27 March 2024

On 1 March 2024, Enterprise Singapore (“EnterpriseSG”) announced that the Partnerships for Capability Transformation (“PACT”) scheme will be enhanced to cover an expanded range of industry segments and partnership modalities. 

Background 

PACT was introduced in 2010 to defray part of costs, such as on equipment, materials, testing, and professional services, incurred by original equipment manufacturers (“OEMs”) and their suppliers, to validate that suppliers’ procedures comply with the OEM’s requirements. PACT also provides wage support for managers hired by the OEMs to undertake supplier identification, procurement, and setting up of manufacturing/quality systems.

PACT was last enhanced in 2020 to increase support rates for qualifying costs to promote closer partnerships between companies and to expand the scope of support to include Singapore-based companies with manufacturing activities carried out overseas. 

Enhanced PACT 

PACT will be enhanced to support more collaborations between larger companies such as multinational corporations and large local enterprises, and small and medium-sized enterprises (“SMEs”). The scheme will cover an expanded range of industry segments and partnership modalities, to include activities in capability training, internationalisation, and corporate venturing, in addition to the existing support for supplier development and co-innovation. 

In a speech at the Committee of Supply on 1 March 2024, the Minister of Trade and Industry Gan Kim Yong informed that the Government aims to facilitate 100 new PACT partnerships over the next five years. This will provide more opportunities for SMEs to level up their capabilities, enhance their competitiveness, and plug into global and regional value chains. 

Reference materials 

The following materials are available on the EnterpriseSG website www.enterprisesg.gov.sg and the Ministry of Trade and Industry (“MTI”) website www.mti.gov.sg: