Singapore firms show their mettle

Singapore firms show their mettle
PHOTO: Singapore firms show their mettle
Above photo is Mr Alex Lee, one of the four which placed first at the Enterprise 50 Awards.

SINGAPORE - Despite the operating environment for businesses becoming more challenging, Singapore companies have shown their mettle.

For their tenacious efforts in enterprise, some 50 local firms were recognised yesterday at the Enterprise 50 Awards.

The awards, now into the 18th year, is jointly organised by Singapore Press Holdings’ The Business Times and accounting firm KPMG, with OCBC Bank as the sponsor.

Lian Soon Construction walked away with top honours this year, moving up from the eighth position it took last year.

Property developer EL Development followed as the second- most-enterprising firm, while electronics manufacturer and distributor Superworld Electronics came in third.

The firms were evaluated based on a variety of factors such as financial performance, management strategies and overall company potential.

Mr Alvin Tay, editor of The Business Times, noted that the winners displayed impressive foresight and business acumen.

“Their successes have come through continual innovation, excellent marketing campaigns and sound financial planning,” he said.

Asked how his firm was able to navigate the increasingly- complex business backdrop, Mr Alex Lee, one of the four managing directors of Lian Soon Construction, said that the adoption of technology was a key success factor.

The firm invested about $300,000 over the last two years in technological processes, such as a thumbprint access system to manage manpower across its many worksites and in 3-D building- information modelling to better visualise projects.

Productivity of the firm’s 200-plus workers increased by between 10 per cent and 15 per cent in the same period, said Mr Lee.

Mr Lim Yew Soon, managing director of EL Development, emphasised that it was critical for firms to do their research and not assume they know what clients want.

Minister of State for Finance Josephine Teo, who was the guest of honour at the award ceremony, encouraged businesses to look at the big picture, instead of focusing on short-term solutions, which would only mean that they would have to make more drastic adjustments later.

reicow@sph.com.sg

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