More businesses were set up than shut down in last 2 years, despite Covid-19

THE number of new businesses that were set up outnumbered those that closed down over the last two years, despite the uncertainty brought by the Covid-19 pandemic, it was revealed in Parliament on Wednesday (Nov 3).

An average of more than 5,000 new firms were registered each month over the last two years, said Minister of State for Trade and Industry Low Yen Ling.

This exceeded the average number of firms that were deregistered each month, which, at 3,840, is comparable to the period from 2017 to 2019, she said in response to MP questions.

The retail sector had a net growth of 6,970 firms from January 2020 to September 2021, Minister of State for Trade and Industry Alvin Tan said in a separate reply.

Within that period, 8,600 retail businesses folded - 330 more than that during the corresponding period in 2018 and 2019. However, 15,570 new retail businesses were set up, he said.

New entrants into the tourism industry have kept the number of tourism businesses in operation fairly stable, he said. The number of licensed hotels remains at around 420, despite 13 having ceased operations.

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There are about 2,900 licensed tourist guides currently, after 176 guides chose not to renew their licences during this period.

Travel agents appear to have borne the brunt of the pandemic, with 157 of them, or 8 per cent of all licensed agents, bowing out during the period. About 30 new travel agents entered the market.

In response to follow-up queries, Tan said 4,373 workers - 58 per cent of whom were locals - were retrenched across the core tourism industries in the first 10 months of this year.

With early intervention and support under the SGUnited Jobs and Skills initiative, however, 67 per cent of the locals who were retrenched between January and September 2020 found new employment within six months, Tan said.

Nearly 250 tourist guides have served as safe-distancing ambassadors with the Singapore Tourism Board (STB).

Meanwhile, 1,180 retail employees were laid off in 2020, which translates to 16.9 retrenched employees per 1,000 employees. Of these, 56 per cent entered a different industry within six months of retrenchment.

Low and Tan noted that government support measures, such as the Jobs Support Scheme, have helped businesses to weather the immediate impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

In particular, the SingapoRediscovers Vouchers scheme gave tourist guides a lifeline by boosting the number of monthly tour participants from 10,000 to more than 50,000 from its launch until the start of Phase 2 (Heightened Alert) in May, Tan said.

STB is expecting tourism to reach pre-pandemic levels "in the next few years", he said.

"In the meantime, we are helping companies in the retail and tourism sectors transform and upgrade themselves so that they can better capture opportunities when travel resumes," said Tan, naming support measures such as Enterprise Singapore's E-Commerce Booster Package and Productivity Solutions Grant.

Echoing this, Low said the government is working to strengthen Singapore's physical and digital connectivity. This includes gradual border reopenings, such as through vaccinated travel lanes and digital economy agreements with like-minded partners.

At the same time, the government is supporting businesses in capturing new and emerging opportunities, such as those in the green sector, and helping them to transform for the future economy.

Low said this will help businesses prepare for the post-Covid-19 recovery while enhancing Singapore's position as a business hub.