The PEP’s objective is to make Singapore the most pro-enterprise country in the world. This it has achieved, when the World Bank’s Doing Business Report ranked Singapore No.1 for ease of doing business (out of 175 economies) in 2006.
This pro-business environment has contributed to the development of the SME sector. Since the inception of the PEP, Singapore’s Total Entrepreneurial Activity, which is the sum of nascent entrepreneurs and new businesses, has improved from 4.2% in 2000 to 7.2% in 2005. Net firm formation, which is the number of new firms being formed, has more than doubled - from an average of 8,000 between 1990 and 2001 to around 18,000 between 2002 and 2004. Today, the 133,000 SMEs make up 99% of all enterprises in Singapore, and contribute to 56% of employment and 42% of total value-added. Local SMEs make up 90% of Singapore’s enterprises, employ 44% of the workforce and contribute 23% of the total value-added.
The PEP has handled over 1,500 suggestions, of which an encouraging 54% have been accepted. With over 800 suggestions accepted, unnecessary licences have been removed; obsolete legislations repealed; access to government assistance schemes improved; agencies' business processes streamlined; and cumbersome constraints and overly-prescriptive requirements on business operations negated. Social causes have also been furthered, e.g. ex-offenders can now qualify for the government’s Startup Enterprise Development Scheme (SEEDS) funding, in support of their reintegration into society.
The PEP mechanism ensures that suggestions are given due attention quickly. The median time taken to clear a PEP suggestion is only two weeks, with the more complex issues involving multiple agencies taking longer. This has contributed to the overall suggestor satisfaction level of 80% - the indicator measures the time taken to respond to feedback, as well as the receptivity of agencies to suggestions, the clarity of the agencies’ explanations, and the agencies’ understanding of how their rules affect businesses. Three PEP suggestions have won the yearly national Excellence in Public Suggestions Awards - two in 2005 and one in 2006. This is very encouraging and proves that the PEP is able to attract good, workable ideas.
The PEP has made so many changes and created so much self-scrutiny within the Public Service that rules review has become a way of life. In fact, the Whole-of-Government approach to rules review has seen 46% (5,436) of 11,933 rules in the Public Service reviewed by March 2006. Of these, 23% (1,233) have been removed or amended. Through the PEP, agencies have also acquired a better understanding of businesses' needs i.e. even when they are not able to implement the suggestions directly, alternative recommendations and solutions are frequently provided.
What is most important to businesses is that removal of rules reduces business costs and improves the bottom line. An example is the S$70,000 yearly savings by employment agencies after they were allowed to extend their security bonds when renewing their licences. In total, the cost savings of rules reviewed is estimated at more than S$50 million.
(496 words)
|