A new law will require iconic, strategic or large buildings that could be targeted by terrorists to adopt enhanced security measures.

The Infrastructure Protection Bill, if approved, will allow the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to designate new buildings as “special developments”, and existing buildings as “special infrastructures”.

Such new buildings must integrate security measures as part of their design before they are constructed, while the existing buildings have to put these measures in place when they are renovated.

Dr Kumar Ramakrishna of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies said that while the Bill strengthens Singapore’s capacity to deal with the terror threat, the Government has to educate the business community that the additional costs of security measures are worth investing in.

“In a climate where the extremist threat is increasing, people want to do business with businesses that have designed security into their operations. It gives them a competitive edge,” he said.