BY OH BOON PING

A new magazine that focuses on the needs of Singapore's small and medium-sized businesses is hitting the streets, and it is a must-read for business leaders seeking to operate more effectively in new markets.

A collaboration between The Business Times, Spring Singapore and IE Singapore, the bimonthly SME Magazine provides news, stories and information to help Singapore's homegrown companies grow, expand and globalise with higher value-added products and services.

'This will be a useful resource that keeps SMEs abreast of relevant issues and topics ranging from leveraging business opportunities to building sustainable resources,' said Spring Singapore CEO Png Cheong Boon.

The magazine adds to the growing SME literature here, and plays an important role since SMEs make up 99 per cent of all businesses incorporated here, accounting for about half of the country's gross domestic product (GDP) and generating more than 60 per cent of jobs in Singapore.

Many successful SME businesses here have since expanded their operations overseas, but doing business in a foreign land involves much uncertainty because every market is different from the other.

Therefore, 'we hope that the publication will be a useful platform for knowledge and experience sharing for SMEs to learn from one another, and to help them be aware of the many resources available to help them venture beyond our shores', said IE Singapore chief executive Chong Lit Cheong.

According to the magazine's editor Chen Huifen, SMEs 'are the future of Singapore'. She added: 'And it's not just about the employment they provide or the value-add they contribute to the economy. They hold the aspirations of the entrepreneurs and their teams. We hope to be able to capture their tenacity and enterprising spirit, and also help them connect and learn from one another, through this new magazine.'

The SME Magazine builds on BT's 34 years of editorial experience in reporting and analysing issues which concern and impact on our SMEs, and BT editor Alvin Tay said that it will enhance the paper's wide array of products catering to SMEs. These include BT's weekly SME Inc series, Enterprise 50 and Emerging Enterprise awards, and regular talks and networking sessions for SME owners and executives.

In keeping with the magazine's aim of guiding SMEs, the publication was launched together with the Going Global series of talks - a collaboration between the Action Community for Entrepreneurship (ACE) and BT - which features a CEO sharing about building the company's competitiveness and capabilities on a global platform.

The SME Magazine, which is priced at $6 per copy, will be available at major newsstands, Buzz Pod and bookstores from today. Call 6388-3838 to subscribe at $30 for six issues.

Get a complimentary copy when you send a shipment with TNT.

This article was first published in The Business Times.