Quote by Smitha Raghunathan, ASEAN Regional Director, Autodesk.

Overall, Budget 2024 paints a promising picture for the future of Singapore’s built environment by aligning investments with industry needs and sustainability goals.

The extension of the Energy Efficiency Grant (EEG) to the construction sector will be welcomed by local industry players. Targeted assistance for local enterprises to adopt energy-efficient equipment can help significantly reduce the sector’s carbon emissions, taking into consideration a healthy pipeline of local construction projects for the coming year. By leveraging technology such as data and digital simulations, the industry can optimise building design, further aligning with Singapore’s Green Plan 2030 goals.
 
However, reaping these benefits is also dependent on workforce readiness to effectively utilise new technologies. It is encouraging to see that Budget 2024 offers a critical push in the right direction to ensure skills development and training aren’t overlooked, even as we become more technologically advanced. With the construction sector traditionally relying heavily on the expertise of its workforce, the expanded SkillsFuture initiative targeted at mid-career workers ensures employees’ skill sets remain future-ready. This is essential amid the accelerating adoption of construction technologies such as Building Information Management (BIM) and digital twinning, which can help address longstanding challenges in construction that span tight deadlines, rising costs, a constrained talent pool, and limited visibility into safety and quality across work sites.