MORE than 16,000 business leaders and employees took part in over 600 activities – events, workshops, forums, roundtables and training sessions – organised by the Singapore Business Federation (SBF) in 2023.

The bulk of these activities centred on helping businesses build capabilities to support internationalisation, human capital, digitalisation and transformation, the business chamber said on Friday (Jan 19) in its year in review.

Two dozen ministerial dialogues were held for businesses to engage the government on pertinent issues, SBF said. In addition, 10 policy papers advocating for businesses – on issues such as foreign worker policies, business leadership development, sustainability reporting and trade facilitation – were submitted to the relevant authorities.

SBF represents more than 30,000 companies, as well as key local and foreign business chambers in Singapore.

On the internationalisation front, the chamber organised 12 business trips to South-east Asia, North-east Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas last year.

This was on top of holding 15 bilateral business forums – including the inaugural overseas edition of the Singapore Regional Business Forum in Hanoi, Vietnam – and leading companies to attend overseas trade shows such as the sixth China International Import Expo.

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Its team of market advisers issued over 830 advisories and facilitated more than 140 overseas projects. These collective efforts generated more than S$160 million in overseas sales and investments last year, said SBF.

On the human capital front, the SBF Business Institute held close to 270 training courses in 2023, which drew participation from over 3,600 individuals and 1,100 companies.

Courses in sustainable finance and procurement, carbon management, legal considerations in environmental, social and governance, as well as in understanding government policies, were among the most popular, SBF noted.

As the programme manager for Workforce Singapore’s Career Conversion Programme in Internationalisation and Sustainability, the chamber placed and trained more than 500 trainees in various jobs in over 200 companies. These job roles ranged from business development and regional marketing to green procurement.

In the area of productivity and digitalisation efforts, SBF worked with the Infocomm Media Development Authority to support more than 311 companies in adopting government e-invoicing systems and other Business sans Borders platform solutions. This was on top of helping 129 companies tap the Chief Technology Officer-as-a-Service programme to drive digital transformation.

On the sustainability end, the chamber embarked on several initiatives to help companies accelerate their green transition in 2023.

This included collaborating with UPS on the Green Exporters Programme to help businesses improve their supply chains and boost access to new markets for sustainable products last June, as well as launching a sustainability play book in conjunction with Enterprise Singapore and SkillsFuture Singapore last July.

Looking ahead

SBF highlighted the need for businesses to adapt their business models in view of changes in the operating environment, noting that heightened geopolitical pressures have contributed to global inflationary pressures.

It cited findings from the latest National Business Survey 2023/2024, which revealed that business sentiment has weakened amid economic uncertainties, tightening credit, cost increases and manpower challenges.

Besides finding the right manpower to meet their business needs, companies need to speed up digitalisation and stay abreast of the latest technologies such as artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things, said SBF. These digital assets must also be protected through robust cybersecurity systems, it added.

Businesses need to navigate the transition to a low-carbon economy and be able to capture opportunities from the green economy, it said.

In November 2023, the chamber submitted a joint Budget 2024 proposal with KPMG to the Ministry of Finance. Based on feedback from dialogue sessions, the proposal contained 48 recommendations on how the government can steer Singapore through an increasingly unpredictable economic landscape.