Speeches
Opening Address by SMS Tan Kiat How at the APAC Finance Forum
23 September 2026
Ladies and gentlemen,
Distinguished guests,
A very good afternoon.
I am here to speak to you today because MDDI is looking at digital infrastructure very seriously. In fact, next month I'll be in Parliament for the Second Reading of the Digital Infrastructure Bill that focuses on security and resilience, or what we define as digital infrastructure -- primarily data centres as well as cloud service providers.
We are not looking at just security and resilience, but also sustainability, and the kind of energy efficiency standards that we think that digital infrastructure in Singapore should adhere to in the coming years.
So, I wanted to come by and share some perspectives, and in a way, share a bit of thinking, and of course welcome views and suggestions and feedback along the way.
AI is creating a new infrastructure investment cycle. Across Asia, capital is flowing into data centres, energy, connectivity and compute.
Naturally, much of the attention is on one question: Where will all this new infrastructure be built?
At the same time, I think we should ask a bigger question: How do we build an infrastructure system for the AI economy of the future that is connected, investable, resilient and sustainable?
Because the AI infrastructure race will not be won by megawatts alone. It will be won by how well we connect compute, energy, networks, capital, businesses — and trust.
And that is where I believe Southeast Asia has a major opportunity.
The future of AI infrastructure in Southeast Asia will be regional.
In fact, just before I came to this event, I was at another event hosted by an infrastructure and chips company. It brought together government leaders in Southeast Asia.
I was sharing views and having discussions with my counterparts, and indeed, we believe that, in Southeast Asia, the future of AI infrastructure is a regional one.
Different markets bring different strengths. Some have more abundant land and energy. Others have large domestic markets, industrial ecosystems or deep pools of talent.
Singapore brings connectivity, capital, trusted institutions, a strong business ecosystem, and infrastructure suited for workloads where reliability, security and resilience matter.
These are not competing propositions. ASEAN does not need every country to do everything.
Our opportunity is to connect these strengths into a regional system that is more valuable than the sum of its parts.
Singapore has played this role before. We did not become a maritime hub because everything passing through our port was produced here. We became useful because we connected producers to markets, cargo to shipping networks, finance to trade, and Southeast Asia to the world.
The same is true of aviation, finance and business services.
In the traditional economy, Singapore helped connect goods, services, capital and businesses. In the digital economy, especially one that is powered by AI, we can help connect compute, networks, capital, cloud platforms and markets.
Some compute-intensive workloads will naturally sit where land and energy are more abundant. Others — particularly where trust, security, connectivity and continuity matter most — may be well suited to Singapore.
The point is not for every workload to sit here. It is for ASEAN as a whole to offer the full infrastructure proposition the AI economy needs.
Singapore can help make that system more connected, investable and trusted.
That brings me to how Singapore thinks about digital infrastructure.
Digital infrastructure is becoming increasingly foundational to our economy and society.
Banking, payments, transport, healthcare, government services and increasingly AI-enabled businesses all depend on cloud, compute and connectivity infrastructure.
Today, Singapore has more than 1.6 gigawatts of data centre capacity. We expect that demand will continue to grow, and we want to support that growth.
But we are also realistic. Singapore does not have unlimited land, power or water. So, our ambition cannot simply be to maximise the number of megawatts within our borders.
Our ambition is not maximum compute. It is maximum value from compute. That means growing capacity deliberately.
It means attracting infrastructure that is efficient and sustainable. It means anchoring high-value workloads and capabilities. And it means ensuring that scarce resources generate broader strategic and economic value.
That is what we mean by disciplined growth. Not growth at any cost, but not an artificial cap on growth either.
There is another lesson here, especially for long-term investors.
When governments act matters almost as much as what they do.
Around the world, we see that data centres are becoming more politically salient. Questions are being asked about electricity, water, land, grid capacity and what communities receive in return.
These are legitimate questions.
But if governments only start dealing with them after pressures become acute, debates can quickly become polarised.
Growth versus communities;
Industry versus government;
Investment versus sustainability.
Singapore has tried to avoid that false choice. We started working on these issues years ago.
