Individuals who have Leveraged on Global Investor Programme to Qualify for Permanent Residency

2 Mr Yip Hon Weng asked the Minister for Trade and Industry (a) in the past three years, how many individuals have leveraged on the Global Investor Programme and invested at least $2.5 million in a business, fund, or family office in order to qualify for permanent residency; and (b) what steps has the Government taken to facilitate their integration and eventual conversion to Singapore Citizenship.

The Minister of State for Trade and Industry (Ms Low Yen Ling) (for the Minister for Trade and Industry): Mr Speaker, about 200 individuals were accorded permanent residency through the Global Investor Programme (GIP) from the years 2020 to 2022.

Permanent Residents (PRs) under the GIP can join other new residents in Singapore in various integration activities organised by the National Integration Council (NIC) and partners. For example, the People’s Association Integration Council conducts the Heartland Orientation Trail to give participants an immersive experience of our heartlands and the Singapore way of life and help them understand and appreciate our local culture and norms. New PRs under the GIP are also able to tap on the Economic Development Board (EDB)’s networks to embark on philanthropic activities or contribute to community causes that benefit our society.

All applicants for Singapore Citizenship, including PRs under the GIP, are assessed independently by the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority.

Mr Speaker: Mr Yip.

Mr Yip Hon Weng (Yio Chu Kang): I thank the Minister of State for the reply. For the individuals under the Global Investor Programme, which sectors are the businesses or investments in? And what is the total investment amount that they have brought in over the last three years?

Ms Low Yen Ling: I want to thank the Member Mr Yip Hon Weng for his two supplementary questions. He asked about the investment over the last three years. Let me give him the amount over a longer term. I have on hand, the numbers from 2011 to 2022, over an 11-year period. The GIP investors brought in more than S$5.46 billion in total business expenditure via direct investments. This is generating more than 24,000 jobs in Singapore.

As of October 2022, GIP investors have also injected S$1.62 billion into approved GIP funds. Of this S$1.62 billion, the fund managers have deployed 87.2% and this translates to S$1.41 billion into actual investments. If I could provide a further breakdown – 65.6% of this S$1.41 billion, which is S$930 million, has been invested in Singapore-based companies.

On the first question on sectors, I must say that GIP investors come from a wide spectrum of areas and sectors like technology, urban solutions and sustainability as well as financial services.

I want to use this occasion to reassure the Member Mr Yip and the House that EDB conducts regular reviews to ensure rootedness by the GIP investors in Singapore and that they contribute to our industries, to our economy and to job creation. In fact, the GIP PRs are required to submit documentary evidence of the Singapore-based companies that they have invested in. In addition to looking through all the documentary evidence, EDB will also conduct site visits to assess the companies' business activities and the employment situation.

Mr Speaker: Mr Pritam Singh.

Mr Pritam Singh (Aljunied): Thank you, Mr Speaker. Just a quick question to the Minister of State vis-à-vis her response to the hon Member Mr Yip. For the GIP individuals who are PRs, does EDB or the Ministry track how many of them transit to being citizens in view of her reply to Mr Yip's question on rootedness?

Ms Low Yen Ling: Mr Speaker, I want to thank the Leader of the Opposition Mr Pritam Singh for his question. As I have shared in my answer to the Parliamentary Question earlier, over the past three years, 2020 to 2022, we approved about 200 GIP investors to be under the PR scheme. I would like to share with him and the House that 200 is over three years. As you can see, we are very selective about the GIP investors. The EDB evaluation process is very stringent and very robust. We will look at their economic commitments as well as residency commitments.

As for his question on Singapore Citizenship, I can say that a very, very low percentage of the PRs under the GIP has been granted citizenship.

I want to use this occasion to just elaborate on what I mentioned earlier about us requiring the GIP investor to submit documentary evidence and EDB mounting site visits to validate the numbers. I want to say that the PRs in GIP who do not meet the GIP economic and residency commitments as well as other renewable criteria will not have their re-entry permit renewed.

I think all Members in the House would know this is serious because once your re-entry permit is not renewed, this means that when the GIP PR subsequently leaves Singapore or if he or she remains overseas without a valid re-entry permit, their PR status will lapse; they will lose their PR status.

Mr Speaker: Mr Pritam Singh.

Mr Pritam Singh: Thank you, Speaker. I thank the Minister of State for the helpful reply. Can I just confirm if the small percentage that the Minister of State speaks of is a number that she has on hand? And would the Government be prepared to release that number?

Ms Low Yen Ling: Mr Speaker, I would like to thank Mr Pritam Singh for his supplementary question. I would elaborate and say that the interest in the GIP has remained stable since its launch. GIP investors who are approved as PRs are much lesser than 1% of the total number of PRs approved each year. On the question about Singapore Citizenship, like I mentioned, the number of GIP PRs granted citizenship is even much lesser, as the Member can see from the PR numbers that have been granted over the past three years.