TO NURTURE the next generation of small and medium enterprise (SME) leaders, the Government will commit $45 million over five years to enhance the Business Leaders Initiative run by Spring Singapore.
This is an umbrella programme to attract young talent into SMEs and groom a future generation of SME managers and entrepreneurs, said Finance Minister Tharman Shamugaratnam.
'We have a generation of SME leaders who have built up successful businesses from scratch. Ensuring that SMEs have a continued pipeline of talent is therefore a critical priority, so as to grow the value embedded in these firms,' said Mr Tharman in his 2010 Budget Statement in Parliament on Monday.
'The Government cannot direct leadership succession in SMEs, but we can help support the flow of talent to SMEs.'
He noted that universities and polytechnics are putting more effort into exposing their students to industry. More than half of their students now go on at least one industry attachment by the time they graduate.
