SINGAPORE (June 30): Public sector agency, SPRING Singapore and the Singapore Exchange (SGX) will work on joint schemes to support the small and medium enterprise (SME) sector to improve their financial management capabilities.

Although SMEs are the backbone of the local economy and provide the bulk of employment opportunities, they often face challenges in raising funds for growth as well as lack robust financial controls and processes.

To address these shortcomings, SPRING and SGX will launch knowledge courses for SMEs in five financial management areas seen as critical for sustained business growth.  These five areas will include corporate restructuring, as well as the development of frameworks for risk management, corporate governance, internal controls, financial reporting and investor relations.

To make it easier for SMEs to upgrade their skills in these areas, they will be allowed to tap on SPRING’s Capability Development Grant (CDG) to defray up to 70% of costs.

“Sound, effective financial systems and processes are crucial to support SMEs’ expansion as they seek to scale their business. Through our collaboration with SGX, we aim to help SMEs enhance their financial frameworks to access capital markets and achieve sustainable growth,” says Yeo Meow Ling, director of Capabilities Development Division at SPRING.

Mohamed Nasser Ismail, head of SME Development & Listings at SGX, says: “A large spectrum of SMEs also stand to benefit from this initiative, with trends of both larger and smaller SMEs being listed on Catalist over the last three years. Going forward, we will continue to collaborate closely with industry stakeholders to enable SMEs to tap on local capital markets as part of their expansion strategies.”