Breakdown of AI Capability Building Support Disbursed to Employers under Workforce and Enterprise Development Schemes by Quarter, Share of Total and Sector
Ministry of ManpowerSpeakers
Summary
This question concerns the breakdown of support disbursed to employers for artificial intelligence (AI) capability building over the last four quarters, including its share of total support and the top recipient sectors, raised by Ms He Ting Ru to the Acting Minister for Manpower. In response, Ms Jasmin Lau stated that the Government supports AI capabilities across all sectors through AI-specific schemes, such as the Enterprise Compute Initiative, and broader enterprise transformation programmes. She explained that it is too early to provide meaningful disbursement figures for AI-specific schemes like the Enterprise Compute Initiative and Champions of AI, as they were only launched in 2025 or 2026. Disbursement data will be reported after these schemes have operated for a longer duration and more projects have concluded. Furthermore, because AI adoption under broader schemes is integrated into wider business transformation projects, grant support is accounted for as part of the total project rather than for the AI component alone.
Transcript
87 Ms He Ting Ru asked the Acting Minister for Manpower in each of the last four quarters (a) how much support was disbursed to employers under workforce and enterprise development schemes for artificial intelligence capability building; (b) what proportion this represented of total support paid to employers; and (c) which sectors received the highest amounts of such support.
Ms Jasmin Lau: The Government supports companies to build artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities through a range of enterprise and workforce transformation schemes. These include schemes that specifically strengthen enterprise capabilities in AI, such as the Enterprise Compute Initiative (ECI), as well as broader programmes, like the Productivity Solutions Grant, the Enterprise Development Grant and the Enterprise Workforce Transformation Package, which support projects that help firms to upgrade, innovate, grow and transform their business, including AI projects. These schemes are available to Singapore-based firms, across all sectors.
For AI-specific schemes, we track the projects supported and the grant support provided. As some of these schemes, such as ECI and Champions of AI, were only launched in 2025 or 2026, it is too early to provide meaningful disbursement figures. We will be able to report these after the schemes have been running for a longer period and more projects have been completed.
For broader schemes, AI adoption is often embedded within wider business transformation projects, and we therefore account for the support as part of the overall project. Where relevant, we can identify projects involving AI, but the total grant support would not represent funding for the AI component alone.