Er Dr Lee Bee Wah asked the Minister for Trade and Industry (a) what is being done to educate students in the tertiary institutions, polytechnics and ITEs on the various Government entrepreneur grants and programmes; (b) whether the Ministry will look into expanding the available schemes to give more support and risk absorption for new start-ups; and (c) how are SPRING and EnterpriseOne engaging the fledging entrepreneurs in our educational institutions.

 

 

The Government has several programmes to support entrepreneurship in our tertiary institutions, polytechnics, ITEs and schools. SPRING’s Young Entrepreneurs Scheme for Schools (YES! Schools) supports tertiary institutions, polytechnics and ITEs to put in place comprehensive structured entrepreneurship learning programmes for their students. These programmes aim to help students develop an entrepreneurial mindset and acquire the skills to be an effective entrepreneur.

 

The Action Community for Entrepreneurship (ACE) Schools programme engages aspiring entrepreneurs in our schools. Fourteen schools are currently onboard the ACE Schools Programme. Under the programme, 23 entrepreneurs have volunteered for the Entrepreneur-Adopt-A-School programme, with every school paired to at least one entrepreneur. Funding support is also provided to polytechnics and ITEs for their start-up and incubation programmes.
The Government continually reviews assistance schemes to ensure that the needs of our start-ups are met. Start-ups have access through a range of grants, eg, ACE Startups Grant, tax incentives and investment schemes. Start-ups can also tap on the Micro-Loan Programme (MLP), which supports companies of less than three years from incorporation for their working capital needs.

More than 43 start-up incubators currently provide access low-cost business space and support services to start-ups. In addition, JTC and SPRING are developing Launchpad@one-north as a start-up cluster. The Action Community for Entrepreneurship has also established many platforms for the entrepreneurship community to build networks, as well as programmes to match entrepreneurs with business mentors to support their development.

Ultimately, while the Government can provide the necessary schemes and infrastructure to support new start-ups, entrepreneurs still need to recognise and understand the opportunities and inherent risks that comes together with starting their own businesses.