Over 3,400 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) embarked on projects supported by Spring Singapore last year, up 10 per cent from 2012.

Most - about 80 per cent - of the companies were micro and small enterprises, Spring said at its annual year-in-review on Tuesday.

Some of these projects benefited from initiatives that Spring had rolled out last year, such as the Partnerships for Capability Transformation (Pact) scheme. This scheme encourages big companies to partner with SMEs on mutually-beneficial projects.

One such collaboration that tapped on the scheme last year saw HP Indigo work with two SMEs, Super Pak Manufacturing and Mega Plus Technology, to create more eco-friendly packaging for its ink canisters.

This project, partially funded by Spring, allowed Mega Plus to gain new knowledge about tooling and has helped Super Pak expand its product lines and open new manufacturing plants overseas.

Last year, Spring also simplified all its grants to enterprises into a single Capability Development Grant which offers funding for a range of projects such as human capital development, technology innovation and productivity improvement.

More than 1,000 of these grants were given out, with half going to human capital development projects.

Spring said it also stepped up its outreach efforts last year, assisting 20,000 SMEs through the five SME Centres and their satellite centres.

"The economic outlook appears to be more optimistic in 2014, but Spring will not let up on our efforts to support SMEs on their restructuring journey," said chief executive Tan Kai Hoe.

"As the economy continues to evolve, it is important that SMEs build up their capabilities, hone their competitive edge and continue to innovate so that they can be in a stronger position to capture the future opportunities for growth."