New office will be set up to streamline approval processes, cut red tape for Singapore SMEs
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
The SME Pro-Enterprise Office will be launched by the first quarter of 2025.
ST PHOTO: GIN TAY
Follow topic:
SINGAPORE – Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) facing long-drawn or complicated governmental procedures can soon approach a new office for help to streamline approval processes and cut red tape.
The SME Pro-Enterprise Office (SME PEO) will gather feedback from SMEs on pain points, especially those involving more than one government agency, and then pass the feedback to relevant agencies to look into possible solutions to alleviate regulatory bottlenecks.
It will also support SMEs in navigating rules and regulations, particularly in emerging areas or issues that cut across multiple agencies. Individual regulatory agencies will continue to handle issues that are more straightforward and pertinent to only that particular agency.
The SME PEO, which will be run by EnterpriseSG under the auspices of the Ministry of Trade and Industry, will be launched by the first quarter of 2025.
Its formation was announced on Sept 23 by Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry Low Yen Ling. She said: “We need smoother, shorter regulatory processes, as well as lower regulatory barriers. This is even more vital with the rapid emergence of new technology and a fast-evolving business environment.”
This will help SMEs better manage their costs, thereby allowing them to channel these savings into innovating and transforming their businesses, she added.
Describing SMEs as the lifeblood of the economy as they employ some 70 per cent of the workforce, she said that the Government is committed to supporting SMEs’ growth and transformation.
The new office’s function could be summarised as three Ts: triage, track and treat, Ms Low said.
First, feedback is sorted and prioritised. Next comes the development of a system to measure changes in service standards. Third, cases that have been resolved are further analysed and monitored to identify whether these amounted to systemic issues.
Ultimately, the centre will enable the Government to seek out areas that can benefit from improved regulatory effectiveness, such as better inter-agency coordination, and shortened processing times for regulatory approvals.
EnterpriseSG managing director Cindy Khoo said: “The business operating landscape has evolved over the years and become more complex. Through our engagements with SMEs, we understand that a challenge they face is in navigating multiple regulatory requirements, especially in nascent and cross-cutting areas.”
She added: “The SME PEO will be a central coordinating unit to help SMEs address this while also working with other agencies to improve regulatory effectiveness and identify potentially complex issues that may impede industry and enterprise growth.”
As an example of how regulatory processes can be streamlined, Ms Low cited Corenet X, a digital portal soft-launched in December 2023 for the built environment sector.
Led by the Building and Construction Authority and Urban Redevelopment Authority, the initiative consolidated more than 20 approval processes by multiple regulatory agencies into only three main ones: for design, construction and certification.
The upshot of this simplified approach is the significant savings of both time and cost for enterprises using the new system.
ADDP Architects, an early user of Corenet X, was able to save as much as 20 per cent in the time taken to obtain all the relevant approvals for one of its more structurally complex projects.
