Companies should lead platforms to engage SMEs: Dean

In a media interview on March 12, SMU Lee Kong Chian School of Business (LKCSB) Dean Professor Gerard George said that platforms to engage small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to share ideas and grow beyond the start-up level should be led by companies instead of being government-driven. Prof George, who took over as dean from Professor Howard Thomas in January, is now in talks with SPRING Singapore and the Economic Development Board to introduce such platforms for SMEs to share their ideas and improve business growth. He noted that although the Government has done a lot for companies in the start-up and incubation phases here, such as providing grants, Singapore must break away from a list-building mentality and move towards entrepreneurial thinking in order to become a nation of entrepreneurs.