Question

Mr Abdul Samad: To ask the Minister for Trade and Industry (a) to date, what is the take-up rate of the Productivity Solutions Grant, particularly by SMEs and micro SMEs in the 23 Industry Transformation Map sectors; and (b) what is the breakdown of resident workers by numbers and demographics who have seen wage increases as a result of their employers receiving such grants.

Written Answer by Minister for Trade and Industry Mr Gan Kim Yong

1. Since the Productivity Solutions Grant (PSG) was launched on 1 Apr 2018, over 77,000 grants have been taken up by SMEs and micro SMEs, with about 85% taken up by enterprises from the Industry Transformation Map (ITM) sectors.

2. PSG supports the ITMs by helping SMEs adopt pre-scoped productivity solutions. Agencies review these solutions regularly to ensure that they are effective in raising productivity, thereby laying the foundations for sustainable wage increases for workers.  PSG recipients are not required to report the wage increases arising from the solutions.  As a proxy, the real median income from work of full-time Singaporeans (including employer CPF contributions) since the introduction of the ITMs in 2016 has risen by 3.7% per annum from 2016 to 2019.