Mr Teo Ser Luck at the Launch of SME Centre at SCCCI

SPEECH BY MR TEO SER LUCK, MINISTER OF STATE FOR TRADE AND INDUSTRY, AT THE LAUNCH OF SME CENTRE@SCCCI, ON TUESDAY, 8 OCTOBER 2013, 2.35 P.M. AT SCCCI AUDITORIUM

Mr Thomas Chua, President of Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry,

Council members,

Distinguished guests,

Ladies and gentlemen,

Good afternoon.

1.           I am happy to be here to officiate at the re-opening of the SME Centre at the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCCI). Formerly the Enterprise Development Centre (EDC), the Centre has been operating since 2006 and has served more than 18,500[1] SMEs to date.

2.      Two weeks ago, SCCCI launched a satellite SME Centre at the Central Community Development Council, located in the HDB Hub at Toa Payoh. The SME Centre@Central will reach out to SMEs in the HDB heartlands. Together with the re-opening of the SME Centre today, the resources in place at SCCCI to engage and assist SMEs have increased significantly.  I would like to thank the Chamber for its close partnership with SPRING, and its unwavering commitment to help SMEs.

Helping businesses to access government support for restructuring

3.      Singapore’s economy is in a new phase of development. We need to shift our economy towards quality growth that is driven by productivity and innovation. Our SMEs play a crucial role in this restructuring, as they form more than 99% of our enterprises, employ 70% of our workforce, and contribute over half of enterprise value added in our economy.

4.      The Government will do its part to help SMEs with the transition to quality growth. For instance, various measures were announced at Budget 2013 to enhance assistance for SMEs. These measures include the Productivity and Innovation Credit Bonus, Wage Credit Scheme, Enhanced Workfare Training Scheme and the SME Talent Programme. These programmes complement existing schemes such as the Innovation and Capability Voucher and Capability Development Grant which provide assistance for SMEs seeking to improve productivity.

5.      At the National Day Rally in August, PM announced the formation of the SME Workgroup, which is the first time we are bringing together grassroots Advisors, business leaders, and government agencies in a coordinated effort to address SME issues. The Workgroup will proactively engage with SMEs, encourage SMES to tap on relevant schemes which help them with restructuring, as well as make recommendations to improve policies to support economic restructuring. The Advisors in the Workgroup will commence their engagement sessions with the SMEs this month.

SME Centres and Satellite Centres Increase Accessibility and Raise Awareness of Government Assistance

6.      The SME engagement by the SME Workgroup will amplify the outreach by the SME Centres, which were enhanced from the existing Enterprise Development Centres[2] (EDCs) in April this year. The SME Centres will provide one-stop assistance for businesses looking to increase their productivity and upgrade their capabilities. SMEs will be able to tap a wider range of services, including in-depth advice and assessment of business needs, and access the full range of government assistance schemes.

7.      Since the launch on 1st April, the expanded SME Centres have assisted more than 7,200 SMEs. The aim is to help 60,000 businesses over the next three years. This is an ambitious goal, but I believe that it is achievable with the continued support of our Trade Associations & Chambers. To expand the network of the SME centres, we plan to set up satellite offices in the heartlands.

Encourage SMEs to Take Steps to Upgrade

8.      An example of an SME which has benefited from the help offered at the SME Centres is Bioneutre, which offers facial and spa services. 

9.      Ms Doris Du, the CEO of Bioneutre approached the SME Centre@SCCCI for help in improving her company’s HR development and streamlining business processes. In consultation with her business advisor, she created a more structured and effective in-house training programme using the WSQ framework for her employees to improve service standards. In addition, Ms Du rolled out a customer-relationship-management system and was able to offset some of the cost for this using the Productivity and Innovation Credit (PIC). The new system reduces the manpower required to manage the clientele database and schedule appointments from three employees to one employee. With a digitised database, Ms Du is also able to analyse customer data trends to improve her business. This is a very encouraging example of how productivity improvements can benefit SMEs in the services sector.

10.    I hope that the example of Bioneutre will encourage more SMEs, regardless of size, to approach the SME Centres for help in improving their business.

Chinese Version of Financial Management Toolkit

11.    Besides business process re-engineering, Financial Management is another area where a number of our SMEs lack in-depth knowledge.

12.    In view of this, the Association of Banks in Singapore (ABS), with the support of SPRING, launched an online Financial Management toolkit in 2012 to help SMEs enhance their knowledge and capabilities in financial management. Since its launch, close to 2,700 users have registered to use the toolkit, and we want to encourage more SMEs to make use of this. To better meet the needs of the Chinese business community, I am happy to announce that the Chinese version of the toolkit is now available.

Conclusion

13.    In closing, I would like to thank the SCCCI for its invaluable support thus far and I look forward to seeing more SMEs take the first step to seek advice at the SME Centres. I would like to commend the SME Centre@SCCCI and its dedicated business advisors for their hard work and wish them even greater success in their endeavours to help more SMEs at these new premises.

