THEY are young and daring, unafraid of trying new things and work tirelessly to achieve their dreams.

More of these young Singaporeans are starting their own businesses, ready to exploit a market opportunity when they sniff it.

This profile of a new generation of enterpreneurs was sketched by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at a conference on Thursday morning. And they have brought more vibrancy to the local enterprise scene, spurring more new businesses to be formed.

In his address to the annual Ace Bluesky conference organised by the Action Community for enterpreneurship, Mr Lee also noted that many of Singapore's home-grown companies are carving out successful niches for themselves, both locally and abroad.

He cited several examples.

In retail, 'Charles and Keith' started with a single neighbourhood shop in Ang Mo Kio, but has since expanded all over Asia.

In food, restaurant chains like Thai Express and Dian Xiao Er have branches all over Singapore and franchises in the region.

Singapore companies are also all over China, and making significant inroads into the market. Local brands like Bee Cheng Hiang, Breadtalk and Food Republic are growing in popularity in the major Chinese cities.

Elim Chew's '77th Street' store in Beijing has become so established and popular that it is marked on all good tourist maps and guidebooks.

To thrive overseas, PM Lee urged local enterprises to strengthen their networking, and collaborate with one another to gain critical mass and enhance their value proposition.

"It is sometimes said that the Taiwanese and South Korean companies form alliances among themselves to take on the Chinese market in larger groups, whereas Singaporean enterprises tend to go it alone," he said.

"The government cannot compel companies to form partnerships with one another, but we hope that companies will see that everyone has more to gain by taking on new markets collectively rather than separately. The world is certainly big enough for everyone."

Besides venturing overseas, Mr Lee said Singapore must develop an entrepreneurial hub, attracting people with the talent, passion and commitment to start, build and grow their own businesses here.

"We need a critical mass for innovation and enterprise. Local entrepreneurs will also benefit, because they will be exposed to global competition early, and so will be more prepared to take on the world," he added.

The Prime Minister also called on the public sector to embrace the entrepreneurial culture.

"It must innovate constantly and experiment with new ways of delivering public services," he said.

"Public sector entrepreneurship requires officers to take risks, since new methods and technologies may fail to work. But when they do, they bring significant benefits to Singapore.

'Therefore, it is imperative that the public sector create an environment where officers feel safe to experiment and to fail, just like the private sector. Only then can the public and private sectors work together to maximum effect in Singapore's entrepreneurship drive."