Singapore SMEs can soon look forward to pitching for higher-value Government projects.
At the Committee of Supply debate on the Ministry of Finance’s (MOF) budget yesterday (28 Feb), Second Minister for Finance Indranee Rajah announced that the upper limit for quotations will be raised from S$70,000 to S$90,000 this year.
Currently, the Government procures products and services through 3 procedures determined by their procurement values:
1. Small Value Purchases (SVPs) are projects worth less than S$6,000
2. Quotations are projects with procurement values between S$6,000 and S$70,000 (S$6,000 and S$90,000 after the change)
3. Tenders are projects worth more than S$70,000 (S$90,000 and above after the change)
With the increase, “smaller companies and start-ups [will be able] to capture higher value Government projects through quotations, which come with simpler contractual terms and conditions and tend to be processed more quickly”.
This move comes as part of the Government’s efforts to make it easier for SMEs to take part in higher value public projects.
Last year, it was also announced that companies with less than S$5 million turnover don’t need to submit audited accounts when applying for Government Supplier Registration (GSR). This move benefited “about 3,900 GRS registered suppliers”.
The latest change is hoped to benefit “the 12,000 suppliers who participate in quotations but not tenders”.
Ms Indranee also added that “while Government procurement can help to give firms a boost, companies need to be innovative fundamentally and offer value-for-money solutions”.
