S$4.5b plan to transform industries, drive innovation

SINGAPORE — The Government will take a more streamlined and proactive approach to help businesses as Singapore enters a new phase of economic restructuring, Minister for Finance Heng Swee Keat said on Thursday (March 24) as he unveiled a new S$4.5 billion Industry Transformation Programme to support industries and drive innovation. 

“As a Government, we must adopt a more integrated approach to support transformation. Our agencies will work more closely together, integrating their different support schemes to take a more targeted approach to developing each industry,” Mr Heng said in his Budget speech. The Government will take this approach in partnership with industry and unions across more than 20 sectors, covering 80 per cent of Singapore’s gross domestic product.

Sharing more details of the Industry Transformation Programme, he said the Government’s assistance to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) can be accessed at a one-stop Business Grants Portal as well as through packaged solutions that include grants, tax allowances, access to loans and overseas markets. This is a shift from past approaches, where companies went to individual agencies to seek specific help, which may be confusing to business owners.

“(The Business Grants Portal) will be organised along core business needs of capability building, training and international expansion,” Mr Heng said. “Firms will not need to go from agency to agency to figure out which schemes apply to them.” 

The portal will be launched in the fourth quarter with grants from International Enterprise Singapore, SPRING, Singapore Tourism Board and DesignSingapore Council, he said. 

In addition, enterprise development agency SPRING will partner trade associations and chambers (TACs) to drive 30 industry-wide solutions to common challenges faced by SMEs. This will be carried out over the next three years and could reach out to more than 3,000 SMEs. The Government will set aside up to S$30 million over the next five years to help TACs develop capabilities. Besides this, the Government will also drive industry-wide transformation projects under SPRING’s Collaborative Industry Projects scheme. 

Mr Thomas Chua, president of the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said: “We are glad that the Government recognises the key role that TACs can play to help SMEs and industries to upgrade and transform. We strongly urge the trade associations, particularly those from the traditional sectors, to be proactive to explore tapping into this programme.”

And underlining the Government’s message on innovation, Mr Heng announced a S$1.5 billion top-up to the National Research Fund this year. A new initiative called SG-Innovate will also be set up to match budding entrepreneurs with mentors, introduce them to venture capital firms, as well as help them open up new markets.  

“Innovation is critical to the Industry Transformation Programme … It is fundamentally about new ways of doing things to meet the needs of people and industries better. Innovation is the engine of value creation and growth. We must make innovation pervasive in our society,” he said.

CORRECTION: We had earlier reported that the Government “will set aside up to S$30 million over the next five years to help TACs develop capabilities and drive industry-wide transformation projects under SPRING’s Collaborative Industry Projects scheme”. This is incorrect. The S$30 million does not include projects carried out under the SPRING programme. We apologise for the error.