How can Enterprise Singapore help your business?

1 Mar 2019 | SMB, Software as a Service, Digitalisation | 5-min read

One of the key announcements in Budget 2018 was the establishment of Enterprise Singapore (ESG). It’s the merger of International Enterprise (the lead agency in helping Singapore companies to expand overseas) and Spring Singapore (which helped develop small and medium businesses as well as industrial standards). How will the formation of ESG impact SMBs here and what can they expect from the new agency?

The Minister-in-charge of Trade Relations in the Ministry of Trade and Industry S. Iswaran announced the formation of ESG that will provide differentiated programmes and support for companies according to their specific needs. Essentially, ESG is now a one-stop business development agency that will serve as a point of contact for companies of various sizes including startups, small-and medium-sized enterprises and high-growth companies.

Mr Iswaran said: “Enterprise Singapore will support upgrading, innovation and business model transformation to capture new revenue streams.” He also added that ESG will “promote digitalisation, automation and adoption of new technologies to improve productivity and overcome resource constraints to facilitate expansion into overseas markets and strengthen leadership and management capabilities”.

ESG has also launched new initiatives like the Productivity Solutions Grant where companies can receive a subsidy of up to 70% when they purchase ready-to-adopt IT solutions and equipment to improve productivity.

New digital initiatives have also been announced for local food manufacturers looking to access international markets. One of these initiatives is a B2B app called SMF SMART that was launched by ESG and Singapore Manufacturing Federation. The app allows overseas buyers to access all products listed on the app which makes it easier to consolidate online orders. The app also allows buyers to check the authenticity of the products with the help of QR codes. An online store, called Singapore Pavilion, on Alibaba will also help food manufacturers here gain access to the Chinese market.

Besides the digital initiatives, ESG also announced three initiatives that will aim to raise performances in key areas. These include improving access to self-help human resources, promoting data and technology for better decision-making, as well as scaling up shared services for more efficiency.

The first initiative is an online self-help human resource portal for businesses. The portal, which has already been launched, has a wide range of easy-to-use and self-help HR resources. Companies will easily be able to access exactly what they want as it is arranged by enterprise growth stages and functional areas. It will also provide companies with best practices as well as solutions to common problems and challenges.

The second initiative is a new HR tech pilot that will utilise technology to improve recruitment as well as training opportunities for existing employees. The tech pilot aims to improve “job fit” for candidates as companies can access nine pre-scoped and ready-to-go solutions such as artificial intelligence-powered CV recommendations.

ESG also announced the enhanced HR Shared Services Scheme, which was first launched as a pilot program in 2015. The scheme enabled 130 companies to tap trained HR professionals and outsource the more manual and operational HR functions including payroll processing and claims administration.

The launch of these initiatives signal that digital HR is crucial for a company’s success as it increases productivity. This allows HR professionals to work on more pressing tasks.