[Text by Jia Hui Tee]

The Hinrich Foundation and the Singapore Business Circle (SBC) co-organized a roundtable discussion on August 7, headlined by Singapore’s Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Trade and Industry Gabriel Lim. The roundtable explored the role of data centers in Singapore's economic growth and strategic policy. Bill Foo, Chairman of SBC, and Chuin Wei Yap, the Foundation’s research director, co-moderated the discussion.

Mr. Lim’s keynote remarks highlighted the policy developments and future directions for Singapore’s management of data centers’ growing importance. Mr. Lim also drew feedback widely from the invited guests, high-level stakeholders in the sector, who shared their views and challenges on Singapore's data center strategy including geopolitical risks, digital policy, rising competition from regional players, and resource constraints in terms of power, land, and water.

As data storage demand surges due to AI and digital transformation, Singapore faces tradeoffs in its data center strategy. To ensure sustainable growth, Singapore is committed to achieving net zero emissions by 2050 and is taking significant steps in the green transition through collaboration with industry.

The roundtable exchanged perspectives and ideas on how Singapore can leverage its strengths and address its challenges in the data center space. Discussions also underscored the importance of public-private partnership and regional cooperation in sustaining Singapore’s competitiveness in the digital economy.

Our distinguished guests included senior executives from key tech companies including Equinix and Amazon Web Services, telecom provider Singtel, infrastructure giants Keppel and Capitaland, electricity majors including YTL PowerSeraya, and financial institutions including Blackstone and DBS.