Take-up Rate for Partnerships for Capability Transformation Scheme
Ministry of Trade and IndustrySpeakers
Summary
This question concerns the take-up rate and enhancement plans for the Partnerships for Capability Transformation (PACT) scheme, as raised by Mr Thomas Chua Kee Seng. Minister for Trade and Industry (Industry) S Iswaran stated that nearly 130 PACT projects have been supported since 2010, benefiting over 700 Singapore-based suppliers, including 650 local SMEs. The Minister highlighted that the scheme helps suppliers enter growth industries through qualification processes and was expanded in 2013 to cover sectors like food manufacturing and retail. Further enhancements in 2015 extended the scheme to support co-innovation activities and joint product development at the proof-of-concept stage to improve local capabilities. The Government continues to monitor the scheme’s relevance and will review potential improvements to ensure ongoing support for the capability transformation of local small and medium enterprises.
Transcript
67 Mr Thomas Chua Kee Seng asked the Minister for Trade and Industry (Industry) (a) what is the take-up rate of the Partnerships for Capability Transformation (PACT) scheme designed to encourage large companies to help their local SME suppliers to upgrade their capabilities; and (b) whether there are plans to improve and enhance this scheme.
Mr S Iswaran: The Partnerships for Capability Transformation (PACT) scheme, administered by the Economic Development Board (EDB) and Standards, Productivity and Innovation Board (SPRING Singapore), supports partnerships between large enterprises and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) by upgrading suppliers' capabilities through the sourcing and qualification process. The scheme has helped locally-based suppliers enter growth industries, such as aerospace, medical technology and semiconductor equipment. For instance, PACT has enabled locally-based suppliers to get onto the approved vendor lists of large enterprises through supplier qualification.
EDB and SPRING have supported close to 130 PACT projects since 2010, from which over 700 Singapore-based suppliers have benefited. Over 650 of the 700 suppliers are local SMEs.
The Government has continually reviewed the PACT scheme to ensure its relevance. In 2013, the scheme was expanded to cover new sectors, such as food manufacturing, printing, retail, food services. At the same time, PACT was enhanced to support productivity improvements, knowledge transfer and test-bedding of innovative solutions. In 2015, the scheme was further extended to cover a broader spectrum of co-innovation activities, to include joint product development between the large enterprise and the supplier at the proof-of-concept stage. The Government will continue to monitor and review how the scheme can be further enhanced to support our local SMEs.