SINGAPORE: The government has completed a review of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Singapore and new initiatives for the sector will be unveiled in the upcoming Budget announcement.
This is according to Minister of State for Trade and Industry Mr Teo Ser Luck who was speaking at the 26th Singapore 1000 Awards dinner on Friday evening.
Mr Teo said the review was conducted against a backdrop of new challenges for SMEs.
These include "the more pressing need to operate within tight manpower constraints, cope with rising business costs, and at the same time, improve productivity and expand overseas".
Mr Teo added that the government will focus on helping SMEs drive productivity, tap on growth opportunities and create a conducive business environment.
Mr Teo said: "This entails making our schemes simpler and accessible to all groups of SMEs - whether big or small. So sometimes when you apply for grants, funding, maybe (the application form) is ten pages (long). We're streamlining them, bring it down from ten to two pages for example, and we want to make sure that the grant is more accessible."
In his speech, Mr Teo gave some examples of the ways SMEs can internationalise. For instance, companies can come together to tap on a network or fund to expand overseas, and inter-company partnerships can facilitated, so that smaller companies can ride on the coat-tails of the larger ones and access overseas markets.
SMEs make up 99 per cent of enterprises in Singapore and employ 70 per cent of the workforce.
They also contribute more than 50 per cent of Singapore's GDP.
The awards dinner is an annual event that recognises the biggest Singapore companies by sales turnover and net profit.
Forty-eight companies across different industries were recognised for achieving excellent sales or profit performance.
Among the firms lauded are DBS Group Holdings, Seagate Singapore International Headquarters and Keppel Offshore and Marine, Samwoh Ready Mix, iFast Corporation and Bengawan Solo.
- CNA/fa
Govt completes review of SMEs
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Govt completes review of SMEs
