Speech by 2M Indranee Rajah at the Association of Consulting Engineers Singapore's (ACES) 54th Anniversary Gala Dinner
Jul 30, 2025
Thank you for inviting me to join all of you today to celebrate the 54th anniversary of the Association of Consulting Engineers Singapore (ACES).
This year, we mark Singapore’s 60th year of independence. Much has been said about our journey from mudflat to metropolis. Singaporeans and visitors alike marvel at our beautiful skyline, our urban cityscape, our public housing and national infrastructure.
None of this would have been possible without the contributions of our consulting engineers. It is the hard work of those present here today and your predecessors that has, quite literally, laid the foundations of the global city that we are today and developed the systems that keeps Singapore moving efficiently. Therefore, I am happy to be here tonight to honour and celebrate your role in our nation-building.
Building Our Singapore Together
The theme for SG60, ‘Building Our Singapore Together’, is particularly apt for your profession. Because SG60 is not only about celebrating the past, it is also about building the future, and in this, engineers have a critical role to play.
We recently launched the URA Draft Master Plan 2025 that lays out a dynamic vision for future Singapore. We have ambitious plans for our city. These include Long Island, the Punggol Digital District, the Greater Southern Waterfront and new green heartland towns, to name just a few. Such projects need not only just vision, but the expertise of our engineers to translate that vision into safe, sustainable, and beautifully designed realities.
Uplifting the Engineering Profession
Which brings me to my next point, that is: How do we continue to attract and build a consistent pipeline of talent for the engineering profession?
It is no secret that the professional services in Built Environment sector as a whole – including engineers - are facing challenges in recruitment and on other fronts. This is a matter of concern to us, because without a strong, vibrant and dynamic Built Environment professional services sector, our plans for our future city will be hindered.
And it was for this reason that the Government set up the Taskforce for Architectural and Engineering Consultants, co-led by myself and Mr Chaly Mah, Chairman of Surbana Jurong Group in September of last year. Since then, we have engaged more than 400 in-service professionals, students, service buyers, and representatives from the Trade Associations and Chambers (TACs) and the Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs), to identify and discuss solutions in their areas of concern.
From our engagements, we have found that there are 5 main issues that need to be addressed. First, difficulty in attracting and retaining talent. Second, sustainability, or, unsustainability, of current business practices, fees and risk allocation. Third, capability development and innovation. Fourth, morale and standing of Built Environment professionals. And fifth, the need for better coordination, collaboration and support for Built Environment professionals.
The Taskforce has thought carefully about this and deliberated on the strategies to address these issues, and we will be making our reports and recommendations later in the year. In the meantime, however let me outline some of the key focus areas.
First, we will recommend doubling down on efforts to foster a healthier Built Environment consultancy ecosystem to allocate contractual risks more fairly, and compete on quality rather than by fee-diving.
The Government has announced that we are looking to expand the ‘Reduced Fee Score’ mechanism to further disadvantage fee-divers, while service buyers in both the public and private sectors are reviewing contractual clauses to enable fairer balance of risks. With these enhancements, firms will be better supported to invest in human capital and innovation.
Second, the Built Environment professions, engineers included, will need to step up and improve your talent outreach and development efforts so that more young Singaporeans continue to see engineering as an attractive career, and one that has purpose and impact.
This includes working with schools to introduce Built Environment career opportunities to students; connecting with young people who are your potential talent pipeline through social media and career platforms; providing meaningful internships for students and young people who are not yet in full time employment; and better human resource and career development support for your employees.
Third, the Trade Associations and Chambers (TAC) for the various professions will have to play a more active part, especially in coordination for the sector. Here, I am glad to know that ACES, which is represented on the Taskforce, will be ramping up its support to improve the sector’s business sustainability and talent attraction efforts. I thank ACES for your strong support.
This is a sneak peek into the upcoming recommendations. However, the success or failure of this endeavour lies in your hands. We will only succeed if we work together to make the recommendations a reality and operationalise them in practical ways. We need your strong support to adopt and carry out the recommendations.
Continuing Industry Transformation
Concurrently we need to continue transforming the way we plan, design and build in Singapore through our Built Environment Industry Transformation Map (BE ITM) efforts. Not only will this allow the sector to deliver on Singapore’s development ambitions and plans, but a transformed sector will also improve the career prospects of our Built Environment professionals.
Since the refreshed BE ITM was launched several years ago, we have made significant progress. For example, through our collective efforts, the Integrated Digital Delivery (IDD) adoption rate for new developments (by GFA) increased from 45% in 2022 to 67% last year, as major developers have included IDD as part of their project requirements.
Moving forward, technological advancements continue to offer opportunities for engineers to leverage digital solutions and emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) to further enhance efficiency, collaboration, and innovation across the sector.
To support the Built Environment sector in adopting technologies and building advanced capabilities, the Government has set up the $100 million BuildSG Transformation Fund to provide up to 70 percent co-funding for firms. I strongly encourage all of you to tap into these schemes and work together to develop and deploy innovative solutions.
As projects become more complex, our Built Environment professionals, developers, builders and agencies need to continually harness technological advancements to build better, smarter and more collaboratively.
An enabler of this is CORENET X, the new one-stop digital platform to streamline building works regulatory submissions. CORENET X brings together stakeholders to collaborate upstream and make coordinated digital submissions. Agencies will also provide consolidated responses to these submissions. This reduces administrative load and allows our professionals to focus on design and construction. Ahead of the 1 Oct 2025 timeline for mandatory submissions for large projects, I encourage project teams to try out the portal to harness the benefits of CORENET X.
Transforming Together for Greater Impact
As we double down on business sustainability, talent development and industry transformation efforts, I am heartened that ACES has stepped up to play a leading role for the sector. I would like to thank ACES for its contributions to the Taskforce, and for leading initiatives such as its Young Professionals Connection (YPC) that mentors and nurtures emerging leaders for the sector. These efforts are not just beneficial, but they are essential.
I look forward to the continued partnership with ACES and all of you as we build our future Singapore together. Let me conclude by congratulating ACES on your 54th Anniversary. Thank you and have a great evening ahead.