PM Wong urges governments to take lead in AI workforce training

As artificial intelligence (AI) evolves, governments must invest more in preparing their workers and cannot leave it to the market, said Prime Minister Lawrence Wong.

Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) economies can lead these efforts by reskilling and upskilling workers, redesigning jobs, and building trust in AI, so they are not caught on the backfoot, PM Wong said on Nov 1.

“By doing so, we can ensure that the returns from AI investments will accrue not just to the owners of capital, but also to workers, and importantly to all our people,” he said to leaders of the 21 economies around the Pacific Rim which make up the grouping.

Singapore’s focus is on the application and use of AI, he said.

As a small, compact and digitally connected city state, it cannot on its own develop leading-edge AI foundation models. But it can use them to develop and make applications with the “biggest impact” in areas like finance, logistics, healthcare and advanced manufacturing, PM Wong said.

Singapore cannot do this work alone, and is keen to cooperate and exchange best practices with other Apec economies, he added.

In a session themed Preparing For A Future-ready Asia-Pacific, PM Wong said that AI will drive the next wave of growth.

“It will uplift productivity, and transform the way we work and live,” he added, as he laid out ways to spearhead cooperation in harnessing the technology.

AI is already transforming industries in Singapore, he said on the second day of the Apec Economic Leaders’ Meeting, the highest-level meeting at the annual summit which ran from Oct 31 to Nov 1 in Gyeongju, South Korea.

Outlining what needs to be done to unlock the technology’s potential, PM Wong said Apec economies must build up the capabilities of their workforces and prepare workers.

With every new wave of technology, some jobs will disappear and new jobs will be created, and historically, the net impact has been positive – meaning more net jobs have been created.

But there is no economic law that guarantees this will automatically happen, PM Wong said.

“Just because it happened in the past doesn’t mean it will also happen in the future. We cannot leave this to the market.”

Apec economies also need to build trust in AI, he said.

That is why Singapore is playing an active role in global efforts to advance AI standards – so that there is an overall framework for innovation and users know that they are using responsibly developed systems, he added.

To do so, Singapore has set up the AI Verify Foundation to set such standards in partnership with the private sector. It now has more than 170 members including companies like Hitachi, Google and OpenAI, he noted.

The foundation was set up in 2023 to boost AI testing capabilities and assurance to meet the needs of companies and regulators globally.

Earlier in 2025, Singapore also convened leading experts to formulate the Singapore Consensus on Global AI Safety Research Priorities, a document aligning views on the development, assessment, and control of AI, he noted.

PM Wong also urged Apec economies to keep data corridors open, because data is what powers AI models.

Singapore supports the Apec Cross-Border Privacy Rules System, which facilitates the free flow of data with trust, in order to promote AI innovation, he said.

Trade pacts like the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement – which Singapore, Chile and New Zealand signed in 2020 – can also enable data flows.

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On how Apec can take the lead on these efforts, PM Wong said the member economies have AI expertise and experience.

He commended 2025’s Apec summit host South Korea for convening the first Apec Digital and AI Ministerial Meeting.

The Apec AI Initiative is another step in the right direction, he said. It will promote greater cooperation on AI through policy exchanges and capacity-building projects, and foster investments in AI infrastructure.

“Singapore looks forward to working with Apec economies to ensure that our societies benefit from AI,” he said. “Together, we can put AI to work on the problems that matter most, so our people can prosper together.”

PM Wong was in Gyeongju for the Apec meet till Nov 1. He will then travel to the capital Seoul for an official visit at the invitation of South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, where they are slated to upgrade relations between the two countries to a strategic partnership.

Note: This article was written by Ng Wei Kai and first appeared in The Straits Times on 01 November 2025.

Source: The Straits Times