Ways for SMEs to Export Their Brands and Operations Overseas

5 Mr Desmond Choo asked the Minister for Trade and Industry (Trade) how can SMEs better utilise overseas larger-scale Singapore companies-led projects, such as malls and industrial parks in China and Vietnam, to export their brands and operations.

Mr Lim Hng Kiang: Large scale projects, such as malls and industrial parks led by Singapore companies, help lower the barriers for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to access overseas markets. SMEs would tend to be familiar with the project developers, and the projects would typically provide a more familiar ecosystem for the SMEs.

International Enterprise (IE) Singapore actively partners Singapore project developers to bring Singapore SMEs into the overseas projects and industrial parks. For example, IE and Capitaland have been working on the Datansha Urban Renewal Project in Guangzhou to bring on board Singapore SMEs. These SMEs have been able to adapt and innovate to offer value-added products and services that address specific niches in-market. They include SMEs like Singapore Garden City and Orange Valley, which offer specialised and differentiated architectural and landscaping design and eldercare services respectively.

In Vietnam, SMEs are already accessing the market through the seven Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Parks (VSIPs) co-developed by SembCorp. As VSIP tenants include local enterprises and international corporations, SMEs can tap on this network to seek complementarities and customise their production to meet market demand. For example, Singapore companies in the food industry have set up in VSIP 1 in Binh Duong province to cater to the growing middle class and expanding appetite for premium food products.

IE Singapore will continue to facilitate partnerships between SMEs and large-scale projects led by Singapore companies, to help SMEs scale up and establish themselves in overseas markets.