SINGAPORE: More homegrown small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are seeking help from the Singapore Business Federation (SBF) to venture overseas as economies in the region reopen.
Data tracked by the apex business chamber showed that the number of advisories issued to SMEs in 2022 rose by over a third against the previous year, while the number of projects SMEs successfully concluded overseas surged by just under 138% over the same period.
These numbers, which are for the GlobalConnect@SBF programme that was initiated in 2019 to help SMEs expand into South-East Asia and beyond, are nearly back to pre-Covid-19 levels.
The programme is supported financially by Enterprise Singapore.
The success stories cover a broad swathe of industries and sectors, including trade, leisure, hospitality and education, as well as food manufacturing and services.
The advisories give key information such as insights into the business landscape as well as market trends and opportunities.
SBF runs the programme through its Singapore office, alongside three Singapore Enterprise Centres set up in the Central Business Districts of Bangkok, Jakarta and Ho Chi Minh City.
These offices are staffed by SBF’s country heads as well as local advisers with intimate knowledge about each of the markets.
SMEs venturing into these markets can make use of the centres as their forward base of operations as they come furnished with workspaces and meeting rooms.
These overseas offices also support small businesses with a suite of services, including market advisory and business matchmaking, along with on-the-ground business support such as introductions to local law firms and corporate secretariats.
“Currently, we are seeing an average of three to five companies seeking assistance weekly at each centre, up from one to two a week in 2022 when borders were reopened,” said SBF chief executive Kok Ping Soon. — The Straits Times/ANN
