Empowering SMEs to digitalise to connect to global opportunities

THE world is slowly moving into a year of promised macroeconomic recovery on the back of vaccine optimism following the ravages of Covid-19. While the pandemic has posed many challenges to global supply chains, we are experiencing a silver lining amid the crisis: an expanded digital world of opportunities and a booming global digital trade economy projected to reach US$25 trillion by 2025. We are witnessing rapid recovery, accelerating at a pace far beyond our imagination across industries worldwide.

Global disruptions such as trade wars and the recent Suez Canal crisis have brought about the regionalisation of global supply chains. It has further underscored the pressing need for companies to digitalise and to grow their businesses while preparing a digitally-skilled workforce that can navigate unforeseen disruptions.

Companies that have already undergone digitalisation are generally more optimistic about the future, with three in five Singapore small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) hopeful that their revenue will grow in a post-pandemic future.