Government redefines SME

From 1 April 2011, SMEs in Singapore will be defined as businesses with annual sales turnover of not more than $100 million or no more than 200 staff.

According to SPRING Singapore, currently, SMEs are defined as enterprises with fixed asset investments of $15 million and below for those in manufacturing, and employment size of 200 and below for non-manufacturing enterprises.

Mr Png Cheong Boon, Chief Executive, SPRING Singapore, said, “The new definition reflects the changing economic landscape and diversified profile of businesses where tangible fixed asset may not adequately reflect the size or stage of development of a company. It helps us to better focus and allocate relevant resources, including grants to assist the SMEs. By using sales turnover or employment, we are also more aligned with global practices and this facilitates benchmarking."

The new definition comes after SPRING conducted an extensive review of global benchmarks and consulted various stakeholders. It was found that while the guidelines vary in the Asia-Pacific and European countries, sales turnover and employment size were commonly used to define SMEs.

SMEs can also look forward to more help with the launch of an online productivity assessment tool and two e-services to alert them to government procurement opportunities and to find suitable business premises.