Name: How big businesses in Singapore are managing the challenges of coronavirus | Make It International
Uploaded: 2020-08-24T19:05:52.000Z
Duration: 9 min 27 s

情態助動詞 B1

Think of Singapore and you might think of a bustling financial center.

提起新加坡，你可能會想到一個繁華的金融中心。

But when the coronavirus hit in early 2020, that image came to a standstill.

但當2020年初冠狀病毒來襲時，這種形象就停滯不前了。

Singapore, like much of the world, was sucked into the throes of the pandemic,

新加坡和世界大部分地區一樣，被吸進了這場大流行病的陣痛之中。

forcing businesses to shutter and life to go on hold.

Staying closed was not an option for long, though.

As the Asia Pacific headquarters for many major corporations,

ensuring business continuity is critical.

I'm taking a look at how key industries are supporting that drive to revive the economy.

我在看看關鍵行業是如何支持這種振興經濟的動力的。

Even before the pandemic hit Singapore shores, the Southeast Asian island nation was positioning

即使在疫情侵襲新加坡之前，這個東南亞島國就已經將其定位為

itself as a strategic business hub, in a world increasingly fraught

在這個越來越充滿變數的世界裡，它是一個戰略商業中心。

with trade tensions and supply chain concerns.

與貿易緊張局勢和供應鏈問題。

But when a spike in Covid-19 cases led the country into an eight-week lockdown,

但當科維德-19病例激增，導致全國進入8周的封鎖期。

authorities moved quickly to cushion the impact, unveiling more than $73 billion in stimulus

當局迅速採取行動，以減輕影響，推出了超過730億美元的刺激措施。

as the country weathered its first recession since 2009.

因為該國經歷了2009年以來的首次衰退。

Although the crisis hit the country hard, it has presented opportunities for manufacturing

雖然危機給國家帶來了沉重的打擊，但也給製造業帶來了機遇。

and services firms, which are key components of Singapore's economy.

和服務企業，它們是新加坡經濟的重要組成部分。

In 2019, the manufacturing sector alone contributed 20.9% of Singapore's nominal GDP.

2019年，僅製造業就貢獻了新加坡名義GDP的20.9%。

The services industry, which includes sectors such as business, information and communications,

服務業，包括商業、資訊和通信等部門。

finance and insurance, made up close to 70%.

At the height of the pandemic, manufacturing was the only sector to grow,

在疫情最嚴重的時候，製造業是唯一增長的行業。

在生物醫藥產品需求的帶動下。

Multinational manufacturer 3M was among the companies to lead response efforts,

跨國製造商3M公司也是牽頭應對工作的公司之一。

turning its manufacturing lines 24/7 and doubling its global production of N95 respirators.

將其生產線24小時不間斷運轉，並將其N95呼吸器的全球產量提高一倍。

We were able to leverage learnings from SARS.

我們能夠利用從SARS中獲得的經驗教訓。

And so, we made the conscious decision to invest in additional capacity

是以，我們有意識地決定投資於額外的產能。

以便為下一次大流行病做準備。

In having that, it helped us a tremendous amount, to be able to respond very quickly.

有了這個，對我們的幫助非常大，能夠迅速做出反應。

In the first half of the year, the company produced over 800 million respirators globally,

今年上半年，公司在全球生產了超過8億隻呼吸機。

including from its plant in Singapore, which was in the crosshairs

包括其在新加坡的工廠，該工廠也受到了衝擊。

of a White House administration trying to prioritize supplies for the U.S. market.

的白宮政府試圖優先為美國市場提供。

During that period, Malaysia closed its borders due to the pandemic,

在此期間，馬來西亞因疫情而關閉了邊境。

affecting 3M's Malaysian workers who commuted daily to Singapore.

影響了3M公司每天往返新加坡的馬來西亞工人。

The company had to work closely with Singaporean authorities to temporarily rehouse

該公司不得不與新加坡當局緊密合作，暫時安置了

its Malaysian staff in Singapore, as the border closure threatened to affect output.

由於邊境關閉可能會影響產出，馬來西亞駐新加坡的員工。

With the movement control order circuit breaker, we had some of them make the conscious decision

有了動作控制順序的斷路器，我們讓他們中的一些人有意識地做出了決定。

– which again, I think shows how our employees have stepped up – to say,

- 我認為這再次表明了我們的員工是如何挺身而出的--說。

'I'm going to stay away from my home and my family and live in a hotel.'

'我要遠離家鄉和家人，住在旅館裡。

And they've been living in a hotel since late-March and they're still here,

而且他們從3月底開始就住在酒店裡，現在還在這裡。

As the economy reels from the pandemic, central banks have been working with private lenders

隨著經濟從流行病中恢復過來，央行一直在與私人貸款人合作。

That includes measures to ease cash flow constraints for the thousands of

這包括採取措施緩解數千人的現金流緊張。

small and medium-sized businesses, or SMEs, in the country.

國內的中小型企業，或中小企業；

As with any economy, you'll find the SMEs are always the foundation,

和任何經濟一樣，你會發現中小企業永遠是基礎。

They, first and foremost, are responsible for a lot of the economic activities

他們，首先，他們負責很多經濟活動

of a country, and therefore they also employ many people.

一個國家的，是以他們也僱用了許多人。

SMEs account for 99% of businesses in Singapore and 72% of the workforce.

