'Trusted AI' mark to filter Singapore’s global hub entrants--KPMG

New assurance labels would prove firm controls align with recognised international AI standards.

Singapore’s Budget 2026 sets an AI-driven direction, but the next competitive differentiator could be a formal assurance label and a regional “Trusted AI” mark to show firms have controls aligned with recognised AI governance standards, a report by KPMG said

The brief said Budget 2026’s AI agenda includes national-level AI Missions and a National AI Council chaired by Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, alongside a new Champions of AI programme aimed at comprehensive AI-driven business transformation.

KPMG said the Budget also expands the Enterprise Innovation Scheme to include qualifying AI expenditure, allowing 400% tax deductions or allowances on up to $50k of qualifying AI spending per year of assessment for YAs 2027 and 2028, with details due by 30 June 2026.

Beyond incentives, KPMG suggested Singapore should augment adoption with stronger hands-on AI governance training for board members and executives, potentially supported through a dedicated fund, as agentic AI raises the bar for ethics, governance, and oversight.

The firm also suggested shared anonymised data pools to reduce the cost and friction of accessing high-quality datasets for benchmarking and experimentation.

On the “open global hub” track, KPMG said Budget 2026 aims to deepen Singapore’s footprint in fast-growing markets and support overseas expansion, and it suggested a unified digital platform to simplify Free Trade Agreement management for companies.

KPMG linked the longer-run competitiveness agenda to the $37b Research, Innovation and Enterprise 2030 plan, and flagged the Budget’s move to tighten the skills-to-jobs pipeline, including a planned merger of SkillsFuture Singapore and Workforce Singapore into a new statutory board.

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