Actress Wong Lilin finds support in IE Singapore for her exercise band start-up.

I recently signed up for the International Enterprise Partnership Seminar on 4 February 10. It was a half-day event that gathered IE directors and officers from 30 overseas centres in Singapore. They shared their first-hand market experiences so entrepreneurs could find out how to tap on new opportunities in emerging economies and address challenges in overseas strategies.

I signed up to hear - and learn - about the latest on the overseas markets I was interested in for my exercise band Loopz. After the opening addresses, we adjourned to rooms where particular markets were presented. Insights from the directors ranged from statistical data about the countries (a lot on manufacturing and IT stuff) to the cultural setting in which business is conducted in a specific country.

It's pretty incredible the support Singapore provides for their SMEs. Not only does IE Singapore provide networking opportunities, they also create programmes, round tables and funding support for Singapore-based companies to bring their business overseas. I learnt that I could apply for financial assistance in the process of IP procurement, consultancy services and even the developing of a prototype-to-market.

I sat with three officers representing a particular economy and they were able to provide their expert opinions on how best to position my product when entering the market, as well as the pitfalls that I might encounter there. They provided particularly useful tips on how to be operationally ready and how different arms of IE, such as the Overseas Marketing Office (OMO) can help defray the costs of setting up business abroad.

It feels like there is someone I can ask advice from at any point of my entrepreneurial journey - and this really removes some of the apprehension and sense of gormlessness I might feel in this instance! Thank you, IE. Now I'm going to study how to best take advantage of the offers you provide to SMEs!

Article is first published in The Straits Times on 8 February 2010.