Govt pledges support for SMEs

SINGAPORE – The Government is committed to helping small and medium enterprises (SME) navigate their way through the challenges arising from Singapore’s economic restructuring, and will continue with efforts to help them improve productivity, groom talent and expand overseas.

Efforts will also be made to address issues such as high rental prices and land constraints, said Minister of State for Trade and Industry Teo Ser Luck at the Parliamentary debate on the President’s address today (May 26).

The comments come as businesses are having to absorb higher costs as the restructuring process starts to bite harder.

“To date, half of the S$2 billion National Productivity Fund has been committed, with much of this going to SMEs. The Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) has also set aside more than S$300 million for the next three years to support SMEs in restructuring,” Mr Teo said.

The SME Talent Programme has also matched 400 Polytechnics and ITE graduates to SMEs since its launch last year, he said, adding: “We will continue to work closely with our trade associations and chambers and hope to match 4,000 students to SMEs over the next five years.”

Meanwhile, SMEs stand to benefit from a growing network of free trade agreements (FTA) between Singapore and other markets.

“For example, the European Union-Singapore FTA is the first bilateral FTA which will allow processed Asian food products made in Singapore… to enter the EU tariff free, within an annual quota,” Mr Teo said. “We will continue to help our companies leverage of the trade networks we have developed… International Enterprise Singapore has in place a comprehensive system of support to help companies to successfully internationalise.”

But domestic issues such as high rentals and lack of spaces are not lost to the Government, who will look to provide more rental data to improve clarity in market, Mr Teo said.

“We’ll continue to explore ways to make sure this information is available within this year… We’ll also build customised buildings or no-frills facilities for different clusters,” such as JTC Space @ Tampines North, the first high-rise facility with land-based specifications launched just last week, he added.