Iconomy Participates in Lianhe Zaobao Budget 2018 Roundtable
· iconomy
18 February 2018
Iconomy Group Executive Director Boo Kok Chuon (巫国俊) participated in Lianhe Zaobao’s discussions surrounding Singapore Budget 2018, contributing an SME perspective on government support for productivity, technology adoption and enterprise development.
The 2018 Budget introduced several measures aimed at supporting longer-term business transformation. Among them was the Productivity Solutions Grant (PSG), which consolidated existing support schemes and provided funding of up to 70 per cent of qualifying expenditure on approved technology and productivity solutions.
The Budget discussion
The discussion brought together business representatives to consider the implications of the Budget for Singapore companies and the wider economy.
Boo participated from the perspective of an entrepreneur operating in the SME sector. At the time, Lianhe Zaobao described Iconomy as a group engaged in printing and marketing, reflecting the Group’s operating activities during that period.
Watch the Budget discussion below.
Productivity support should reflect actual business needs
In its subsequent reporting, Lianhe Zaobao quoted Boo on the newly announced PSG and his experience with its predecessor, the Productivity and Innovation Credit (PIC) scheme.
Iconomy had previously applied for PIC support when acquiring printing machinery and upgrading its computer equipment. Boo observed that while government assistance could encourage businesses to invest in productivity, support should be directed towards equipment and solutions that businesses genuinely required.
He noted that the productivity impact of an investment could differ substantially between enterprises. Equipment used only occasionally might have little effect on one company’s operations, while the same category of investment could materially increase another company’s daily productivity.
He therefore suggested that grant applications should be assessed with closer reference to the actual operational requirements of the enterprise, rather than treating the acquisition of particular equipment as inherently productivity-enhancing.
Support without dependency
Boo also cautioned against businesses organising their investment decisions around the availability of government subsidies.
While welcoming continued support for SMEs, he argued that enterprises should ultimately remain capable of developing their own competitiveness and potential rather than becoming dependent upon government assistance. Lianhe Zaobao recorded him saying that government support was beneficial, but SMEs should also “自力更生，发挥企业自身潜能”.
In a further report published on 23 February 2018, Lianhe Zaobao returned to his comments in an article titled 《商家：当局应针对企业需求审核津贴申请》, recording his hope that the new PSG would operate more like a scheme tailored to the circumstances and needs of individual enterprises.
From the Iconomy archives
The discussion provides an early record of themes that would continue to appear in Iconomy’s work: productivity, enterprise incentives, capital allocation and the relationship between public policy and business decision-making.
It also captures an earlier stage of Iconomy’s development. In 2018, the Group continued to retain its roots in printing and marketing even as its activities were expanding into other areas of corporate and professional services.
Contemporary coverage
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