In order for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to remain relevant and advance amidst global competition, the Singapore government has encouraged these businesses to look towards transforming their enterprises digitally. This includes adopting Information Technology (IT) solutions and equipment to increase efficiencies, output and connectivity, for instance.
In view of this, the government introduced new and enhanced existing grants in Budget 2020 to support SMEs in their digital transformation efforts to take advantage of the opportunities for growth in the digital economy.
Two of these key grants are highlighted below.1. Grow Digital
The Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) and Enterprise Singapore will introduce Grow Digital, a new initiative to enable SMEs to access global markets via business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) digital channels. Under this programme, the funding support will be as follows:
- Eligible SMEs will be co-funded at 70% for Multichannel E-commerce Platform solution packages to support their participation in B2C e-commerce platforms.
- SMEs will be supported to participate in B2B marketplaces to benefit from overseas procurement demand, starting with industrial hardware and food supplies.
Details will be provided by the IMDA and Enterprise Singapore in the second quarter of 2020.
2. Productivity Solutions Grant (PSG)
The PSG supports local SMEs in various industries to adopt pre-approved IT solutions and equipment (for example, in the areas of customer management, data analytics, financial management and inventory tracking) to improve their business processes. PSG also covers solutions that are tailored to meet the needs of enterprises in specific sectors such as retail, logistics and construction. The PSG provides up to 70% funding support with an annual grant cap of S$30,000 starting on 1 April and ending on 31 March the following year.
As announced in this year’s Budget, the PSG will be expanded to include job redesign consultancy services.
