Singapore SME investment flows to Malaysia via StanChart more than quadruple
The bank reported a doubling of flows in the opposite direction and launched a package for SMEs operating across the border.
Standard Chartered said on 29 October that Malaysia-bound investments it handled for Singapore SME clients had reached more than four times their previous level over the past year. The Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone (JS-SEZ) attracted a significant proportion of those investments, according to the bank.
Flows towards Singapore from its Malaysian small and medium-sized enterprise clients were twice as high over that period. The bank gave no monetary figures for either flow. At a forum in Kulai, it also unveiled a cross-border banking package offering six months without charges for outward telegraphic transfers between the countries, alongside interest optimisation and connections to partner services.
One client, Stolz Engineering, established its business in Singapore in 2007 before expanding to Johor in 2024. The cooling-tower specialist retains its headquarters and engineering centre in Singapore, while a Senai facility handles assembly, installation and delivery. Senior manager of operations David Ling said the company plans to expand its Malaysian cooling-tower business.
Ling described difficulties involving licences, import and export requirements, transport arrangements and skilled recruitment. He said Standard Chartered had helped find Malaysian staff. Teresa Tah, who oversees the bank’s medium-sized enterprise business across Singapore and Asean, said smaller firms need local market expertise and business-service connections as well as funding. She also identified supplying larger companies as an opportunity for SMEs in the JS-SEZ.
