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SINGAPORE: Small and medium-sized enterprises can soon access funds to help them grow their business overseas.
From April 1, local firms can apply for a S$10 million SME Market Access Programme or SME MAP, administered by trade promotion agency IE Singapore.
This is part of the government's recent budget announcement to help SMEs go global.
Central Chinese cities like Hunan and Hubei present many new opportunities for Singapore companies and SMEs can break into these new markets with SME MAP.
Chong Lit Cheong, CEO, IE Singapore, said: "To venture overseas, their first step is always to export and to export, they need to find the distributors, agents and they need to register their IPs and so on.
“And we felt that that this one area we can assist and that's how the MAP programme came about where we're prepared to subsidize 50 per cent of such costs and therefore make it easier for the small SMEs to make the first step, which is to export."
The new programme will defray half of a company's third party costs such as drafting of legal documents and conducting clinical trials.
The funding will be capped at S$100,000 per year for each company.
Under the SME Market Access Programme, IE Singapore hopes to help 100 companies annually and it expects these companies to generate about S$3 million worth of overseas sales over a three-year period.
IE Singapore hopes that by helping these companies to defray some of their business costs, these local SMES would be encouraged to venture into new overseas markets.
While welcoming SME MAP, some manufacturers think it could be fine-tuned.
Renny Yeo, president, Singapore Manufacturers' Federation, said: "The limit is S$100,000 which to be honest is a small amount.
“I hope they can allow five companies to band together to use this fund and allow each individual company to have S$100,000, therefore they have half a million, which will then be substantial.
“And secondly, more importantly, they must not remove the other schemes so that companies can also use the IMAP and the other schemes that they have to help these SMEs export."
IE Singapore is already planning to set up one new office in Central China this year and aims to work closely with Trade Associations and Chambers to start more offices overseas.
Mr Chong added: “For example, Sembcorp managed to get their project done in Oman because IE managed to get them the China EXIM Bank to facilitate to fund their projects in Oman. So meanwhile we'll have to work with third party banks." - CNA/vm
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