Shaping a globally adept workforce is a challenge for SMEs

IN BUSTLING Ho Chi Minh City, a Singapore brand strives to align itself with local tastes and preferences. A local distributor promises that success is around the corner – yet, if the company lacks its own eyes and ears on the ground, it will find it challenging to navigate this new terrain with confidence.

Such a scenario is all too familiar for many small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

Singapore’s limited domestic market makes overseas expansion essential for sustained growth, and SMEs clearly wish to tap opportunities that are further afield.