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"The government will continue to implement pro-business policies and measures and provide an environment that enables them to grow and succeed," said Senior Minister of State for Finance Chee Hong Tat in parliament on Feb. 24.

He was addressing questions by Members of Parliament (MPs) Liang Eng Hwa, Edward Chia, Mariam Jafaar and Saktiandi Supaat on how the Ministry of Finance (MOF) would help businesses reduce costs and build capabilities for growth during Ministry of Finance's Committee of Supply debate.

Chee highlighted two additional areas where MOF's work would benefit companies, by 1) simplifying government rules and processes; and 2) helping businesses build capabilities to enhance their competitiveness and access new opportunities.

Supporting SMEs to participate in government tenders

Chee said that MOF will simplify its processes for suppliers, including small and medium enterprises (SMEs), to participate in government tenders.

He noted that about 80 per cent of government contracts are awarded to SMEs annually.

Therefore, Chee announced that MOF will introduce a new category of tender by end-2023 called “Tender Lite”, which comes with fewer and simpler conditions.

Tender Lite will allow more suppliers to participate in tenders with value higher than S$90,000 but below S$1 million.

This is estimated to cover over 70 per cent of all government tenders that are currently awarded to SMEs.

Chee stated that winning government contracts gives SMEs the opportunity to build up their track records, develop capabilities and capacity to tap into new growth areas.

MOF will work with representatives from Singapore Business Federation and the Association of Small & Medium Enterprises, as well as government agencies on the design of Tender Lite.

Streamlining the transaction process between businesses and the Government

MOF recently launched eGuarantee@Gov, a secure digital process for businesses and individuals to provide a banker’s guarantee or insurance bond to government agencies, Chee said.

Businesses can apply for an eGuarantee from over 20 participating financial institutions online, for direct submission to government agencies within a day.

With eGuarantee@Gov, companies will not need to visit a bank to purchase a physical copy of the guarantee, or to pay for courier services to deliver it.

"The new arrangement is quicker, better and cheaper," said Chee, comparing this to the use of PayNow for more efficient digital payments.

MOF expects up to 4,000 eGuarantees to be lodged in 2023, resulting in overall savings for all stakeholders of about S$500,000 per year.

MOF also stated that they are working with the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI), to look into extending eGuarantees to commercial transactions, such as those between businesses and their suppliers and customers.

Improving income-filing and procurement systems

Chee also noted that improvements have been made to the government-wide income filing and procurement systems that businesses use, which should improve productivity.

For Ge-Biz, the government-wide procurement system, MOF noted that about 3,000 businesses can benefit from the Supplier File Repository by the end of this year.

This will remove the need for businesses to resubmit the same financial statements and company profile, when responding to different government quotations and tenders.

Chee also highlighted the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) initiative to encourage businesses to use seamless filing software.

This software helps businesses improve their productivity, as they can automatically generate and file their corporate income tax computations and returns.

According to MOF, this process should take only 15 minutes, compared to the estimated eight hours required for manual preparation and submission.

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Top photo via screenshot of Some Media/YouTube