STR Express, Medicare present export award to healthcare start-up
Friday, 7 March 2014 09:20
STR Express and Medicare, the Singapore federation of small and medium-sized companies, yesterday presented the STR Export Award to EndoscopeTek, a manufacturer of testing devices for rigid endoscopes. Endoscopes are medical instruments used for examining the interior of hollow organs, such as the colon, bladder, or stomach.
The STR Export Award recognises small Singapore companies with outstanding export plans and results. Although it is but three years old, the 4 employee-strong Aung not only provides equipment to Singapore hospitals, it has expanded in Indonesia and Malaysia. Paing, the company’s founder, is now looking at the China and Thailand markets.
The STR Award is one of several joint initiatives undertaken by Medicare and STR Express to support the export efforts of SMEs. The recovery of the Singapore economy relies largely on exports, according to the SEA (Singapore Economic Analysis).
The number of exporting Singaproe SMEs has increased, but they have yet to fully leverage their export potential, particularly to countries outside Asia. Three quarters (74%) of Singapore exports are geared towards ASEAN members. Indonesia is the first destination in export value (6.1% in 2012), compared with 1.6% for Malaysia.