Asia Pacific nations stimulate SME digitisation with government grants

One of the positive side effects of COVID-19 is that it has accelerated the digital transformations of companies worldwide.

Governments also have a crucial role to play in stimulating this change, as they can provide incentives to companies to digitise, particular small and medium-sized ones (SMEs) that may lack the resources for such transformations otherwise.

In the Asia Pacific region, Docuworx is pleased to see the governments of Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia all recently announce the launch of dedicated SME digitisation grants.

These grants not only provide crucial support to SMEs affected by the virus, but also empower businesses to digitise, thus future-proofing nations’ economies.

If you run an SME in one of these countries and are thinking of commencing your digital transformation, here is a quick overview of some of the grants you may be able to apply for:

 

Singapore

On May 26 the Singapore Government announced the SGD 33bn “Fortitude” Budget. Within it, there are two types of support for businesses looking to digitise.

One provides SGD 300 per month for a period of five months to encourage the adoption of e-payments and the other is a payout of up to SGD 5,000 to use e-invoicing and digital inventory management solutions.

Full details are available on the Singapore government’s website.

 

Hong Kong

In May, the Hong Kong Productivity Council (HKPC) launched the D-Biz program to fast-track SME adoption of IT solutions as regular business activities are disrupted by the pandemic.

The program covers the adoption of 12 categories of IT solutions including: establishing a website or app, adopting online business tools such as cloud accounting, enhancing remote communication with document management systems, and strengthening cybersecurity.

Applications opened on18 May 2020 and will end on 31 October 2020 and can be made on the HKPC website.

 

 

Malaysia

In March 2020, the Malaysian government announced its second round of stimulus packages which includes wage subsidies, financial support for businesses and interest rate cuts, all designed to help SMEs stay afloat.

The government has identified that accelerating the digital transformation of SMEs is imperative to their survival, creating the Automation and Digitalization Facility (ADF) to support the shift.

The ADF has an allocation of RM 300m to SMEs to incentivize them in automating processes and digitising operations to increase productivity and efficiency.

The ADF is available until 31 December 2020, with full details available on the Malaysian government’s website.

 

Are you ready?

Importantly, these grants do more than just hand out stimulus to ailing SMEs; they also help them reposition for an increasingly digital future.

Even when the virus subsides, it is likely that many of the changes we are seeing in the workplace now, such as increased reliance on digital solutions and increased social distancing, will remain with us for some time.

Thus, things such as digitally-automated processes will soon become the norm. Is your business ready for this evolution?

As Australia’s only platinum partner of DocuWare, Docuworx helps businesses across Asia Pacific kickstart their digital transformations.

DocuWare is cloud document management and digital workflows made easy. It securely stores all your documents in a central repository, providing access to them on a number of different devices. In addition, it allows you to automate key aspects of your operations, reducing costs and making your business more resilient in a post-COVID-19 world.

To learn more about how we can help you or to book a free trial, contact us today.