Most small businesses satisfied with Singapore's Covid-19 relief measures: survey

SMALL businesses in Singapore are more satisfied with their government's Covid-19 relief measures than their peers in Asean, but flagged a need for more investment in digital infrastructure to support their innovation efforts.

This is according to a survey by United Overseas Bank (UOB), Accenture and Dun & Bradstreet, which polled 1,000 small businesses with annual turnover of S$20 million and below in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. It was conducted before and during the Covid-19 pandemic, in the third quarter of 2019 and May 2020.

Nearly three quarters, or 72 per cent, of Singapore-based respondents expressed satisfaction with government-provided measures to cushion the impact of Covid-19, compared to an average of 58 per cent feeling this way across Asean.

The percentages of small businesses that expressed satisfaction with their governments' measures were 68 per cent (Vietnam), 61 per cent (Malaysia), 47 per cent (Thailand), and 45 per cent (Indonesia).

Across Asean, respondents ranked government measures that deferred income tax payment as the most preferred (50 per cent), followed by loan and wage assistance.

About half of the Singapore respondents said wage assistance was the most important government measure in helping them tide through the Covid-19 situation, followed by support for business transformation initiatives and loan assistance.

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More digital infrastructure, like national business databases for electronic know-your-customer processes and nationwide networks for electronic invoicing processes, was ranked the top area needing more support across Asean (77 per cent) and in Singapore (71 per cent).

Singapore businesses also requested more funding support and more education and training programmes to upskill employees.

Said Audrey Chia, chief executive officer of Dun & Bradstreet Singapore: "While the majority of the current government support measures are aimed at helping businesses with their immediate cash flow challenges amid Covid-19, the desire for non-cash flow support by small businesses across Asean highlights the increasing importance that they place in adapting to the new normal."

Lawrence Loh, head of group business banking at UOB, said other forms of government assistance besides cash flow-focused relief measures could help small businesses emerge stronger from the crisis.

"In supporting our small business clients, we found that many of them are not only concerned with immediate challenges but also with exploring enterprising ways to protect the long-term viability of their business," he said. UOB has been working with these clients to help them best use the relief funds to improve their resilience, Mr Loh added.

Divyesh Vithlani, who leads Accenture's financial services practice in South-east Asia, said it is "very encouraging" to see small businesses looking beyond immediate difficulties to focus on revamping and future-proofing their operations.

"Financial services firms with the right digital tools and next-generation services will play a key role in the broader economic recovery in South-east Asia, particularly as they streamline different government relief programmes and partner SMEs to help them navigate the current instability," Mr Vithlani said.