SBF calls for 3-month extension of Jobs Support Scheme in Budget 2022 wishlist

THE Singapore Business Federation (SBF) has called for a further extension of wage support and temporary bridging loans in its Budget 2022 wishlist to help companies facing uncertainty and cost pressures as they adapt to an endemic Covid-19.

In particular, it is calling for the government to co-pay 25 per cent of wages under the Jobs Support Scheme (JSS) for currently eligible businesses. These include those in food and beverage (F&B), retail, fitness, the performing arts, education, tourism, museums, art galleries, historical sites and family entertainment.

SBF on Wednesday (Dec 15) said the wage support should be extended for 3 more months after Singapore's "stabilisation" phase to help companies prepare for recovery.

The enhanced JSS was lowered to 10 per cent from Nov 22 and is expected to come to an end by Dec 19.

Calling the journey towards "living with Covid-19" an evolving and challenging one, SBF said: "It is not expected to be smooth as we will need to continually adapt to best cope with operating safely and responsibly in an endemic landscape."

Companies, especially those in consumer-oriented sectors, are likely to continue facing uncertainty, cost pressures and business sustainability risks, it added.

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The federation has also asked for a 1-year extension of the temporary bridging loan programme until March 31, 2023, and for the government to provide up to 90 per cent of risk sharing to help businesses cope with the rising costs in operating in an endemic landscape.

It is also asking the government to help defray the cost of bringing in foreign manpower, which is currently at "elevated levels" due to additional testing and quarantine requirements.

The market readiness assistance scheme could also be expanded so that supported activities go beyond business development and marketing, with its revenue eligibility criteria loosened to include larger companies, SBF said.

"Having a 'restrengthening package' will complement the efforts put in the past 20 over months by providing a timely tailwind for enterprises as we brace ourselves for the final burst to recovery," said Kurt Wee, chairman of the small and medium enterprises (SME) committee at SBF.

Beyond Covid-19, SBF has also made recommendations relating to sustainability and cyber resilience.

With sustainability increasingly seen as a "new engine for growth", SBF said SMEs, often resource-stretched, may need more support for the transition towards greener business models.

Calling for a more concerted, whole-of-government approach, it said current sustainability programmes are decentralised across several agencies without a "one-stop resource".

At the same time, it has also asked the government to support up to 50 per cent of qualifying costs to adopt pre-identified green solutions as well as incentives to promote use of electric vehicles through tax and Certificate of Entitlement rebates.

In the area of cyber resilience, SBF noted that there is an increased focus on cybersecurity, with digitalisation trends accelerating over the past 2 years. While there are currently pre-approved cybersecurity solutions under SMEs Go Digital, SBF said what is lacking is a shared service that can help companies dealing with cyber attacks to eradicate the threats.

On the whole, there is also scope for broader and stronger public-private engagements to connect the private sector to a suite of offerings by the Agency for Science, Technology and Research to help unlock the potential of public sector intellectual property (IP) to catalyse product development, manufacturing and other significant economic activities, SBF said.

As part of economic transformation, there are opportunities to help companies move up the value chain and increase their competitive advantage, such as new product or service creation through licensing of IP or developing their own and maximising the value from IP, it said.

It is calling on the government to expand existing grant support for local IP search and application and related third-party costs to help companies extract the potential value of their IP assets to scale their business for local and international growth.

Public-sector research agencies and research institutes could also work more closely with industry partners like trade associations and chambers to help unlock commercial potential in public sector IPs, promote joint innovation projects and better identify areas of research and industry applications.

SBF chief executive Lam Yi Young said there is greater optimism among businesses, despite the continued challenges posed by Covid-19, as the world prepares to enter into 2022.

He added that these recommendations would address both the immediate-term challenge of business recovery as well as emerging opportunities for future growth.