We worked with industry on energy efficiency, tropical data-centre standards, cooling technologies, resilience and security.
We introduced competitive exercises for new data centre capacity, so that scarce resources could go to projects offering strong sustainability and broader economic value.
And earlier this month, we introduced the Digital Infrastructure Bill in Parliament, which will be passed in Parliament next month.
The important point is not simply that we are legislating. It is how we got here.
We chose to plan early rather than regulate late.
Because we started before the pressures became politically acute, we had the space to work through the issues constructively with industry.
That allowed us to ask a more constructive question: How do we create conditions for the digital economy to keep growing, while giving society confidence that the infrastructure beneath it is secure, resilient and sustainable?
The Digital Infrastructure Act, or DIA in short, reflects that approach. At its core, it does three things.
First, it establishes clearer security and resilience requirements for our largest data centres and cloud providers.
Second, it creates a sustainability baseline, so that as compute grows, land, power and water are used more efficiently.
Third, where companies make material green, strategic or economic commitments to secure scarce capacity, those commitments should remain meaningful.
These are not side constraints on the digital economy. They are part of what allows it to grow.
A digital economy cannot scale if businesses do not trust the infrastructure beneath it. If a major cloud service or data centre fails, the impact can ripple across banks, businesses, public services and consumers.
So, resilience is not simply a regulatory requirement. It is part of the economic infrastructure that allows businesses to digitise with confidence.
And the same is true of sustainability. Digital services will drive demand for more compute. But in a resource-constrained country, we can only keep growing if we use land, power and water more efficiently.
Sustainability is not about slowing digital growth. It is what gives us the headroom for disciplined growth.
That is why the DIA is part of our broader digital economy strategy — and why resilience, sustainability and investability should reinforce, rather than compete with, one another.
For assets with lives measured in decades, investors do not expect an absence of rules.
They want confidence that the rules are clear, transparent and applied consistently.
They want Government to signal direction early, engage industry, and implement requirements proportionately and even-handedly.
That is how the Singapore Government has approached the DIA. We started early. We worked closely with industry over several years and consulted publicly.
As we roll out the DIA, we will recognise existing standards where possible, provide appropriate transition periods, and avoid unnecessary duplication.
And as technology and energy pathways change, detailed requirements can evolve through continued engagements rather than abrupt policy shifts.
Predictability is not just about what the rules say. It is also about confidence in how the Government makes and applies them.
That lowers policy risk. A resilient system protects the businesses and assets built on it. A sustainable system gives us more room to keep growing. And a transparent, even-handed and predictable regulatory system gives investors greater confidence to commit capital for the long term.
For infrastructure investments measured in decades, certainty is itself a form of infrastructure.
Let me end where I began.
The opportunity ahead is much larger than Singapore. AI will drive significant demand for compute, connectivity, energy and capital across Southeast Asia.
No one country needs to provide all of it.
Some markets will contribute energy and scale. Others -- demand, talent and industrial capability. For Singapore, we can contribute connectivity, capital, trusted infrastructure, regional business functions and high-value workloads.
And many of you in this room will be the ones financing and connecting these pieces.
The opportunity is to connect these strengths into an ASEAN regional infrastructure system that is investable, resilient and trusted.
In the traditional economy, Singapore helped connect ASEAN to the world.
In the AI economy, we can help connect ASEAN’s digital infrastructure to capital, technology, businesses and global markets.
If we do that well, we will not just build more infrastructure. We will build a stronger digital economy for the region as a whole.
I just want to end off by saying that I look forward to continuing this engagement with different parts of the industry, and ecosystem, from builders and technology providers, to financiers, capital providers, consultants, and service providers.
It is this engagement ahead of time, before pressures become acute, before debates become polarised, that allows us to work constructively together.
It is a missed opportunity when such conversations don't happen early enough to allow them to take place constructively.
In Singapore, we believe in doing so early, so that we can get your views, get your inputs, and work towards solutions that are win-win for everyone.
So, I look forward to your continued support and views on this important effort to build a resilient, sustainable, and investable digital infrastructure, not just for Singapore but for the rest of the region.
Thank you.