International Enterprise Singapore

International Enterprise Singapore (Chinese: 新加坡国际企业发展局), or IE Singapore, was a statutory board under the Ministry of Trade and Industry of the Singapore Government that facilitated the overseas growth of Singapore-based companies and promoted international trade.

International Enterprise Singapore
Agency overview
Formed1983 (1983) (as Singapore Trade Development Board)
2002 (2002) (as International Enterprise Singapore)
Dissolved1 April 2018 (2018-04-01)
Superseding agency
JurisdictionGovernment of Singapore
Headquarters230 Victoria Street, Level 10, Bugis Junction Office Tower, Singapore 188024
Agency executives
  • Seah Moon Ming, Chairman
  • Lee Ark Boon[1], Chief Executive Officer
Parent agencyMinistry of Trade and Industry

On 1 April 2018, IE Singapore merged with SPRING Singapore to form Enterprise Singapore. Enterprise Singapore will enable the growth of Singapore companies through an integrated support network to build business capabilities and access overseas markets.[2]

History

IE Singapore originated from a re-organization of what used to be called the Singapore Trade Development Board (TDB). The TDB was formed in 1983 to develop Singapore as an international trading hub, promoting the nation's goods and services. Activities ranged from basic trade facilitation, to reviewing existing marketing policies, strategies and techniques. It explored opportunities in both traditional and non-traditional markets, and subsequently exported business systems and developed international offshore trading. It also had a role in trade policy after Singapore joined the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), to actively secure market access and lobby for free trade. It issued its own revenue stamps as well.

The re-branding coincided with an acknowledgment that Singapore had to move beyond its investment-led and electronics-dominated export base and to diversify her sources of growth. One of the key thrusts in Singapore's new economic strategy was to help Singapore-based companies internationalize and grow in an increasingly global market. TDB was thus renamed International Enterprise Singapore (IE Singapore) on 12 Apr 2002 to mark a strategic shift in activities, which would now focus less on export promotion, and more on helping Singaporean business start and develop their business overseas.

In this way, IE Singapore is analogous to other trade and export promotion agencies such as the Australian Trade Commission (Austrade) and the Japan External Trade Organization. However, their roles differ to reflect the different economic strategies envisaged by their respective governments, which also depend on the relative profile and orientation of their economies. IE Singapore, for example, focuses also on investment matters, while organizations such as JETRO have also shifted to activities such as import promotion. It is one of many examples of Trade Promotion Agencies (TPOs) internationally facing change, and having adjusted their mission appropriately to suit the times.[3]

References
  1. "IE Singapore CEO to step down". Channel NewsAsia. Retrieved 27 January 2016.
  2. Heng, Janice. "IE and Spring merger timely, given global changes: Iswaran". The Business Times. Retrieved 2018-04-01.
  3. TPO's Facing Change. Archived 2007-09-29 at the Wayback Machine Singapore: New Mission, New Name. Adapted from the presentations of the 4th World Conference of TPOs
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