Singapore to help SMEs thrive in digital economy

Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) need to develop strong digital capabilities and raise employees' skills in order to stay competitive, a Singaporean official said on Thursday.

At the Human Capital (Singapore) Thought Leadership Masterclass Series, Parliamentary Secretary for the Ministry of Trade and Industry & Ministry of Education Low Yen Ling said SMEs, which make up 99 percent of the enterprises in Singapore and contribute to nearly half of the GDP, while employing 70 percent of the workforce, play a pivotal role in Singapore's development.

Low remarked that SMEs need to continually innovate and scale up to be able to adapt to global disruption. "Our people have to be on a learning track constantly so as to develop new, deep and relevant skills," she added.

Singapore's government is making concerted effort to encourage SMEs to take their first steps towards digitalization.

Under the SMEs Go Digital program, the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) will work closely with SPRING Singapore's SME Centers to help SMEs build stronger digital capabilities.

Data analytics is another area of great potential for SMEs. Low said SMEs can discover new opportunities and also make informed decisions through mining available information.

She also stressed the importance of human capital development and lifelong learning for SMEs to achieve limitless potential and seize opportunities of the digital economy. Enditem