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Singapore, Stay Relevant!
Dear Readers,
First, give a good pad on your shoulders. We have all done well, as cooperative citizens in battling against the virus and we ended the year well by entering into phase 3. Now, the challenge is for countries to open up society and restart the economy but without sparking a new wave of infections and deaths. It is a task that will require a concerted and coordinated effort on the part of all stakeholders in the private, non-profit, and public sectors.
What is next for Singaporeans in 2021?
Let’s talk about the digital economy of Singapore. The introduction of digital banks in November 2020 have opened an exciting chapter for Singapore’s financial services sector, companies, and workers. New jobs will be created, and new skills will be needed. In moving ahead with these developments, companies in this sector must not forget our workers as they transform to become Bank 4.0. The government urges companies to support their workers’ transformation and invest in their capabilities so that they are enabled to take on these new and redesigned job roles. Workers must also adopt a lifelong learning mindset and look for ways to upskill so that they are equipped for jobs of the future.
COVID-19 social distancing measures have further accelerated the adoption of digital as the primary form of interaction. In banking, people are forced to change how we manage and move money at a faster pace than previously imagined. Rapid shifts in customer expectations, technology advancements and regulatory developments – all of which further hastened by the pandemic – present a unique challenge for incumbent banks. Singapore was a first-mover in issuing five digital banking licenses to non-traditional banking providers. These new players leverage modular technology design, Cloud infrastructure, APIs, advanced analytics and data-driven processes and see themselves as the game-changers in the banking era.
With government’s great emphasis to fast track the recovery from the pandemic, what can we do as local businesses and individuals?
Getting Relevant is the key to start 2021. Businesses should seriously look into re-modeling the current business landscape and start automating and digitalising their existing operations. When the economy recovers, companies do not need to chase after speed of things but rather, moves along with the economy and gain footings to the new digital world. For individuals, upskilling our skills in the digital arena to enhance employability or enlarging our roles as a technologist will help your organisation with digital transformation.
In conclusion, let us end this ratty race with a pinch of salt. The learning point from this pandemic is not to relent in the normal but relearn for a new normal. I look forward to the new year of more opportunities, helping companies to take flight and transform! Happy New Year!
Companies could come with a business plan and the government will look into a single contact for support
A professional consultant can increase your chances of getting funding for your business and your likelihood of succeeding once you get funded. The key here is to make sure the plan is based on reality, not fantasy.
Welcome to our monthly business newsletter
In this newsletter, we will highlight what Minister Chan Chun Sing had shared during his speech made at the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCCI) conference on 21 Aug 2019.
Amid the slowdown of Singapore’s economy, he encouraged SMEs to continue embracing digitalisation to transform themselves and make use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Internet of Things (IoT) to boost operational efficiency. The Ministry of Trade & Industry (MTI) is working with all its’ agencies to centralise one point of contact. Rather than telling agencies which schemes are SMEs eligible to adopt, all SMEs need is to first prepare a business plan and the agencies will then help to sort out the ‘back-end’ processes.
This is good news to SMEs who are trying to innovate but faces challenges with government agencies on the type of suitable grants, the tedious application processes and at the end of the day, they are still subject to approval. Companies could not kickstart alot of innovation initiatives because they have concerns that the budget for innovation might not be enough if they do not have government’s support.
A business plan has many uses and no matter at which state of progress your company is in; be it start-up or mature, it is like the sails on a ship. The plan is a professionally written testimony about your business history, your current as well as your future goals. It details on what you have achieved and what you intend to achieve and how you are going to achieve it with a clear strategy.
Faith Consultancy & Services has helped many SMEs and MNCs to be equipped with a good business plan. Some of the SMEs have used their business plan to secure landed factories with JTC, some have used the business plan to successfully apply grants with Enterprise Singapore (ESG).
