Minister Iswaran's written reply to PQ on help for local companies in view of ageing and shrinking workforce and tighten foreign worker inflows

​Question

Mr Thomas Chua Kee Seng: To ask the Minister for Trade and Industry (Industry) in view of the ageing and shrinking of the local labour force and the tightening of foreign worker inflows, what are the Ministry’s plans and measures to help local companies seeking to expand their business to do so.

Written Answer (to be attributed to Mr S Iswaran, Minister for Trade and Industry (Industry))

1. The Government helps companies seeking to expand their business by supporting their innovation, productivity, and internationalisation efforts. 2. Under the Automation Support Package (ASP), announced in Budget 2016, SPRING assists companies to undertake automation solutions by providing a grant of up to $1 million. SPRING also provides the Capability Development Grant (CDG) to support companies in building capabilities to innovate, enhance productivity and competitiveness.  3. A*STAR and SPRING’s GET-Up Programme seconds senior research scientists and engineers (RSEs) from our universities, research institutes and polytechnics to SMEs. These senior RSEs help SMEs grow their business through innovation projects by enhancing their access to technologies and expertise.  4. IE Singapore helps SMEs to internationalise through the Market Readiness Assistance (MRA) grant and Global Company Partnership (GCP). These programmes help to accelerate the international expansion and support the development of capabilities to venture into new markets.  5. We are also developing Industry Transformation Maps (ITMs) for over 20 sectors. These ITMs comprise growth and competitiveness plans for both domestically-oriented sectors (such as construction, food services, and retail) as well as export-oriented sectors (like hotels, logistics, food manufacturing, and precision engineering). These will include the programmes to upgrade productivity, develop skills, promote technology adoption & innovation, and help companies expand overseas.  6. These efforts also require deep partnerships with Trade Associations and Chambers (TACs). For instance, IE Singapore has partnered the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCCI) to launch a Singapore Enterprise Centre in Shanghai. The Centre helps our SMEs venture into China by providing one-to-one advisory, organising business events, and sharing market information and business leads. We will also work with TACs on Collaborative Industry Projects (TAC-CIP) seeking scalable solutions to industry-specific productivity and innovation needs. 

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