Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister and Coordinating Minister for Economic Policies, Heng Swee Keat launched the Sea Transport Industry Transformation Map (ITM) 2025.
Sea Transport ITM 2025
First launched in 2018 by MPA, it has been refreshed to update Singapore’s strategies to address the challenges and seize new opportunities from the COVID-19 pandemic and shifts in global supply chains.
The industry can look forward to increased opportunities in physical and digital connectivity for resilience, technological advancements, and the global efforts for the green transition of the maritime sector.
A key aim of the ITM is to grow the sector’s value-add by $2 billion, or an average rate of 2-3% annually, between 2020 and 2025.
Strategies of the Sea Transport ITM 2025
The Sea Transport sector is expected to see major transformation given opportunities arising from global supply chain shifts, digitalisation and decarbonisation. It will focus on the following four strategies, elaborated in the subsequent paragraphs (and with key targets underlined):
Strategy 1: Ensure Relevance and Resilience of Maritime Singapore (MaritimeSG) as Key Node in Global Supply Chains
The ITM will enhance Singapore’s connectivity and competitiveness as an essential node in global supply chains and work closely with our ecosystem partners such as the port operators, bunker suppliers, ship suppliers, and other marine service providers by:
- Future-proofing the port’s capacity and capabilities through enhancing physical and digital connectivity and building a future-ready sustainable port of choice. The ITM will also support port automation and technology adoption, to increase productivity of port operations. Tuas Port remains on track to be completed by the 2040s. When completed, it will be the world’s largest fully automated container terminal, capable of handling up to 65 million TEU containers. Tuas Port and Jurong Port will also achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.
- Strengthening the IMC by growing a comprehensive range of maritime services to seize opportunities of the future, and partnering companies on key projects in growth areas such as sustainability and digitalisation. In particular, MPA will work with relevant agencies and institutions to broaden and deepen the market for green financing and carbon awareness and accounting. The Sea Transport sector aims to attract $20 billion of industry total business spending over 5 years (2020-2024).
Strategy 2: Build A Vibrant Innovation Ecosystem and Actively Develop New Growth Areas
The ITM will support Singapore’s ambition to grow into a MarineTech Hub for companies and start-ups. The country will accelerate the growth of MarineTech clusters by continuing to grow demand drivers, partner start-up multipliers and create an enabling environment bringing together demand drivers, solution providers, and funding.
What is more, the Sea Transport sector aims to attract more than $25 million of Venture Capital investments into PIER71 start-ups and grow the number of MarineTech start-ups supported by MPA from the current 30 to 150.
Maritime R&D capabilities will also be deepened and R&D translation will be strengthened in key areas, such as Smart Port, Smart Shipping and Green Technologies.
Strategy 3: Support Maritime SMEs and Start-ups to grow and realise their potential as Global Champions
The Sea Transport IDP has been expanded to cover all Sea Transport subsectors, while funding support has been extended beyond end-2022 to encourage adoption of pre-approved digital solutions.
MPA will work closely with ESG to leverage their network of overseas centres and offer schemes and grants such as the Maritime Cluster Fund to help SMEs and start-ups build capabilities to venture overseas.
Strategy 4: Develop a Future-Ready Maritime Workforce Equipped with Global Skillsets
The Sea Transport sector will support job role redesign to reskill and upskill current workers in the sector to support a more digitalised, high-tech, and sustainable maritime industry. Local talent pipelines will also be strengthened by attracting fresh graduates and facilitating mid-career conversions, including sea-to-shore career progressions.
MPA will continue our efforts to promote the maritime sector as an attractive and dynamic sector for job seekers, while helping Singaporeans take advantage of the many opportunities in the maritime industry
As the maritime industry restructures, grows and transforms, the Sea Transport sector aims to create another 1,000 good jobs for locals by 2025. New roles requiring skills in data analytics, data science, Internet of Things (IoT) engineering, software engineering, and sustainability management will grow in demand. In addition, MPA will support workers to undergo skill upgrading as existing roles evolve with increasing emphasis on automation, digitalisation and sustainability.
Commenting on the development, Quah Ley Hoon, Chief Executive of MPA, said:
The ITM will complement our strategy to grow our Global Hub Port and International Maritime Centre and help us achieve our vision for Singapore as a Global Maritime Hub for Connectivity, Innovation and Talent
Maritime International Advisory Panel
The Singapore Ministry of Transport (MOT) and Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) have also established a Maritime International Advisory Panel (IAP) to seek global perspectives on key trends that will shape the maritime industry.
The Maritime IAP will discuss how the maritime sector and adjacent industries can collaborate to enhance the resilience and connectivity of the global maritime industry and supply chains, and how Maritime Singapore can play a role in this.
The Maritime IAP, comprising prominent leaders from maritime and related sectors, will help us chart the way forward. I look forward to our discussions at the meetings on 5 and 6 April 2022
stated Singapore’s Minister for Transport and Minister-in-charge of Trade Relations, S Iswaran.
