Speech by SMS Koh Poh Koon - Committee of Supply 2025

4 March 2025

Transcript of speech delivered by SMS Koh Poh Koon at MSE's Committee of Supply debate 2025 on 4 March 2025.

Madam Chair,

Introduction

I will speak on our approach to strengthen our food resilience, and safeguard our hawker culture.

Strengthening Our Food Resilience

As a country that imports over 90% of our food, Singapore will not be spared from global food supply disruptions. These can arise from disease outbreaks, climate change, and geopolitical tensions.

Diversifying Our Import Sources

In safeguarding our food resilience, diversifying our import sources remains our core strategy.
Today, we import from 187 countries, up from just 140 around two decades back.
When accrediting food imports, SFA takes a risk-based approach. While products with low food safety risks do not require accreditation, SFA accredits higher-risk food products like meat and egg products, in line with international practice.
Since December 2024, SFA has streamlined this process in line with the work of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Pro-Enterprise Rules Review, by accrediting at a broader food category level instead of by food product.
This expands our import product range, and improves business efficiency.

Stockpiling Essential Items

But our food resilience cannot and does not hinge on one single strategy; it requires a multi-pronged approach.
One complementary strategy is to maintain adequate food stocks to tide over supply disruptions, as seen during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, stockpiling alone is insufficient. For perishable essentials like fibre, long-term storage is challenging, involving inventory and logistics costs.

Growing Local

This is why we develop some capacity and capability for local production. It complements our diversification and stockpiling strategies with a regenerative characteristic, allowing us to continue producing food during supply disruptions.
Ms Nadia Samdin asked about the progress of our “30 by 30” vision. Today, less than 10% of the food we consume is produced locally.
When we conceived this vision in 2019, it was aspirational. The agri-food business climate was then more benign, with stronger investor interest, lower interest rates, and lower energy prices. Now, the global food industry outlook has become less favourable, with:
Dwindling investments in urban agri-food technology and alternative proteins, and
Geopolitical tensions exacerbating uncertainties around energy costs.
Local farms will continue facing inherent structural challenges, in this early stage when their production facilities have yet to achieve sufficient scale.
A key challenge is high production costs in Singapore, given limited land and a tight labour force.
This is exacerbated by strong price competition from imported produce, which enjoy lower production costs.
For our farms to scale, we need to help them improve productivity and lower costs, while increasing consumer demand for local produce. Navigating these complex issues will require time, effort and close partnership across the Government, our industry and consumers.
Despite these challenges, our capacity and capability to produce food locally has grown, and some food types have shown early successes.
Locally-produced hen eggs and beansprouts now contribute 30% and 50% of our local consumption respectively.
SFA is continuously assessing our progress and our initiatives’ relevance in growing our agri-food sector, gaining experience along the way.
Ms Samdin asked whether we are reviewing Singapore’s 30-by-30 goal. Indeed, we are reviewing our local production strategy to be more focused and targeted in addressing key challenges of productivity, costs and demand, and in fostering the sector’s continued growth. We will share more details after our review.

Singapore Aquaculture Plan

Ms Samdin asked about the initiatives announced in the Singapore Aquaculture Plan, which we refreshed last year, bringing stakeholders together to chart a shared roadmap to uplift our aquaculture sector.
Under the plan, we are spearheading efforts to strengthen the supply resilience of agri-inputs, which are vital for farms.
In aquaculture, agri-inputs constitute up to 60% of farms’ production costs.
Quality eggs and fingerlings form a key priority. However, with the inconsistent quality our farmers use today, fish mortalities can go up to 80%, impacting downstream yield.
The newly-established National Broodstock Centre (or NBC) and Hatchery Development and Recognition Programme will supply to our farms genetically superior eggs and fingerlings, with higher survival and grow-out rates.
SFA will work with local hatcheries to uplift their capabilities and gain accreditation under the programme, which allows them to access superior fish eggs from the NBC.
The programme will first focus on Asian seabass – commonly produced and consumed by Singaporeans. SFA is in the process of training and accrediting a few seabass hatcheries.
SFA’s work is also underway to study potential sites for the hybrid sea farming model, in close consultation with Government agencies, the industry, researchers and nature groups.
Identifying and allocating appropriate sites is not easy. It demands significant time and resources, given our limited sea space, competing uses, and needing to mitigate environmental impact.
Broadly, we will continue to avail space for farming by launching land and sea tenders progressively. SFA will announce tender details along the way.
To Ms Samdin’s question on keeping our marine environment clean, let me explain that all farms are required by licence to maintain clean and sanitary conditions.
With the Farm Management Plan, introduced under the Food Safety and Security Act passed in Parliament this January, we also require licensees undertaking primary production activities to adopt means to mitigate food safety risks, disease spread and ensure sustainable production.

