The Singapore Business Federation (SBF) has endorsed the proposed initiatives in the 2023 budget, stating that they will aid enterprises in their transformation and expansion efforts. The SBF has pointed out several policies in the Singaporean budget that will be especially helpful to Singapore’s thriving SME sector.
Enterprise Financing Scheme and Energy Efficiency Grant (EEG) Extension
The SBF is happy with the decision to prolong the Enterprise Financing Scheme and the Energy Efficiency Grant (EEG) until March 2024. The funding difficulties experienced by SMEs in Singapore are anticipated to be alleviated as a result of the expansion of these initiatives. The SBF found it encouraging that the government and the cooperating financial institutions will keep working to spread the risk of financing and lower borrowing rates for SMEs. More businesses in Singapore will be motivated to adopt energy-efficient practises thanks to the government’s ongoing support of the Energy Efficiency Grant (EEG), which in turn will aid in fostering sustainable growth and fending off climate change.
Job-Skills Integrators Initiative
The SBF expects the Job-Skills Integrators programme, which was first proposed in the 2023 budget, to improve Singaporean firms’ access to high-quality training and placement services. This programme’s goal is to reduce employment and training gaps, therefore, these middlemen will be crucial. The SBF thinks this programme will be good for employees since it will make it easier to find people who will benefit from training and raise their wages.
Enterprise Innovation Scheme and National Productivity Fund (NPF) Top-up
Additionally, the SBF emphasised the significance of the Enterprise Innovation Scheme and the National Productivity Fund’s recent $4 billion infusion (NPF). The SBF claims that the NPF top-up will allow for continued investment in measures and programmes that can help businesses become more competitive and productive as they develop the Singapore talent pool, and that the Enterprise Innovation Scheme will place Singaporean companies on transformation maps with cushioned risks.
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Finally, the Singapore Business Federation has expressed their approval of the 2023 budget’s measures and initiatives, as they are confident that these will aid Singapore’s small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in meeting the challenges of transformation and growth, and in seizing new opportunities.
