Growth Doesn't Wait for Perfect Conditions: What Three Singapore SMEs Just Proved

The Business Times ran a piece on July 23 by Jermaine Fok and Koh Kim Xuan that deserves more attention than it's probably getting.

Three Singapore SMEs are expanding into the Middle East while a war is still ongoing in Iran.

Singatac, a marine and offshore engineering company, is building a 100,000 square metre facility at the Ras Al-Khair port in Saudi Arabia. Targeted investment: up to 139 million riyals (US$37 million). Executive director Tan Soon Keong said the decision was driven by Saudi Arabia being the "biggest spender" in offshore infrastructure, with a "severe lack of service providers." The kingdom's shallower waters also make manufacturing simpler and more affordable than at the company's Bintan facility in Indonesia.

Masterscan Engineering, a non-destructive testing services provider, has operated in Oman and Qatar since 2023. The company projects 30-40% revenue growth from FY2025 to FY2026, with the bulk coming from Oman. Managing director Vigneshwar Prabu told BT that Oman is "a safe haven in the conflict" and operations there continue without interruption. The firm has shifted its high-end technical team from Qatar to Oman and deferred UAE expansion until year-end.

EtonHouse International Education Group operates two private schools in Riyadh, established in September 2025. CEO Ng Yi-Xian said both campuses are "largely unaffected on a day-to-day basis" and called Riyadh "a key hub in our Middle East strategy."

All three firms are investing through uncertainty. Not blindly. Not recklessly. With calculated precision.

Singatac committed US$37M. Masterscan added a 4-5% buffer to contracts to manage unforeseen costs. EtonHouse took "a measured view of growth."

Every one of those decisions required something specific: clean, reliable financial data. You don't commit US$37M without knowing your cash position. You don't add a cost buffer without understanding your margins. You don't defer one market and pivot to another without real-time numbers behind the call.

That's the real lesson in this piece. Growth in uncertain times isn't about bravery or blind optimism. It's about having the financial clarity to act when others hesitate.

OCi System gives SMEs that foundation. Real-time cash flow tracking. Multi-currency record-keeping. Audit-ready financials. The kind of numbers that let you walk into a board meeting and say "here's what we can commit" - and back it up.

The SMEs that expand during downturns aren't the luckiest. They're the ones whose books are clean enough to see clearly.

Source: The Business Times, 23 Jul 2026

https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/singapore/smes/singapores-smes-are-staying-nimble-sustain-business-middle-east