Enterprises must be the vanguard of innovation and growth: DPM Heng

WHILE the government can play a supportive role, ultimately, it must be enterprises that are the vanguard of innovation and growth, said Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat on Tuesday (May 24). 

Singapore holds key advantages such as tripartism - the partnership between government, workers, and employers; a vibrant research and development ecosystem; and economic transformation through Industry Transformation Maps - which is the “trident” of growth for Singapore’s economy, Heng noted. 

As Singapore’s economy grew and matured, the government developed additional prongs in its economic strategy - the growth of startups and entrepreneurs as well as “levelling up” small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). 

“Startups here can now tap a growing pool of over 200 accelerators, up from around 120 accelerators 5 years ago,” Heng said. “This vibrant ecosystem has allowed many startups to grow and thrive.”

But if Singapore’s startup scene has been a “visible revolution” in attracting global attention, levelling up Singapore’s SMEs has been more of a “quiet evolution”, Heng noted. 

Increasingly, the startup scene is seeing more SMEs that want to grow further to become large enterprises with a global footprint, he said. In line with this, the Singapore Global Enterprises initiative was launched earlier this year to provide tailored support to promising, high-growth companies.

Heng was speaking at Enterprise Singapore’s (EnterpriseSG) Scale-up Ignite event, which was held to mark the achievements of companies in the Scale-up SG programme. Launched in 2019, Scale-up SG is a 12 to 18-month partnership programme that aims to help aspiring, high-growth companies to scale rapidly and expand abroad.

65 companies have participated in 5 runs of EnterpriseSG’s Scale-up SG programme to date. Collectively, they have launched over 50 new ventures, identified 32 new markets, made more than 30 mergers and acquisitions deals, and embarked on over 20 innovative collaborations with one another, Heng noted.

Furniture store Castlery is one of the successful examples of the programme. Participating in the second run of Scale-up SG, it had entered the US market in late 2019 and improved its digital marketing performance to establish brand awareness and develop its brand position there.

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Since participating in Scale-up SG, Castlery has reported a more than 6 times increase in revenue, with international orders accounting for 80 per cent of the company’s revenue. Staff count has also gone up from 90 in pre-Covid times to 250 staff globally at present.

EnterpriseSG will be launching 2 more runs of the Scale-up SG programme this year.

“Scale-up SG is not just about each company’s individual journey. It is also about the collaborations, networks and partnerships that are forged,” Heng said.

Separately, a fireside chat with chief executives from 4 companies that participated in the Scale-up SG programme was held on the topic of “what does it take to Scale-up”.