enhancing competitiveness of apec smes

Information on this slide is confidential and strictly for use by SPRING Singapore officers only. It should not be used or referred to by third parties

without prior written consent from SPRING Singapore.

Enhancing Competitiveness of APEC SMEs

Speaker :

Mr Png Cheong Boon Chief Executive of SPRING Singapore

Chair of APEC SME Working Group from 2009 to 2010

1


without prior written consent from SPRING Singapore. 2

Part I : SME Landscape in Singapore

Importance of SMEs in APEC Economies

90% OF ALL

BUSINESSES IN THE

APEC REGION ARE SMES

SMES EMPLOY 60% OF THE WORKFORCE

CONTRIBUTING

30% OF EXPORTS

99.4% (Singapore) 70% (Singapore) 48%^ (Singapore)

Significance of Trade for Singapore

• Singapore’s trade is nearly 3 times its

GDP (S$346b) at S$985b in 2012

• Trade has grown at a CAGR of 9% p.a.

since 2002

• Singapore companies’ investment

overseas tripled in the last 10 years 0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

450

Direct Investment Abroad S$ billion

Source: Department of Statistics Singapore and IE Singapore

Source: APEC website and SPRING, 2010/2011 estimates

^Source: IE Singapore Internationalisation Survey 2011 (Overseas revenue contributes 48% of SMEs total revenue)


without prior written consent from SPRING Singapore. 3


S$100m

<S$1m

S$10m

Source : Computed by SPRING with data from EDB and DOS

Includes manufacturing and services sectors only, excludes construction, mining, agriculture & fishing, utilities, etc.

Medium enterprises include SMEs with more than S$100m sales but less than 200 workers

160,000 SMEs contributing 2.1m jobs

Annual Revenue



Singapore SME Development Strategies

4


Strengthen Environment Conducive

for Enterprise Formation & Growth

Develop Competitive Clusters

Groom Growth-Oriented

Enterprises

Seed and Nurture Start-

Ups

Management

Know-How

Market

Money

SPRING &

Partners



Assistances to SMEs

5


In addition, more than 30,000 SMEs were supported through tax incentives to enhance

productivity and innovation

Small SMEs

(annual revenues between

S$1 mil & S$10 mil)

Medium SMEs

(annual revenues

between S$10mil &

S$100mil)

Micro SMEs

(annual revenues

less than S$1 mil) 28%

42%

30% 72% of SMEs Supported

for Upgrading Projects

were Micro & Small SMEs

No. of SMEs Supported for

Upgrading Projects through grants 4,700

2011 2012

5,600

No. of SMEs Assisted though

Business Advisory and Outreach 112,400 117,300

Productivity Improvements

Human Capital Development

Technology Innovation

Business Capability

Enhancements

Types of Upgrading



Through Loans

6


Government-backed loans accounted for 1.2% and 1.1% of Singapore’s total

commercial loans in 2011 and 2012 respectively

S$0.7b (3,572 loans)

S$1.0b (3,073 loans)

S$6.0b (14,252 loans)

S$2.7b (9,748 loans)

S$1,4b (5,181 loans) S$1.3b

(4,541 loans)

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

Government-Backed Loans

LEFS LIS MLP BLP

S$ billion

Bridging Loan Programme (BLP)

Recessionary measure (2009 – 2011) to provide working

capital loans in times of crisis

Loan Insurance Scheme (LIS)

For working capital and trade financing

Local Enterprise Finance Scheme (LEFS)

For purchase of equipment and assets

Microloan Programme (MLP)

Working capital loans for micro enterprises

Source: Monetary Authority of Singapore



Through Partners

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Enterprise Development Centres (EDCs)

• Services include:

1-to-1 Business Advisory

Workshops on productivity

Outreach and education sessions for SMEs on

Government Schemes

Trade Associations and Chambers (TACs) Local Enterprise & Association Development

Programme

• Supports industry-led initiatives that enhance

industry and enterprise competitiveness

• 43 projects by 28 TACs to date



Through Infrastructure

8


Centres of Innovation (COIs) One-stop centres offering technology consultancy and advice

Enviro & Water Tech

COI

@ Ngee Ann

Polytechnic

Food Innovation &

Resource Centre

@ S’pore Polytechnic

Precision Engrg

COI

@ A*STAR

SIMTECH

Electronics COI

@ Nanyang Polytechnic

Marine & Offshore Tech

COI @ Ngee Ann

Polytechnic

Supply Chain

Management COI @

Republic Polytechnic

Centres of

Innovation

Productivity Centres One-stop centres offering productivity consultancy

and advice

Set up Food Automation Unit in the

Food Innovation & Resource Centre

(FIRC)

Supported the set up of the Singapore

Innovation & Productivity Institute

(SiPi) by the Singapore Manufacturing

Federation (SMF)

Food Automation

Unit at FIRC



Background of APEC SMEWG

• Established in 1995

• Guided by the following to promote SME development and enhance

effectiveness of APEC work

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Part II : APEC SME Working Group

Framework

for SME

Activities

1997

1998/2002

2009-2012

Integrated Plan of

Action for SME

Development (SPAN)

SMEWG Strategic

Plan 2009 – 2012

2013-2016

SMEWG Strategic

Plan 2013 – 2016



SMEWG Strategic Plan Priority Areas (2009 – 2012)

Six Priority Areas

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Malaysia, Mexico

Chinese Taipei, Thailand

Singapore, China

Korea, Peru, USA

Indonesia, Japan

1. Business Environment

2. Build Management Capability and

Promoting Entrepreneurship

3. Market Access and Internationalisation

4. Foster Innovation

5. Access to Financing

6. Raise Awareness of Sustainable

Business Practices

Champion Economies

SMEWG Chair:

2009-2010 (Singapore), 2011-2012 (Chinese Taipei), 2013-2014 (Thailand)



Projects Spearheaded by Singapore

• Led priority area on Market Access and Internationalisation

Study on APEC SME Internationalisation Best Practices – 2010 to 2011

Study on APEC Export Technical Assistance Model (Singapore) – 2010

APEC Business Fellowship (Singapore) – 2010

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Current Chair of SMEWG (2013 – 2014): Thailand

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SMEWG Strategic Plan (2013 – 2016) Priority Areas

1. Build Management Capability, Entrepreneurship and Innovation

2. Business Environment, Market Access and Internationalisation

3. Access to Financing

• Drive SMEWG Strategic Plan 2013 – 2016



Internationalisation & Market Access

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Governments and the private sector can play a bigger role in facilitating

the internationalisation of APEC’s SMEs

• Businesses and supply chain more globalised

• Economies more inter-connected

• Aided by improved transportation and communication

infrastructure and FTAs

• Presents significant opportunities for SMEs

• But SMEs have limited reach and resources to do so

• SMEs would need more assistance



Some Ideas

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• SMEWG must continue to promote policy best practices amongst APEC economies

• Consider developing a common benchmarking tool to measure effectiveness of SME

policies and performance of SMEs in each economy. Such information would enable

policy-makers to fine-tune policies to address SMEs’ needs. – Possible partners: Universities, Leading Research Institutions such as Asia Competitiveness

Institute (ACI)

• SMEWG should encourage economies to organise networking and business

matching activities for SMEs from various economies to facilitate market access and

foster partnerships amongst SMEs.

• SMEWG could support initiatives to train SMEs and their executives on market

knowledge and doing business in specific markets – Similar to the International Business Fellowship programme (conducted by International

Enterprise Singapore) and the APEC Business Fellowship programme (conducted by

Singapore in 2010)



Question & Answer

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enhancing competitiveness of apec smes

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