PUBLISHED
AUG 21, 2019, 9:48 AM SGT
Business Correspondent
SINGAPORE — Firms may no longer need to approach government agencies separately on specific grants, and can instead look to a single point of contact for support on their business plans, said Trade and Industry Minister Chan Chun Sing on Wednesday (Aug 21).
Rather than telling agencies which schemes they are trying to adopt, companies could come with a business transformation plan, said Mr Chan, adding that agencies will then help to sort out the “back-end”.
“We are going to make our help schemes company-centric, not scheme-centric,” he said at a Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCCI) conference.
He noted that the authorities are tweaking the way that they will support firms, especially small and medium-sized enterprises.
It is also one way that the Government is helping companies grow their topline, with more Singapore businesses now expecting a drop in their revenue and profit margin as the economy slows and the United States-China trade war continues.
Close to 40 per cent of more than 970 firms polled by the SCCCI in its annual business survey this year expected a fall in revenue, up from around 27 per cent last year, revealed the group’s president Roland Ng at its annual SME Conference where Mr Chan spoke.
Of those surveyed, 95 per cent were SMEs.
About 70 per cent of the firms said they were facing the challenge of rising business costs as well, while around 55 per cent forecast a dip in profits this year.
The survey reflects the effects from the slowing down in Singapore’s economy, said Mr Ng at the event at Suntec Singapore. The two-day conference is expected to see 7,000 attendees.
Earlier this month, Singapore slashed its full-year growth forecast to between 0 per cent and 1 per cent, down from a previous range of 1.5 per cent to 2.5 per cent.
Growth in the second quarter came in at just 0.1 per cent from a year ago as well, fuelling concerns over a possible technical recession – or two consecutive quarters of negative quarter-on-quarter growth.
Mr Ng added that, fortunately, most of the businesses polled are committed to retaining their present employees, noting that 60 per cent indicated they would do so.
About 17 per cent, however, said they would cut back on manpower.
“In such a business environment, the topmost concerns of the respondents are how to grow their revenue, innovation of products and services, attraction and retention of workers, and how to digitalise their businesses,” he said.
He also noted that most businesses are concerned with trade tensions between the US and China, followed by cyber attacks and the bilateral relationship of Singapore and Malaysia.
The ongoing trade war is a reminder of the “utmost importance of acquiring technology to build up competitiveness”, Mr Ng added.
Smaller companies for example, can embrace digitalisation to transform themselves, making use of artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things to boost operational efficiency.
He urged firms venturing abroad to be more agile amid a challenging global economic environment where protectionism is on the rise, saying they can also diversify their internationalisation strategy or collaborate instead of going it alone.
Mr Chan noted as well that companies need to be cognisant of long-term shifts and prepare themselves beyond the fallout from the US-China conflict.
This can be done by diversifying their markets and embracing digital solutions which can help them transcend geography.
A Ratty Race in 2020!
Business Newsletter 2020 Print 1
Happy New Year! We have crossed over a year of roller-coaster in 2019 with many reports of world’s uncertain economy fluctuation. At the very start of 2020, Trade and Industry Minister Chan Chun Sing assured fellow Singaporeans and investors that Singapore is cautiously optimistic about growth, but uncertainties remain in the global economy.
The conservative forecast on this year’s economy is not an understatement. Barely crossing week 1 of January 2020, we already hear news of USA in the brink of war with Iran, Australia’s stubborn dry and windy weather that never stop the forest fire, Indonesia’s capital underwater and new ‘SARS-ALIKE’ disease emerges in China. Not forgetting about US and China’s unsettled trade agreement and BREXIT still in talks. Economist are getting heated up with strings of erratic news all over the world. Will the global economy pick up this year? Well, it is like what Min Chan has spoken. A year with uncertainties remaining….
Nevertheless, we can sense that the Singapore Government is trying its’ best to balance the acceleration of disruptions with Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity (VUCA) rushing in faster than we have imagined. Singapore companies and workers are getting more help by MTI to automate and get internationalised.
