SINGAPORE – Severe travel restrictions amid the pandemic failed to deter increasing numbers of ambitious local companies seeking government assistance to expand overseas.
Better business sentiment on the back of the recovering economy seemed to galvanise firms to try their hand and push into fresh fields, going by new figures from Enterprise Singapore (ESG).
It said on Friday (Feb 11) that it facilitated overseas projects for 340 companies last year, a 10 per cent jump from 2020.
The projects included introducing potential business partners and customers to help companies secure new overseas investments and deals.
These forays are expected to generate $4.6 billion of overseas sales.
Chairman Peter Ong said during ESG’s year-in-review on Friday: “While this was below the number of projects secured pre-Covid-19, it is still encouraging to see many pressing on.
“As countries loosen their Covid-19 restrictions, we should step up our engagement in tandem to match the offerings of our companies.”
He added that the agency will boost its internationalisation drive given the opportunities the return to global growth provides for firms.
Trade and Industry Minister Gan Kim Yong told the briefing: “The last two years have been challenging for our enterprises’ internationalisation efforts, as travel restrictions made it very difficult for them to venture abroad. We need to urgently recover the lost ground.”
Intensifying innovation will be key in this process, he said, adding: “Our success in internationalisation is determined by our firms’ ability to commercialise new technology and create world-leading products and services.”
The top destination markets for local firms were China and South-east Asia, particularly Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia, but many companies also ventured further afield.
Take furniture lifestyle brand Castlery, which had expanded to 47 metropolitan areas in the United States by the end of 2021, from just seven in 2020.
The firm was part of the Scale-up SG programme and also received ESG grants to increase productivity.
“The key challenges faced during the pandemic years were supply chain delays and surging logistics costs,” said co-founder Declan Ee.
“We plan to focus on the US in the near term where we see potential for very strong growth over the next three to five years.”
