PUBLISHED ONMay 22, 2026 2:55 PMUPDATEDMay 23, 2026 2:06 AMBYSean LerSingapore and its people must master frontier technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) — ensuring that both companies and individuals not only know how to use them — but are also able to do something new in the AI economy if their existing jobs are superseded, said Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong.
He made these comments when asked for his takeaways for Singapore's Economic Strategy Review and its future resilience as he wrapped up a five-day visit to Guangxi and Shanghai on Friday (May 22).
On Thursday, SM Lee visited the Shanghai Municipal Humanoid Robot Innovation Incubator — the first in China focusing on humanoid robots. It has plans to set up an office in Singapore in October.
In a Facebook post after the visit, he noted that robots and AI are rapidly advancing and transforming the way we live and work.
"It can improve our quality of life by doing tasks that would otherwise require people and resources," he wrote.
SM Lee told reporters that he intended to use the visit to see how much progress China has made in tech — in its urban development, in the modernisation of facilities and services — and its attitudes towards how to tackle these problems and what more needs to be done.
"It tells me how quickly other countries are advancing, China particularly. You read about it, you read the negative news, but you also read about the things they are doing with technology, the way they are operating businesses, the way they are using AI for all sorts of things.
"It's one thing to read about it, it's another thing to talk to people who are living it and using it and experiencing it day to day."
The lesson for Singapore is it has to move forward, learn from and engage with others, and have the confidence that if others can do it, Singapore can do it too.
But he also acknowledged that implementation and adoption come with its set of challenges.
"It is not something which is easy to do. The Chinese are not finding it easy to do either, but they know that it has to be done, and it is happening on a nationwide scale," he stated.
Turning to the Economic Strategy Review's recently released final recommendations, in which making Singapore a global leader in AI solutions and an AI-empowered economy was listed as one of eight key thrusts to drive economic growth and workforce transformation, SM Lee opined that the approach is correct.
"...we are a small country, so we will not make the most powerful large language models (LLMs), we will not have the biggest data centres.
"But we must be an ideal place for companies, for researchers to apply AI to actual practical situations and needs, to scale it up and show that it can be scaled up."
This will allow them to be able to something new which will fit into the AI economy.
For the Government, SM Lee said AI's use cannot be confined to just drafting responses or tidying up minutes. Instead, it must improve work processes, policy making — to run a more efficient and lean Government — at a lower cost, higher performance and with better results.
As for Singaporeans, he suggested that the attitude be one of embracing it.
He noted that a lot of hard work will have to be put in for companies to be able to apply frontier technologies at scale.
The individual worker will also need to consider how to apply it in their job, or what could be learnt if the job is no longer available.
@asiaone Noting that other countries are advancing quickly on tech frontiers, including artificial intelligence (AI), SM Lee Hsien Loong on Friday (May 22) said that Singapore has to move forward; learn from and engage with others; and have the confidence that "we can do it too". #sgnews #Singapore #Technology #Businesses #Workers #ArtificialIntelligence ♬ original sound - AsiaOne
SM Lee was also asked if there are concerns over economic dependence and national identity amid increased cooperation between the two countries.
While he noted that China was the largest source of fixed asset investment commitments into Singapore in 2025, overtaking US for the first time, SM Lee pointed out that identity is something Singapore has to manage.
"We are a Chinese majority country, but we are a multi-racial society. We are a separate country with separate sovereignty from China.
"We cooperate as friends in order to have mutual benefit. But it is because we both share common interests and not because we are both the same ethnic descent," he explained.
On whether there is over-reliance, SM Lee pointed out that Singapore, and the rest of Asia, also have ongoing economic partnerships and interests with Europe, Japan and the US.
"So, I do not think we will end up with an exclusive bloc, and only one direction to go. So, I think we can manage that," he added.
@asiaone China was the largest source of fixed asset investment commitments into Singapore in 2025, overtaking the US for the first time. Asked if there would be concerns over economic dependence and identity, Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong explained that Singapore and China cooperate as friends in order to have mutual benefit, and not because of ethnicity. #sgnews #Singapore #China #Trade #Investment #Businesses ♬ original sound - AsiaOne
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