Cheaper, easier for SMEs to bid for govt projects soon
More small businesses may start bidding for government projects as long-standing rules are being changed to make it cheaper and easier for them to do so.
Companies with yearly revenues below $5 million no longer have to produce audited financial statements to take part in government tenders, Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry Chee Hong Tat said yesterday.
This makes the process of bidding cheaper for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), he said on the sidelines of a Singapore Business Federation meeting.
This change got under way in June.
Come October, businesses will also not have to affix company stamps on government forms, including on tender-related documents submitted through government procurement portal GeBiz.
This is unless the stamps are required by legislation.
Stamps were needed for identity verification, but the digitisation of services has meant that other forms of checks such as digital platforms and signatures are available.
REVIEW
The change follows a review by the Ministry of Trade and Industry's Pro-Enterprise Panel, which found that it is "cumbersome and time-consuming" for companies to download, print, physically stamp, then scan and send documents back to agencies via e-mail.
"Upon receiving the feedback, the Pro-Enterprise Panel worked with 28 regulatory agencies and got their agreement to do away with this requirement," said Mr Chee.
"When technology changes, we also have to change the way we regulate and the rules that we have."
On whether the relaxation of rules on financial statements involved risks, Mr Chee said the risks were manageable.
He said smaller companies tend to bid for lower-value contracts and will have to build up a good track record before bidding for bigger contracts.
The change is expected to benefit some 3,900 suppliers here, based on the number of registered suppliers who have participated in past government tenders.
Of the 200,000 SMEs here, an estimated 160,000 or so earn an annual revenue of below $5 million.
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