[1]

Actual figure: 18,584. Break down: 17,779 Under EDC@SCCCI (2006-Mar 2013) ,  805 Under SME Centre@SCCCI (Apr2013-Aug 2013)

[2]

These five EDCs were set up at five TACs: the Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (ASME); the Singapore Manufacturing Federation (SMF); the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce & Industry (SCCCI); the Singapore Indian Chamber of Commerce & Industry (SICCI); and the Singapore Malay Chamber of Commerce & Industry (SMCCI).

蔡其生会长，

新加坡中华总商会董事会成员，

各位嘉宾，

女士们、先生们，下午好。

1.      我很高兴受邀主持中华总商会中小企业中心的开幕仪式。该中心的前身是企业发展与服务中心（EDC），自2006年起，已经协助超过18，500家中小企业。

2.      两周前，总商会在大巴窑建屋局大厦内启动了中区中小企业中心，深入组屋区和邻里市镇，增强与中小企业和微型企业的联系。今天，随着升级后的总商会中小企业中心正式开幕，总商会协助中小企业的资源将更加丰富而充沛。在此，我要感谢中华总商会与标新局(SPRING)长期以来密切合作，坚持不懈地为中小企业服务。

协助企业获得政府援助以推动转型

3.      目前，新加坡的经济已经发展到一个新阶段，我们必须通过提高生产力和创新能力来推动经济的优质增长。在转型当中，中小企业将扮演至关重要的角色。中小企业占了我国公司总数的99%，聘用70%的员工，为新加坡经济贡献了超过一半的企业经济增值。

4.      在向高质量增长的转变过程中，政府将努力帮助中小企业。例如，2013年财政预算案公布了多项中小企业援助计划，包括生产力及创新优惠奖励（PIC）、加薪补贴计划（WCS），中小型企业员工培训计划（加强型）（Enhanced Workfare Training Scheme）和中小企业人才培育计划（SME Talent Programme）。这些新推出的措施完善了现有的方案，如创新与能力赠券计划（ICV）和能力发展津贴(CDG)，主要目标就是帮助中小企业提高生产率。

5.      今年8月，总理在国庆群众大会上宣布成立中小企业工作组 (SMEWG）。这是我国第一次凝聚基层顾问、商团领袖和政府机构的力量，互相支援协调，一起探讨中小企业课题。工作组将积极主动地与中小企业接触，鼓励中小企业申请相关援助计划进行转型，同时也会根据商家的情况提出有效建议，优化政策以支持经济结构的调整。工作组将在这个月开始与基层领袖、基层顾问和政府机构代表展开与中小企业接触的过程。

中小企业中心和附属中心将扩大涵盖范围并提高援助计划的认知度

6.      今年4月起，原企业发展与服务中心升级为中小企业中心。中小企业工作组将通过中心扩大与中小企业的接触范围。中小企业中心将为企业提供一站式服务，协助商家提高生产力，提升企业整体实力。中心的服务将更加广泛，包括深入咨询和业务需求评估，以及全面善用政府的援助计划。

7.      从4月1日试运行开始，升级后的中小企业中心已经帮助了超过7，200家企业。中心的目标是在未来的3年内协助6万家企业。这是一个颇具雄心的目标， 但我坚信，只要有行业协会和商会的大力支持，我们一定能实现这个目标。在扩大这个中小企业中心的网络方面，我们计划设立中小企业办事处，深入基层和社区。

鼓励中小企业采取升级措施

8.      我举一个实际例子，说明企业如何通过中小企业中心受惠。百优俪人是一间提供美容和spa服务的本地公司。

9.      百优俪人spa的总裁杜希仙女士到了总商会中小企业中心寻求协助，目的是提高公司人力资源管理，优化业务流程。在商业顾问的建议下，杜女士决定采用WSQ框架，为员工设计更有系统的内部培训方案，提高员工的服务素质。此外，杜女士也采用了客户关系管理系统，并用生产力及创新优惠奖励（PIC）抵消了部分费用。新系统减少了客户数据管理和预约管理的人力需求，原来需要3名员工做的事，现在只需要1名员工。因为有了客户数据库，杜女士还能分析顾客的消费趋势以提高业绩。这是个令人鼓舞的真实案例，展示了服务业的中小企业如何提高生产力。

10.    我希望百优俪人的实例能够激励更多中小企业，无论规模大小，请大家走进中小企业中心，探讨如何提高业绩。

中文版财务管理工具箱

11.    除了优化业务流程，许多中小企业也缺乏比较深入的财务管理知识。

12.    为此，在2012年,标新局(SPRING) 支持新加坡银行业协会（ABS）推出了一套网上财务管理工具箱，以帮助中小企业提高财务管理知识和能力。自推出以来，将近2，700的用户已经注册使用，我希望鼓励更多的中小企业善用这项工具。为了方便讲华语的商家，今天我很高兴地向大家宣布这个工具箱现在有了华文版。

结束语

13.    最后，我要感谢中华总商会多年来的有力支持，期待更多中小企业跨出第一步，走进总商会中小企业中心进行咨询。同时，我也要赞扬总商会中小企业中心和富有献身精神的企业顾问，大家辛勤努力地工作，希望在新装修的办公地点，能够帮助更多的中小企业。

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