IF YOU are getting concerned about the financial crisis and recession, take a cue from Spring Singapore chairman Philip Yeo, who attested yesterday that 'it's not the end of the world; it's not doomsday'.

Mr Yeo, who was speaking on the sidelines of the German-Singapore Business Forum, said: 'I think Singaporeans should not be unduly worried and pessimistic. I think we will survive.

'We have low government debt, we have low bad credit debt, we have no sub-prime. Employment-wise, we're still okay.

'If you see American television, foreclosures are real. Here, we don't have this because the Government has been very careful that people should not borrow too much. Singaporeans are very lucky.'

Mr Yeo turned his attention to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), warning that they might face challenges such as decreasing orders in the electronics sector due to the slowdown in the United States and Europe.

But he was optimistic and cited how the biomedical, manufacturing and finance sectors were 'still okay'. 'Luckily, we have diversified beyond just electronics,' he said.

Private equity firm Crest Capital Asia, which has been funding SMEs for the past 20 years, echoed Mr Yeo's optimism.

'If we compare what's happening now to, say, the crisis in 1998, I would say that we are in better shape to absorb the shocks,' said Mr Peter Chan, managing partner of Crest's Singapore office and a speaker at the one-day forum at the Shangri-La Hotel.

He said Singapore was much more dependent on multinational companies in 1998. 'Now, because we have our own SMEs providing growth and drivers to the economy, this gives us a certain degree of buffer because these guys are actually quite diversified,' he added.

He was optimistic about SMEs surviving the crisis. 'I have no doubt about that. Size-wise, they are smaller, but the other off-balance sheet item which SMEs have is that they are more tenacious. They know more ways to survive and they are more nimble.'

The German-Singapore Business Forum provided a platform for firms from both nations to work together and expand into new markets.

A memorandum of understanding was signed between Mencast Holdings, Singapore's leading manufacturer of sterngear equipment for marine markets, and Becker Marine Systems and Machinefabriek Amersfoort.

German-based Becker supplies rudder systems. Machinefabriek Amersfoort is a machine producer from the Netherlands.

The companies want to set up a plant in Singapore to design and produce high-end sterngear equipment for the Asia-Pacific market.

egwilmot@sph.com.sg