nitec graduates as well as in-service employees, a new Work-Study Diploma in Agriculture and Aquaculture Technology will be launched by ITE next month. This will provide them with engineering skills to operate new agriculture and aquaculture systems, knowledge about food crops cultivation and fish farm management.

We will, therefore, have training programmes for different segments of the workforce to meet the agri-food industry's manpower needs.

As we encourage our local farms to produce more, there must be sufficient demand for our local produce. I thank Ms Hany Soh for her suggestion for Government to demonstrate support for local produce in food procurement. I agree that this is an area we should study further.

In February, a new Alliance for Action (AfA) on "Demand Offtake and Consumer Education" was formed, as part of the Forward Singapore conversation. The AfA includes key members of our local food ecosystem, such as representatives from farms, off-takers, such as supermarkets and trade associations representing the hotels, the retailers, as well as the catering associations, supported by various agencies, like Singapore Tourism Board (STB) and Enterprise Singapore. Together, they will explore solutions to help the hotel, restaurants and catering sector, as well as our local consumers, embrace local produce.

I look forward to hearing their ground up recommendations that will further develop our local agricultural industry. Sir, in Mandarin, please.

(In Mandarin): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] Food is an existential concern for Singapore as we import more than 90% of our food supply. Over the past two years, we have experienced first-hand the effects of disruption to our food supply chain. Many consumers have readily embraced alternatives, for example, by buying thawed frozen chickens from Australia and Thailand, or by switching to other protein types, such as fish and eggs.

To further strengthen our food resilience, we are pressing ahead with our "30 by 30" goal of building our agri-food industry’s capability to produce 30% of our nutritional needs locally and sustainably by 2030.

To ensure the continuous growth of local agriculture, the next key step is to grow demand for local produce. In February, a new Alliance for Action (AfA) on "Demand Offtake and Consumer Education" was formed, as part of the ForwardSG conversation, including representatives from farming, food processing, hospitality and F&B sectors.