This support will help the firms thrive in the longer term, and is in line with the Government’s continued balanced approach in its economic development strategies to stay competitive by nurturing local businesses, upskilling workers and attracting foreign investments.
Wong, who is also Finance Minister, was quoted by the local media as highlighting that between 2019 and 2022, the amount of support extended to SMEs via a host of existing schemes doubled, while the number of local enterprises that were given support to build new capabilities, innovate and expand overseas increased by about 60%.
But the main thrust of our support for SMEs is focused on helping those who are prepared to take steps themselves to restructure their businesses, raise their productivity, and venture into new markets and products, Wong said as he addressed MPs’ comments on the country's Budget statement delivered on February 14.
Attracting quality foreign investments is another area of focus, as it helps local enterprises by transferring technical know-how and expertise.
Using the medical technology (medtech) sector as an example, Wong said multinational enterprises like Waters Corp, Illumina and ResMed have brought cutting-edge capabilities to Singapore through their investments.
Over the years, they have sunk roots here and contributed to the growth of our medtech ecosystem. They have developed strong partnerships with local companies such as Richport, Nanofilm and Sunningdale, enabling local enterprises to improve their capabilities and scale up their businesses to reach out to more customers, he said.
Even as attracting foreign investment is becoming more challenging amid intensifying competition and geopolitical tensions, Singapore has been able to adapt, said Wong.
According to Singapore's Senior Minister of State for Finance Chee Hong Tat, the Ministry of Finance will introduce a new category of tender by end-2023 called “Tender Lite”, which comes with fewer and simpler conditions.
Tender Lite will allow more suppliers to participate in tenders with value higher than 90,000 SGD but below 1 million SGD. This is estimated to cover over 70% of all government tenders that are currently awarded to SMEs, he said.
He noted that about 80% of government contracts are awarded to SMEs annually.
