International Enterprise Singapore (IE) said on Thursday that it will set aside $123 million over two years to step up training programmes for staff of some 10,000 companies to grow their companies overseas and better tap export markets. The trade promotion agency will also support up to $4.2 billion of loans through its financing schemes. These are expected to generate $14.4 billion of trade and $1.6 billion of overseas investments this year for 2,500 companies here this year.

IE's chief executive officer Chong Lit Cheong said on Thursday: 'It is crucial for companies to realise the importance of continued engagement in trade and internationalisation to help sustain their business in the long term...We urge companies to tap on the programmes.'

Senior Minister of State for Finance Lim Hwee Hua told Parliament on Monday that the Government was providing more help for exporters.

On Thursday, IE gave more details of the initiatives, including the two newest - the Export Coverage Scheme (ECS) and Exporter Development Programme (EDP).

Under the EDP, which IE said will be launched in the middle of the year, the agency will organise six to nine-month training courses in areas such as export strategy planning for staff of small and medium-sized enterprises (SME), and also subsidise 70 per cent of the fees. It will also pay for 70 per cent of the costs of overseas market visits including lodging and airfare. Qualifying firms have to be able to show a clear plan for expansion and have at least an annual turnover of $500,000.

The programme will cost $6.1 million over the next three years and adds to existing schemes which the Government has also enhanced by opting to subsidise more of the cost.

On the financing side, the ECS will make it easier for firms to obtain insurance against their overseas buyers who are not able to pay up, thereby protecting their cashflow in these times of tighter credit. Eligible firms can also apply to top-up their amount of trade credit insured up to another $10 million, through risk sharing between IE and the insurer.

Mr Chong said that there has been increased take up of the various IE financing schemes. Cases approved under the export-oriented loan insurance scheme rose from 56 last November to 71 in January.

From November till the first week of February, a total of 210 were approved cases, with loans insured amounting to $78 million. Only 2 per cent of cases were rejected, Mr Chong said.

He said another eight cases worth $23.7 milllion were approved in December and January under the internationalisation finance scheme which helps companies secure loans for overseas inveswtments through government risk-sharing. The schemes are geared primarily to supporting the some 150,000 SMEs in Singapore, therefore the loan amounts tend to be smaller, Mr Chong said.