Regional expansion is becoming a necessity, not an ambition
Singapore SMEs are being squeezed from both ends. Association of Small and Medium Enterprises president Ang Yuit described it plainly this week: high staff and rental costs at home, global energy prices and supply chain shocks from outside, and international competitors now fighting for the same local customers.
He called it a "two-speed economy." Larger firms may benefit from trade tensions and technology opportunities, but many smaller and micro businesses are seeing a reversal. Competition for customers and talent is intense.
His advice was to look at South-east Asia. Vietnam, Indonesia and Malaysia are growing markets, and the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone, with its proximity, similar legal framework and lower manpower costs, may offer a genuinely integrated operating model for Singapore-based companies.
Internationalisation is worth it, he argued: lower business costs, new capabilities and supply chains, market diversification, and access to new customers, revenue streams and talent.
What often gets left out of that conversation is the back office. The moment you sell across a border, your accounting grows a second head. Different currencies, different tax rules, intercompany transactions, consolidation. We have watched SMEs sign their first Malaysian or Indonesian customer and discover their spreadsheet setup cannot invoice them properly.
Expansion multiplies complexity before it multiplies revenue. If regional growth is on your horizon, get your accounting and ERP foundation ready first, so the growth lands on structure instead of chaos.
Source: The Business Times, 29 Sep 2026
https://www.businesstimes.com.