As I have posted in my several articles, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Internet of Things (IoT) are emerging as part of our lives. Living and staying in this first-world economy country, we must get ourselves more ever ready, to be frontiers in adopting AI and IoT into our daily lives, our business and workplace. As the saying goes, time waits for no man. God made humans versatile and adaptable. Constantly looking for opportunities and makes us healthy-growing trees amongst the global forest.
There are eleven more good months of playing catch-up. My two-cents would always be consistent when it comes to embracing technology. The train is moving slow in the tunnel, but we cannot afford a total stand-still. C’mon, let’s move together and leave no Singaporean behind this rat race! (indeed a ratty year!) ^_*
PUBLISHED
JAN 6, 2020, 2:20 PM SGT
SINGAPORE – Singapore is cautiously optimistic about its economic growth prospects in the year ahead, but several uncertainties remain in the global economy, Trade and Industry Minister Chan Chun Sing told Parliament on Monday (Jan 6).
The biggest uncertainty is the relationship between the United States and China, he said, noting that it is the most important bilateral relationship for both countries and the entire world.
The recent announcement of phase one of the US-China trade deal and the averting of further trade tensions is positive for all economies, and Singapore hopes this is the first step towards putting the relationship between the two countries back on a stronger footing, Mr Chan added.
He was responding to Mr Saktiandi Supaat (Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC) who asked about the impact of the phase one deal on Singapore’s economy, as well as the impact of declining local exports on businesses and employees here.
Brexit is another global uncertainty which impacts Singapore, as the United Kingdom and the European Union are collectively the Republic’s third-largest trading partner in goods and its biggest trading partner in services, Mr Chan added.
However, the immediate impact of Brexit on Singapore and its companies is likely to be limited, he said.
Mr Chan noted that the UK will be functionally treated as an EU member state and remain a party to the EU’s international agreements, including the EU-Singapore Free Trade Agreement which came into force in November last year, until at least the end of 2020.
But this may change depending on what the UK Parliament decides in the coming weeks, and what happens after 2020 has yet to be determined, he added, noting that Singapore is working with the UK on an economic agreement to maintain continuity in its economic relations after the EU-Singapore FTA no longer applies to the UK.
Mr Chan also said US-China tensions and Brexit are manifestations of a deeper unhappiness over the inequitable distribution of gains from globalisation, and the multilateral trading system is under significant stress.
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Worst may be over, with better prospects for Singapore’s economy in 2020
Last year was a volatile year for the global economy and Singapore, as a small and open economy, was affected by macroeconomic conditions. Advance estimates released last Thursday show that Singapore’s economy grew by 0.7 per cent in 2019, slower than 2018’s 3.1 per cent expansion.
But Mr Chan said it is not all gloomy, as areas like the digital economy present an opportunity, and Asia remains a bright spot, with growth estimated at 5.1 per cent.
The Ministry of Trade and Industry expects Singapore’s economic growth to pick up between 0.5 per cent and 2.5 per cent on the back of a slight uptick in global economic growth and gradual recovery in the global electronics cycle.
The Government has put in place strategies to expand Singapore’s economy and create jobs, Mr Chan added.
These include strengthening Singapore’s fundamentals to distinguish itself amid global uncertainties, which the international community has recognised, he noted, adding that Singapore attracted more than $8 billion of investment commitments in high value-added sectors such as electronics, aerospace and pharmaceuticals last year.
Singapore companies and workers are also getting help to internationalise, Mr Chan added.
Between January and September last year, about 800 companies received grant support for expansion into overseas markets through the Market Readiness Assistance scheme. In the same period, around 1,700 companies got support to grow their businesses – both at home and abroad – through capability development, market access and manpower development for internationalisation.
The Government is also pursuing new growth opportunities by developing new industry niches in areas such as additive manufacturing, robotics and sensors. These build on existing strengths in sectors such as electronics and precision engineering, and will enhance Singapore’s position in global value chains, Mr Chan said.