BY CHUANG PECK MING

INTERNATIONAL Enterprise (IE) Singapore wants to train at least 1,000 promising local enterprises to be export-competent in the next three years.

The government's export promotion agency launched the Exporter Development Programme (EDP) last week and is partnering trade associations and business chambers to reach out to companies to sign up for the programme.

'This (partnership) is especially pertinent for the EDP since most association and chamber members are already involved in export activities,' says an IE Singapore spokesman.

So far, IE Singapore has roped in nine trade associations and business chambers to help promote the programme.

They include the Association of Small and Medium Enterprises, the Singapore Manufacturers' Federation, the Textile and Apparel Federation and the Singapore Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

The programme is designed for export novices as well as seasoned players. The main aim is to make sure that both take 'a sustained and systematic approach to penetrate overseas markets'.

The programme is likely to be more helpful to small wannabe exporters. 'It will help small and medium enterprises (SMEs) unleash their export potential,' says Chung Lai Thoe, deputy director of IE Singapore's enterprise services group.

'By developing their export competency, SMEs will be better-positioned to tackle global markets during the economic downturn.'

One-on-one coaching

The programme runs for five to seven months and has three compulsory components - export strategy planning, export training and an overseas market field trip.

It offers 50 hours of one-on-one coaching in export strategy planning, by coaches chosen from an IE Singapore-appointed panel.

'These coaches have gone through a stringent selection process to make sure they are not only qualified but committed to helping companies sustain and grow their businesses,' says the spokesman.

The export training part of the programme will give participants the fundamental knowledge needed to tackle the export business.

'They will follow a specially designed export specific curriculum by Kaplan Financial, as well as supplementary export-related workshops provided by IE,' says the spokesman.

The topics covered are: export fundamentals, international trade and finance, export business strategy and planning, export sales and marketing, branding and intellectual property, international distribution channels and export sales and negotiation skills.

The training course runs for 63 hours.

A unique part of the training is an overseas market visit led by IE and its partners. Lasting three to five days, the visit will give participants the chance to gather important market information and apply the export strategy developed with their export coaches to a real market environment.

'There is a demand in the market place for guided and structured assistance to groom companies that have limited exporting experience,' says the spokesman.

This was determined by a survey of exporters by IE Singapore in 2007. The survey results showed that many of them wanted more help in identifying new markets, acquiring market knowledge and setting out concrete plans to break into markets.

A 2008 SME development survey by DP Information Group reinforced such needs - and it was proposed that IE Singapore help SMEs develop an 'overseas plan' to guide them abroad.

The EDP is the result. 'It offers more holistic and structured assistance to SME exporters,' says the IE Singapore spokesman. 'It is hoped that the programme will help SME exporters develop and review the strategies, skills and techniques to take their export business forward.'

The major virtue of the programme is that it puts together three major components in a single training package, says the spokesman. 'This saves companies the hassle of having to source individual service providers to fulfil each component.

'And while being comprehensive and systematic, the programme also offers flexibility by customising training to address companies at various stages of export readiness.'

A big plus is that IE Singapore will fork out a big chunk of the cost of joining the programme - 70 per cent, or $13,000 to $21,200, in fact.

'Although this funding is on a reimbursement basis, disbursement will be made upon completion of each component,' says the spokesman.

'So companies do not have to worry about waiting until the end of the programme to free up their cash flow.'

IE Singapore believes that local SMEs need the programme all the more amid the downturn.

'It is especially during such times that Singapore companies need to strengthen their competitive edge by re-strategising their export plans for potential markets and building up their overseas business capabilities,' says the IE Singapore spokesman. 'Doing so will enable them to ride the wave of economic recovery.'

A pilot run of the programme from January to May this year proved useful for the seven companies that took part.

'The EDP helped us to fine-tune our strategies as well as clarify grey areas we were not certain about,' says the participant from sesame oil provider Chee Seng Oil Factory.

And according to the participant from Grenadier Press: 'It was useful in helping first timers like me kick-start the export process. Also, the programme gathered like-minded business people and provided a platform for informal interaction during the courses and overseas field trip.'

The participant from printing company NPE Print Communications says that the export planning strategy course forced her to take a hard look at the company's structure 'by identifying our strength and weaknesses, which areas to capitalise or to address'.

This article was first published in The Business Times.