Enterprise Singapore

Enterprise Singapore (ESG) is a statutory board under the Ministry of Trade and Industry of the Government of Singapore. It was formed on 1 April 2018 to support Singapore small and medium enterprise (SMEs) development, upgrade capabilities, innovate, transform, and internationalise. It also supports the growth of Singapore as a trading and startup hub, and continues to be the national standards and accreditation body. History Enterprise Singapore was formed through the merger of International Enterprise Singapore (IE) and SPRING Singapore. It is an integration of IE Singapore and SPRING Singapore’s functions. SPRING Singapore was responsible for helping startups and SMEs in financing, capability and management development, technology and innovation. It was the national body for standards and accreditation, responsible for helping companies achieve international standards and conformity requirements. International Enterprise Singapore promoted international trade and helped Singapore companies expand internationally. On February 5, the Singapore Parliament passed a bill to officiate the new statutory board. During the second reading that occurred on the same day, Minister for Trade and Industry S Iswaran said "the goals of capacity building, innovation and international expansion are deeply intertwined and reinforced one another. A company must innovate and deepen its capabilities to successfully expand into overseas markets. Equally, venturing overseas will itself create the scale, impetus and opportunity for businesses to gain new capabilities and expertise… so it is necessary and timely to merge the functions and operations of IE and SPRING to form Enterprise Singapore".