The Singapore Manufacturing Federation (SMF) has launched a website to help local companies that are planning to expand into Iskandar Malaysia or the Riau Islands of Indonesia.

The one-stop Business Expansion Programme portal has a self-assessment tool to help companies map out their expansion strategy.

It also provides information and case studies to assist companies seeking to transform their business processes and expand their geographical footprint.

The portal is meant to complement the SMF's Business Expansion Programme, which was launched in January last year. This programme helps small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) looking to expand their businesses to Iskandar or the Riau Islands.

By tapping into the competitive advantages present in the region, these companies would also be able to raise their overall productivity and output, the SMF said.

"The launch of the portal is a significant milestone for SMF because apart from providing a rich collection of information online, we are now able to help SMEs perform basic diagnosis of their expansion needs," said SMF president George Huang.

"The diagnostic tool in the portal will provide SMEs with an estimate of the cost of their expansion. We believe that the business community in Singapore will benefit from the launch of this portal."

Companies that are interested in finding out more about the Business Expansion Programme and the portal can visit http://iskandar.smfederation.org.sg/ and http://riau.smfederation.org.sg/