Agri-Food Cluster Transformation (ACT) Fund

To support our farms to be more productive and climate-resilient, SFA provides funding through the Agri-Food Cluster Transformation Fund, or ACT Fund.
To address Mr Shawn Huang and Mr Dennis Tan’s questions, the ACT Fund supports farms to adopt farming solutions for diverse needs, from small-scale trials to larger commercial systems, with over $28 million awarded to 43 companies by end-2024.
Each application proposal is assessed holistically, considering its merits and ability to contribute to our food resilience.
One example is Blue Ocean Aquaculture Technology. Supported by an earlier iteration of the ACT Fund, they developed an indoor recirculating aquaculture system to farm various fish species in higher densities, with a lower footprint, and regardless of climate or external environmental changes.
Another example, Yili Farm, has also benefitted from funding to construct an intensive soil and hydroponics farming system, achieving resource efficiencies.
Mr Tan raised some suggestions on adopting permaculture principles and deploying natural solutions like aquatic plants, to improve climate resilience.
Permaculture, in particular, tends to require extensive land space, which might not be as well-suited for local production in Singapore.
Nonetheless, farms should assess the farming methods and solutions most appropriate for their operating model and constraints, accounting for the need to be commercially viable, climate-resilient and resource-efficient.
Generally, SFA provides technical resources on agriculture technologies, and have account managers who can further assist and advise farmers on growth areas and development plans.
To better address our farmers’ diverse and emerging needs, SFA has enhanced the ACT Fund, incorporating their feedback.
The enhancements will provide farms with:
More comprehensive coverage, to include expenses such as marketing and branding; and
Expanded funding scope to cover standalone pre- and post-harvest production facilities.
To provide farms more time to harness technology and innovation, SFA will also extend the maximum project funding duration from 27 to 36 months.
As Ms Rachel Ong highlighted, local businesses seeking to innovate may need grants and other support, beyond research grants. Agri-food businesses can also access Enterprise SG’s initiatives like the Enterprise Development Grant and Startup SG, which finance innovation projects and capabilities.

Growing Demand Offtake for Local Produce

For our farms to achieve scale, they also need sustained demand. This is where strong support from the industry and consumers can help strengthen our Singapore Food Story.
Under our Alliance for Action to encourage increased offtake for local produce, the Singapore Agro-Food Enterprise Federation (or SAFEF) is expanding its work as a supply and demand aggregator.
In May 2024, SAFEF launched the “SG Farmers’ Market” and “The Straits Fish” product lines in selected FairPrice outlets, aggregating locally-farmed vegetables and marine tilapia respectively to make them more accessible to consumers, especially those in the heartlands.
By last month, sales have increased about fivefold for local xiao bai cai, and twofold for processed local fish products. I am very heartened by the public response.
SAFEF is working with our farmers and industry partners to launch even more products. Beyond FairPrice outlets, consumers can also find “SG Farmers’ Market” vegetables at Sheng Siong supermarkets starting this month.
More food businesses are recognised under the Farm-to-Table Recognition Programme, for their commitment to procure locally produced, locally-farmed ingredients.
Since launching in 2023, membership has grown steadily to 101 establishments by January this year.
SFA will continue to encourage more businesses to come onboard.

Safeguarding Our Hawker Culture

Let me now shift gears to another food-related topic. With SG60, we also mark the fifth year of the inscription of Singapore’s hawker culture onto the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Our hawker centres form the heart of our hawker culture.

