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Singapore SMEs Urged to Seek Chances Overseas
The Singapore government encourages local small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to exploit overseas market and opportunities while encouraging foreign SMEs to come to Singapore, a Singapore minister affirmed Friday, July 27.
Addressing the launch of the partnerSingapore Programme, Minister for Trade and Industry George Yeo said that "while encouraging our SMEs to go international, we are also making Singapore a global SME hub."
He recalled that SMEs were the worst hit during the slowdown, noting many of these SMEs in lower end manufacturing, retail and construction did not fully benefit from the economic rebound in 1999 and 2000.
"Given our small domestic market," he said, "we have no choice but to seek opportunities overseas," he stressed.
"The more quickly we understand and exploit market and opportunities in other countries, the better will be our chances of survival," he added.
The minister stressed that every local company that seeks to grow must consider overseas markets and the opportunities available to SMEs have never been greater, citing "the booming China market, in particular, presents vast opportunities for us to exploit."
Yeo stated that Singapore is encouraging SMEs from the US, Europe, Japan and Australia to come to Singapore, partner with local SMEs and use Singapore as their regional base.
He said that Singapore is setting up an international SME Business Center called the "Enterprise" which will offer fully- furnished offices to help foreign SMEs set up operations in Singapore quickly and integrate them into the local business community.
A knowledge-based information system, called "Smart Find," that will provide local SMEs ready access to information on setting up business in partner cities and countries, and vice versa, has been developed and bilateral cooperation arrangement with more than 90 foreign partners to facilitate business matching have been established, he said.
There are about some 100,000 SMEs in Singapore.
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