中小企業佔新加坡企業的99%，佔勞動力的72%。

During the peak of the outbreak, DBS — Southeast Asia's largest bank — provided $3.5 billion

在疫情爆發的高峰期，星展銀行--東南亞最大的銀行--提供了35億美元。

in temporary bridging loans to keep many of them going,

的臨時過橋貸款，以維持許多人的生活。

with an emphasis on vulnerable, micro-enterprises.

So all in all, about 8,600 loans have been approved, about $4.9 billion,

所以總的來說，已經準許了約8600筆貸款，約49億元。

of which about 7,500 loans — about S$2 billion —  are for the micro and smaller SMEs.

其中約7 500筆貸款（約20億新元）是給微型和小型中小企業的。

The shifting economic landscape has also led many businesses to quickly adapt to new ways

經濟格局的變化，也使許多企業迅速適應新的方式。

of working, including moving much of their operations online.

的工作，包括將其大部分業務轉移到網上。

That's something Microsoft has been helping with from its Asia Pacific headquarters in Singapore,

這也是微軟在新加坡亞太總部一直在幫助的事情。

through its products such as Azure cloud computing and Microsoft Teams.

通過其Azure雲計算和Microsoft Teams等產品。

We've seen two years of digital transformation in two months as a result of Covid.

我們在兩個月內看到了科維德兩年來的數字化轉型成果。

While these developments happened out of necessity, Singapore has been investing heavily

雖然這些發展都是迫不得已的，但新加坡一直在大力投資

in digitization efforts in the public and private sectors for years.

多年來在公共和私營部門的數字化工作中。

Accelerating the digitalization of these SMEs could lead to a faster economic recovery.

加快這些中小企業的數字化進程，可以使經濟更快地復甦。

A recent survey of more than 1,400 SMEs in Asia Pacific found that many companies

最近對亞太地區1400多家中小企業的調查發現，很多企業

are still in the early stages of their digital transformation or indifferent to it.

仍處於數字化轉型的早期階段或對數字化轉型漠不關心。

It is estimated that by 2024, the digital transformation

據估計，到2024年，數字化轉型。

of small and medium-sized businesses in Asia Pacific could add $2.6 trillion

亞太地區中小型企業的規模可增加2.6萬億美元。

to $3.1 trillion to the region's GDP — and that was before the pandemic.

對該地區GDP的影響達到3.1萬億美元--而這是在大流行之前。

I think across every industry we have seen a shift of focus.

我想在每個行業我們都看到了焦點的轉移。

In some cases, it might be more in keeping their data secure and getting it to the cloud.

在某些情況下，它可能更多的是在保護他們的數據安全，並將其送到雲端。

In others, it may be more around collaborating and how do they keep

在其他國家，可能更多的是圍繞著合作，以及他們如何保持

their employees and their customers connected?

他們的員工和客戶之間的聯繫？

And then in others, it's fundamental changes in their business models

而在其他國家，則是其商業模式的根本性變化。

so that they can actually prepare for the future.

以便他們能夠真正為未來做準備。

It's not just companies rebuilding for a new digital economy, either.

也不僅僅是企業在為新的數字經濟重建。

Those fundamental changes have also altered people's behaviors, prompting many of them

這些根本性的變化也改變了人們的行為，促使他們中的許多人

to look for new ways of conducting personal and professional business.

尋找開展個人和專業業務的新方法。

That means businesses have to empower employees to find new ways of working.

這意味著企業要讓員工有能力去尋找新的工作方式。

Teams usage went up by 500%, so just to show you the amount of

球隊的使用率上升了500%，所以只是為了讓你知道的量

dependency for people to be able to continue to work together, it's huge.

人能夠繼續合作的依賴性，這是巨大的。

And we've really had to work hard to get these things deployed quickly.

而我們真的要努力讓這些東西快速部署。

In some cases, over the course of 48 hours.

For DBS, that was a case of expanding its digital banking system to enable more people

對星展銀行來說，這是一個擴大其數字銀行系統的案例，讓更多的人能夠

I have seen a 30% year-on-year increase in digibank adoption.

我看到數字銀行的採用率同比增長了30%。

And as we look into the profiles of those, a reasonable percentage of those

當我們調查這些人的情況時，這些人中有相當一部分人

were actually our senior citizens, 62 years and above.

其實是我們的老人，62歲以上的老人。

The bank now has 3.4 million digital users, 29% of whom conduct their finances entirely online,

該銀行目前擁有340萬數字用戶，其中29%的用戶完全在網上進行理財。

which it says indicates the transition toward a new economic landscape.

它說，這表明向新的經濟格局過渡。

As we speak, we have about a million customers who are completely digital.

就在我們發言的時候，我們有大約100萬客戶是完全數字化的。

So, we can see that actually the foundation has been built.

所以，我們可以看到，其實基礎已經打好了。

This time was actually quite necessary or helpful to shift behaviors.

這個時間其實很有必要，或者說對行為的轉變很有幫助。

And actually, those behavioral shifts were quite natural and quite automatic.

而實際上，這些行為的轉變是很自然的，很自動的。

But the work for businesses adapting in a new normal doesn't quite end there.

但企業在新常態下的適應工作並沒有完全結束。

As Singapore's economy embarks on a path of recovery, companies also have an important

在新加坡經濟走上覆蘇之路的同時，企業也肩負著重要的責任。

social role to play in bringing the community along with them.

發揮社會作用，帶動社會一起發展。

We are going to have to be so agile and continue to work with local experts and government

我們要有這樣的敏捷性，繼續與當地專家和政府合作

to understand what is changing in the landscape.