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Enterprise Singapore (ESG) is a statutory board under the
Ministry of Trade and Industry A Ministry of Trade and Industry, Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce and Industry or variations is a ministry that is concerned with a nation's trade, industry and commerce. Notable examples are: List *Algeria: Ministry of Industry and ...
of the
Government of Singapore The Government of Singapore is defined by the Constitution of Singapore to mean the executive branch of the state, which is made up of the president and the Cabinet. Although the president acts in their personal discretion in the exercise ...
. It was formed on 1 April 2018 to support Singapore
small and medium enterprise Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) or small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are businesses whose personnel and revenue numbers fall below certain limits. The abbreviation "SME" is used by international organizations such as the World Bank ...
(SMEs) development, upgrade capabilities, innovate, transform, and internationalise. It also supports the growth of Singapore as a trading and startup hub, and continues to be the national standards and accreditation body.


History

Enterprise Singapore was formed through the merger of
International Enterprise Singapore International Enterprise Singapore ( abbreviation: IE Singapore) was a statutory board under the Ministry of Trade and Industry of the Government of Singapore that facilitated the growth of Singapore-based companies overseas and promoted intern ...
(IE) and
SPRING Singapore The Standards, Productivity and Innovation Board ( abbreviation: SPRING Singapore) was a statutory board under the Ministry of Trade and Industry of the Singapore Government. It worked as an agency for enterprise development, and helped enterp ...
. It is an integration of IE Singapore and SPRING Singapore’s functions. SPRING Singapore was responsible for helping startups and SMEs in financing, capability and management development, technology and innovation. It was the national body for standards and accreditation, responsible for helping companies achieve international standards and conformity requirements. International Enterprise Singapore promoted international trade and helped Singapore companies expand internationally. On February 5, the Singapore Parliament passed a bill to officiate the new statutory board. During the second reading that occurred on the same day, Minister for Trade and Industry
S Iswaran S. Iswaran ( ta, எஸ் ஈஸ்வரன்; born 1962) is a Singaporean politician who has been serving as Minister for Transport since 2021 and Minister-in-charge of Trade Relations since 2018. A member of the governing People's Action P ...
said "the goals of capacity building, innovation and international expansion are deeply intertwined and reinforced one another. A company must innovate and deepen its capabilities to successfully expand into overseas markets. Equally, venturing overseas will itself create the scale, impetus and opportunity for businesses to gain new capabilities and expertise… so it is necessary and timely to merge the functions and operations of IE and SPRING to form Enterprise Singapore".


Responsibilities


Developing trading cluster

The agency attracts global commodity traders to establish their global or Asian home base in Singapore. Singapore is currently the trading hub of the three clusters of metals and minerals, agri-commodities, and energy and chemicals.


Quality and Standards

Enterprise Singapore governs the national standards of Singapore. Through the industry led Singapore Standards Council, it administers the Singapore Standardisation Programme, which develops and promotes standards to meet industry needs and government policy objectives. The Council consists of representatives of various stakeholders including industry representatives, professional bodies, trade and consumer associations, academia, and government agencies. It develops a consensus based Standards in Singapore and promotes them to be accepted and adopted by stakeholders. The agency is also the national accreditation body. Enterprise Singapore manages the Singapore Accreditation Council (SAC) that looks at developing and managing accreditation schemes to support Singapore’s strategic initiatives such as market access, security, and safety and health. It also manages the Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) Compliance Programme that ensures facilities’ processes and laboratory studies meet international standards. Studies conducted in Singapore under GLP complaint conditions have been accepted in more than 30 OECD and non-OECD countries.


Support for businesses

Enterprise Singapore supports enterprises of all sizes and stages of development, including startups, SMEs, and large corporations. * For startups, it partners with incubators, angel investors, and government agencies to develop the startup ecosystem in Singapore through the slew of programmes managed by Startup SG. * For SMEs, it provides assistance in improving business capabilities through various grants and programmes, as well as access to technology and research institutes. It also supports SMEs that expand overseas through tax deductions, grant funds, the Plug and Play Network, and over 22 Free Trade Agreements. * Large corporations receive assistance from Enterprise Singapore in expanding their global market reach and source for new opportunities. There are also initiatives such as the PACT programme where they lead smaller companies in joint projects.


Internationalisation efforts

Enterprise Singapore has built a global network for SMEs.


Overseas markets

Enterprise Singapore maintains overseas centres in various markets to support the internationalisation of Singaporean businesses. There are a total of 36 overseas centres in 21 countries. China alone hosts 9 centres. The centres are clustered in the geographical regions of Southeast Asia & Oceania, North & South China, East & West China, North and South Asia, Middle East and Africa, North America & Europe, and Emerging Europe, Latin America & the Caribbean.


Plug and Play Network

The agency has 9 Plug and Play partners in 6 countries. It provides specific market research into the target markets, provides a global database to help search for business partners overseas, provide in-market support such as matching suppliers and distributors, and source for workspaces.


Bilateral Business Forums

Business Forums are organised for delegates and officials of both Singapore and partner countries to discuss business partnership opportunities, domestic opportunities, business trends and future directions. Thus far Enterprise Singapore has organised Business Forums with
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
,
Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...
,
Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...
,
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
, among others.


See also

*
Ministry of Trade and Industry A Ministry of Trade and Industry, Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce and Industry or variations is a ministry that is concerned with a nation's trade, industry and commerce. Notable examples are: List *Algeria: Ministry of Industry and ...
*
Government of Singapore The Government of Singapore is defined by the Constitution of Singapore to mean the executive branch of the state, which is made up of the president and the Cabinet. Although the president acts in their personal discretion in the exercise ...
*
Economy of Singapore The economy of Singapore is a highly developed free-market economy with dirigiste characteristics. Singapore's economy has been previously ranked as the most open in the world, the joint 4th-least corrupt, and the most pro-business. Singapo ...
* International Enterprise *
SPRING Singapore The Standards, Productivity and Innovation Board ( abbreviation: SPRING Singapore) was a statutory board under the Ministry of Trade and Industry of the Singapore Government. It worked as an agency for enterprise development, and helped enterp ...


References


External links


Enterprise Singapore
{{Authority control Economy of Singapore Government of Singapore Statutory boards of the Singapore Government 2018 establishments in Singapore Government agencies established in 2018