Speech by 2M Indranee Rajah at the Built Environment and Urban Trades Employees' Union (BATU) Chinese New Year Lunch

Good afternoon everyone. It is a pleasure to be here with all of you. It is my first event as Advisor to BATU, but I already see many familiar faces in the gathering here today. I have met you, known you and worked with you in other capacities, but it is really nice to see you here in the BATU capacity.

The Built Environment sector has played a key role in developing Singapore. Last year, we celebrated 60 years of nation building. The world-class city that we enjoy today would not have been possible without our unions, companies, Trade Associations and Chambers. And most importantly, it would not have been possible without all of you, and the other workers in the Built Environment sector.

Last year was the Year of the Snake. Snake years are generally considered to be unpredictable and uncertain. However, despite the uncertainties in the global and domestic economy in 2025, we remained agile and adaptable. Our economy grew by 4.8 percent, while nominal and real incomes continued to rise and the unemployment rate stayed stable and low.

Further developing our Built Environment workforce

Last year's stronger-than-expected performance is a good foundation on which to build. But we must go beyond. We must identify new ways to grow and expand opportunities for an economy and workforce in the Year of the Horse.

We will need to overcome resource constraints and navigate disruptions from rapid technological advancements in the next stage of Singapore's economic development. We have to be agile to embrace innovations, and importantly, to take calculated risks.

To stay competitive globally, the Government remains committed to driving inclusive growth, so that we not only ensure economic growth but also create quality jobs and better opportunities for all Singaporeans. This includes more quality jobs and better opportunities for you and for your members.

In the Built Environment sector, we must accelerate productivity efforts across the entire building lifecycle to deliver greater savings in time, costs, and manpower. We need to work across the whole Built Environment value chain to identify new opportunities. More importantly, we must continue upskilling our people, so that we will be comfortable using new technologies and be more efficient in our daily operations.

Another important aspect is promoting business transformation. We recently announced a new tranche of the Productivity Solutions Grant, which takes effect from 1st April 2026.

The grant helps Built Environment SMEs to acquire proven technologies to boost productivity, such as solutions to streamline work processes. SMEs that have tapped on past tranches of the grant may also apply for the new tranche, to unlock productivity gains in new areas. Please make full use of this grant.

Training is key to helping workers acquire new skills. Employers can work with NTUC to set up a Company Training Committee (CTC) and tap on the NTUC CTC Grant.

These initiatives enable companies and unions to identify the skills that their workers need and to co-develop and design the training required.

Lastly, we need to support employers to strengthen HR practices and actively promote career development. For example, the Singapore Contractors' Association Limited has partnered with the Institute for Human Resource Professionals to support firms in their HR transformation journeys, through the Human Capital Diagnostic Tool (HCDT), HR and Job Redesign masterclasses and various guidebooks.

Coming up is 12 February, Budget Day. Prime Minister Lawrence Wong will be delivering our national budget, but as you know in our national budget, there is always something for the economy; always something for our workforce, our workers and the labour sector; for households, for sustainability, for fiscal prudence and management of our national finances. But there will definitely be something for everybody, and most importantly, there will be items in the budget that you can use to kickstart your businesses, and also that your members can use to upskill.

So with that, let me just conclude by saying that for this transformation journey to succeed, we need a strong, competent, and future-ready workforce. Be assured, the Government will support you. We will support the employers, union leaders, and your union members so that we can all succeed together.

Thank you, and I wish everybody a Happy Chinese New Year.

新年快乐 身体健康 龙马精神.