Upgrading and Building Our Hawker Centre

Minister Grace Fu explained why we must look ahead to update our hawker centre landscape. This builds on our progress thus far.
In the 2010s, we restarted building 20 new hawker centres after a hiatus to address Singaporeans’ needs in estates under-served by food & beverage options. Today, 14 are in operation.
I am also pleased to announce that 2 new hawker centres are opening in the first half of this year.
Bukit Batok West Hawker Centre will feature 22 cooked food stalls and over 400 seats, while Punggol Coast Hawker Centre will introduce 40 stalls and over 680 seats.
Both are designed for a pleasant dining environment, featuring high ceilings with improved ventilation, spacious seating areas and connectivity to surrounding facilities.
As we progressively complete the remaining centres in upcoming years, we are also looking beyond that. We plan to build another 5 new hawker centres to ensure more residents in under-served estates can access affordable and delicious hawker food. NEA will announce more details when ready.
Besides building new hawker centres, we have invested in upgrading our existing infrastructure, in addition to cyclical renovation works.
We last embarked on a nationwide Hawker Centres Upgrading Programme, or HUP, over 20 years ago to upgrade or rebuild almost 100 centres.
More recently, we piloted the Hawker Centres Transformation Programme at two centres in Cheng San and Geylang Serai to improve hygiene conditions and address persistent infrastructural concerns. I am glad that Ms Samdin found it helpful, through works like improving seating layout to minimise crowding and enhancing ventilation with new fittings.
The experiences we gained will inform our next bound, under HUP 2.0. As outlined by Minister Grace Fu, HUP 2.0 seeks to meet Singaporeans’ evolving needs by upgrading older hawker centres, or rebuilding for some, into more vibrant, accessible and climate-resilient spaces.
Upgrading and building hawker centres are extensive endeavours that we are planning ahead and implementing progressively for the next 20 to 30 years.
To Ms Hany Soh’s question, NEA is working closely with other agencies to dovetail with estate development plans and ensure local communities’ needs are well-served.
We will carefully examine our options and share more details when ready.
Mr Pritam Singh asked about the future of markets.
Of the over 7,000 such stalls in 83 markets managed under NEA, occupancy rates remained relatively stable at around 96% in recent years.
Nonetheless, consumer patterns have shifted with changing demographics and availability of alternatives like supermarkets and online retailers. NEA will assess local community needs and the availability of market produce, to determine the development plans of wet markets under HUP 2.0.

Supporting our Hawker Trade and Culture

Beyond the physical space, our hawker centres are also about our hawkers who, as masters of their craft, are the heart and soul of our hawker centres.
In commemoration of SG60 and to appreciate our hawkers, the Minister for Finance has announced a one-time rental support of $600 this year, for each stall in hawker centres and markets managed by the Government and Government-appointed operators.
As a nation, we share a joint responsibility to ensure that our hawker culture continues to thrive. The Government will lead by setting policies to support and sustain the hawker trade. This includes providing a conducive business environment, ensuring the trade remains attractive, and nurturing a new generation of hawkers.
To Mr Eric Chua and Ms Samdin’s questions, indeed, as circumstances change, we need to review and adjust our policies.
For instance, we saw the need to discourage excessively high tender bids for NEA-managed hawker centre stalls. Hence, we recently extended the duration for decreasing monthly stall rent from the bid price to assessed market rate after the initial tenancy period, by one more tenancy term.
As we monitor outcomes, we are concurrently taking steps to encourage more informed and realistic bidding.
To guide tenderers, NEA now shares the median assessed market rent for centres with vacant stalls, in NEA’s tender exercises since last month.
NEA will also launch an online self-help tool, which can help tenderers understand the costs involved in running a hawker stall.
We also recognise hawkers’ challenges in hiring stall assistants. Since January this year, we relaxed our manpower policy for hawker centres managed by NEA and NEA-appointed operators, and are monitoring the impact.
Enhancing productivity is another sustainable approach to manage manpower constraints, and where we can leverage on technology as Mr Chua suggests.
For example, centralised dishwashing and cleaning process automation like tray conveyance systems can improve centre-wide productivity, and are supported under NEA’s Productive Hawker Centres programme.
Also, under NEA’s Hawkers’ Productivity Grant, we have disbursed over $3.4 million by end-2024 to co-fund hawkers in adopting stall-level automation equipment and digital solutions, like e-ordering and kitchen management systems.
We will continue identifying and supporting practical technologies that can alleviate hawkers’ challenges.
Mr Chua also suggested a two-shift system to optimise stall utility. Hawkers can already do this today through NEA’s Joint Operator Scheme, which allows eligible stallholders and their appointed joint operators to share stall operating hours without overlapping.
While I am glad that some hawkers have benefitted from this scheme, we acknowledge that such a scheme may be operationally difficult to accommodate for other hawkers depending on their business models.
We will continue to assess our policies to assist our hawkers and ensure alignment with operating realities.
We also support aspiring hawkers to boost their chances of success.
NEA does this through the Incubation Stall Programme, Hawkers’ Development Programme, and Hawkers Succession Scheme.
Ms Samdin would be glad that by end-2024,
Over 100 aspiring hawkers have moved on to complete apprenticeships under hawker mentors.
NEA has also allocated near 100 pre-fitted incubation stalls with reduced rent, to help aspiring hawkers kickstart their business.
Our hawker landscape will continue evolving with the times. We will continue to review our policies and support programmes, to ensure they can meet the interests of Singaporeans, our hawkers and other stakeholders, amid changing needs and expectations.

Conclusion

Madam Chair, food will remain central to Singapore’s resilience and our daily lives. As we forge ahead, we will continue adapting our strategies and uncovering new opportunities to ensure our food systems remain secure and our hawker culture continues to thrive. These will entail a collective effort from the Government, our industry partners, and every Singaporean. Together, we can ensure a vibrant and resilient future for many generations to come.