Similarly, for halal food firm Pondok Abang, its expansion into Malaysia was halted unceremoniously due to a nationwide lockdown there, which was first imposed in March 2020. The firm, which manufactures halal-certified frozen ready-to-eat dishes, already has a presence there, in the form of a partnership with a Malaysian food manufacturing firm which helps supply pastries to Pondok Abang for sale in Singapore.
With an eye to expanding to both Malaysia and Australia, Pondok Abang’s managing director Hasan Abdul Rahman was planning to turn a factory space, owned by the partner company, into a manufacturing facility. But border closures around that time — which devastated economies around the world — put paid to his plans.
“The factory space belongs to our partner, which we were supposed to develop together, but up until now we have not yet done anything, and it is still bare,” he said.
He added that the firm will first look into exporting its goods manufactured in Singapore to Malaysia, and that the Singapore Food Agency is assisting Pondok Abang in getting its products approved for export there. “This will be the mode we want to go ahead with — export first, and then we will create the demand, and then we will go and set up the factory,” he said.
Inspire-Tech and Pondok Abang are among Singapore’s homegrown firms which have run into headwinds while trying to venture overseas amid an unprecedented pandemic, as border closures and shifting consumer behaviour force many businesses to rethink their mode of operations. The challenges they have faced include being unable to meet up with their overseas clients physically, and unstable demand from most nations as COVID-19 waves ebb and flow.
Despite these challenges, some Singapore firms have continued their global march.
Statistics from Enterprise Singapore (ESG) showed that internationalisation activities among Singapore enterprises slowed down in 2020 due to global travel restrictions. That year, about 1,600 firms continued to pursue internationalisation, down from about 2,600 in 2019. The figure stayed constant in 2021, with 1,600 firms also internationalising last year.
ESG is a government agency whose role includes supporting local small and medium enterprise development, and helping homegrown businesses internationalise. ESG assistant chief executive officer Tan Soon Kim said that Singapore is a small and open economy which is vulnerable to external shocks. Therefore, firms have to be proactive to “secure their position now and in the long run”.
“To do so, Singapore companies must look outwards to markets overseas, so that they can scale their business, grow their topline, and reduce concentration risks by diversifying their revenue source and supply chains to build resilience,” he said.