The Singapore government in its 2025 budget has set aside fresh funding to support the expansion of Changi Airport and workforce development, particularly in the areas of staff training and employment of Singaporean seniors aged 60 and above.

Prime minister Lawrence Wong said in parliament on February 18 that the Changi Airport Development Fund will be topped up by S$5 billion (US$3.7 billion), to ensure sufficient resources to develop Singapore’s air hub.

The Changi Airport Development Fund, first announced in 2024, sets out S$3 billion to be disbursed over six years to improve services across the four existing airport terminals, covering areas such as baggage handling, check-in, immigration and Skytrain connections between terminals, as well as the replacement of end-of-life systems to facilitate smoother passenger and airline experience.

Changi Airport will soon begin construction of Terminal 5 in 1H2025. When completed in the mid-2030s, Terminal 5 will allow Singapore to be linked by air to more than 200 cities, up from almost 150 today. It will have capacity for 50 million passengers a year, boosting the current capacity of 90 million passengers across the four existing terminals.

Terminal 5 will ensure Singapore remains a “critical gateway for global travel and trade”, said Wong.

At an event celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore last September, the prime minister highlighted the stiff competition Singapore faces in the global aviation sector, where more countries are raising their investments in airport infrastructure to capture more traffic.

News reports also stated that, with the president’s concurrence, the government will provide a guarantee to Changi Airport Group that will “lower the cost of borrowings needed to develop Terminal 5 and supporting infrastructure in Changi East”.

In the areas of people development, the government will introduce a new SkillsFuture Workforce Development Grant to provide higher funding support of up to 70 per cent for job redesign activities.

At the same time, the SkillsFuture Enterprise Credit, which helps employers defray enterprise and workforce transformation expenses, will be revamped. Instead of having to pay for staff training and wait for reimbursement, which is the current procedure, the redesigned scheme will “operate like an online wallet” and allow companies to view available credit, said Wong.

All companies with at least three resident employees will get a fresh S$10,000 in the redesigned SkillsFuture Enterprise credit.

Additional people development funding will be channelled to the National Trades Union Congress’ Company Training Committee grant to help more companies transform. The additional S$200 million boost will cover employer-led training that leads to formal qualifications or certifications.

To encourage hiring opportunities for Singapore’s ageing workforce, the government will extend the Senior Employment Credit by one year to end-2026, allowing employers who hire Singaporean seniors aged 60 and above and earning less than S$4,000 a month to continue benefitting from wage offsets.

The qualifying age for the highest Senior Employment Credit wage support tier will also be raised from 68 to 69, in line with the increase in re-employment age.

With this move, the government will reimburse companies up to seven per cent of the wages they pay to workers aged 69 and above.

The government will also raise the CPF contribution rate for senior workers aged above 55 to 65 by 1.5 percentage points in 2026 and continue to provide CPF Transition Offset to employers for another year, to cover half of the increase in employer contributions for 2026.