Global consulting leader, Mercer’s recent Singapore Employee Engagement Index 2018 made startling conclusions in its report on the city-state when it placed Singapore in second last place for work engagement in the Asia Pacific region.

The Singapore government has hailed small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) as being the driving force behind its economy, saying they make up 99 percent of all enterprises in the country and employ 65 percent of the country’s workforce.

From 2007 to 2014, trade by ASEAN nations grew by a value of nearly US$1 trillion to a total of US$2.5 trillion. A quarter (24 percent) of ASEAN’s total trade was within the region, followed by trade with China (14 percent), Europe (10 percent), Japan (nine percent) and the United States (US) (eight percent).

SMEs contribute 50% of ASEAN countries' gross domestic products (GDP) and drive 30% of ASEAN countries' exports, according to a joint 2018 report by the United Overseas Bank (UOB) and Dun & Bradstreet released in February 2018. 1,235 SMEs across Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam were surveyed in a bid to better understand how SMEs in these countries were positioning themselves within an evolving business landscape.