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Workgroup is ‘first concerted effort’ to tackle SME issues

SINGAPORE — A new workgroup set up by the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) to strengthen support for small and medium enterprises (SME) is aiming to move beyond dialogue to push for more effective implementation of government initiatives for the sector.

SINGAPORE — A new workgroup set up by the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) to strengthen support for small and medium enterprises (SME) is aiming to move beyond dialogue to push for more effective implementation of government initiatives for the sector.

The new workgroup, which comprises representatives from 11 government agencies, seven trade associations, five businesses and 17 Members of Parliament (MPs) — marks the first concerted effort to tackle issues faced by SMEs, its Chairperson, Minister of State (Trade and Industry) Teo Ser Luck, said yesterday.

“The business and government sectors are both represented — so you have the expertise to look at the issues, and having them together (in the workgroup) is an integrated approach to work on resolving the issues,” Mr Teo said.

“It’s not just about understanding issues, but also deepening that understanding and coming up with solutions for the problems,” he added.

Mr Tony Chew, Chairman of the Singapore Business Federation and a member of the workgroup, agreed.

“SMEs are critically deserving of attention … For the first time, this workgroup will combine the efforts of policymakers, advisers consisting of Members of Parliament and business practitioners, all coming together to help SMEs, which I think is very timely,” he said.

The workgroup will hold its inaugural meeting in mid-September, where it will address the most immediate issues with a view to submitting recommendations in time for changes to be introduced in next year’s Budget.

One of these key issues is the lack of utilisation of government initiatives among SMEs, reflecting a need to improve outreach and streamline the related schemes and programmes for more effective implementation.

A slew of initiatives have been rolled out in recent years to help SMEs upgrade their productivity and processes amid the government’s push to restructure the economy, but the take-up rate has room for improvement, Mr Teo said.

“Based on our statistics, there’s really more to do on the utilisation of the schemes,” he said. “For example, we hope to recruit 600 students a year for the SME Talent Programme — I’m not even reaching half of that yet.”

The workgroup will also assess gaps in government policies concerning issues such as manpower constraints and costs, which continue to pose challenges for SMEs, East Coast GRC MP Jessica Tan said.

“The main hot topic has been the manpower issue and its impact on the ability of SMEs to not only run their businesses but also to take the opportunities and expand in Singapore and overseas,” said Ms Tan, who is also an adviser to the workgroup.

“The manpower issues will be discussed (by the workgroup),” Mr Teo said. “But the overall scheme of things is that we’re going to restructure the economy through a productivity drive. We shouldn’t forget that ... So we must find a way for the SMEs to be able to get on this platform. How do we do that? That’s where the challenges are.” Wong Wei Han

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