PUBLISHED ONJuly 07, 2026 9:27 AMBYSean LerSingapore is setting aside $800 million over the next five years as part of efforts to unlock new possibilities to transform the transport ecosystem so as to strengthen its global connectivity and competitiveness.
The planned investment, under the National Research Foundation's Research, Innovation and Enterprise (RIE) 2030, was announced by Acting Minister for Transport Jeffrey Siow in Parliament on Tuesday (July 7), as he spoke in support of a motion on reinforcing Singapore's position as a global transport hub.
Explaining the impetus, Siow noted that transport is one of Singapore's largest economic sectors, contributing about a tenth of its gross domestic product (GDP), and 7 per cent of jobs held by Singaporeans. The sector keeps people and goods moving by air, land and sea.
"Transport is the foundation on which our economy is built," Siow said, as he recapped the Economic Strategy Review's recommendation that Singapore must further strengthen its role as a connected global hub.
But it is not just about building bigger and better airports and seaports, he stressed, pointing to how supply chains have become more fragmented and distributed.
"If Singapore is merely a place through which flows happen to pass, then one day those flows will simply pass us by."
Illustrating why an ecosystem approach is the better solution, Siow pointed to how Singapore's maritime ecosystem goes beyond its port, to include complementary sectors such as ship financing, marine insurance, maritime law and arbitration.
These are, in turn, integrated with Singapore's supply chain and logistics ecosystem, which includes air freight forwarding and inland transport.
And this approach has helped Singapore to maintain its relevance, Siow said, citing the example of Maersk, which shifted its transhipment operations to Malaysia in 2000, but chose to keep its Asia headquarters in Singapore due to the value of the city-state's maritime and logistics ecosystem.
"That is why today, even when its cargo does not physically pass through our waters, the decisions about that cargo may still be made here, and we are able to capture value from it," he added.
@asiaone Majority of the investment will be directed towards developing key capabilities in autonomy, and digital twins for connectivity. #sgnews #Singapore #Transport #Aviation ♬ original sound - AsiaOne
Turning to the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on jobs and workers, Siow reminded the House that shippers and travellers choose Singapore not over its proprietary technologies, but its efficiency, connectivity and reliability.
"Our approach will not be to adopt AI for its own sake, but we will do so with intention, with clarity, and on our own terms," he said.
The latest investment under RIE2030 will support this endeavour to develop frontier technologies, backing ideas that could transform how transport operates today, Siow added.
MOT said in a statement on Tuesday that about two-thirds of the investment will be directed towards developing key capabilities in autonomy, and digital twins for connectivity.
According to the ministry, the autonomy workstream will enable Singapore to enable large-scale, manpower-light transport operations across land, air and sea domains, by combining autonomous platforms, AI and robotics.
It will cover the development of next-generation testing and certification frameworks for autonomous vehicles and unmanned aviation systems, as well as the development of autonomous maritime operations and cooperative autonomous systems for cargo transloading using robotics and embodied AI.
The digital twins for connectivity workstream will focus on enabling end-to-end visibility, prediction, and coordinated orchestration of cargo and passenger flows.
This is achieved by integrating relevant transport data across land, sea, and air transport modes and applying AI-enabled simulations, which can then be applied to cargo and supply chains across logistics nodes to optimise cargo flows, airport operations and road traffic flows, and mitigating potential disruptions early.
MOT said the remaining investment will be directed towards sector-specific research to deepen capabilities in building a technology-enabled air hub, smart and sustainable port and ship operations, and next-generation mass transit technology and automated depots.
One of the possibilities being explored on the mass transit front is a fully-automated MRT depot that maintains and repairs trains more efficiently.
But the acting transport minister also emphasised that these efforts are not about "staying number one for its own sake".
"We invest at the frontier, so that our hard-won lead is not quietly surrendered.
"We do all of it for one reason and one reason only – for Singaporeans. For the Singaporeans of today, and for the Singaporeans of tomorrow," Siow said.
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