FY2026 MOF Committee of Supply Debate Speech by Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Finance Mr Shawn Huang

A.          Introduction

A1.      Mr Chairman, I will speak on how MOF is making government procurement more accessible for businesses, and how technology can enhance public service delivery and accountability.

B.          MAKING PROCUREMENT OPPORTUNITIES MORE ACCESSIBLE FOR BUSINESSES

B1.      When procuring goods and services, the Government selects solutions that provide value for money so that we achieve more and deliver better outcomes with public funds.

B2.      When considering value for money, we take a holistic assessment of both benefits and costs, which can encompass economic, social and environmental outcomes.

B3.      I appreciate Ms Denise Phua’s and Ms Yeo Wan Ling’s suggestions to embed social value and look into outcomes beyond cost in our procurement. Our holistic approach towards value for money allows us to do so. To illustrate, in a tender for contact centre services by the Public Service Division, the awarded contractor was required to hire persons with disabilities and seniors for at least 10% of the jobs created by the contract. We will continue to look for opportunities to reap positive economic, social and environmental outcomes, while achieving value for money and avoiding excessive compliance costs for businesses.

IMPROVING ACCESSIBILITY TO GOVERNMENT PROCUREMENT

B4.      Mr Shawn Loh and Ms Denise Phua spoke about making Government procurement more accessible for small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Ms Yeo Wan Ling asked for an update on extension of Tender Lite to ICT procurement.

B5.      To improve accessibility, government agencies ensure our procurement opportunities are appropriately sized to allow SMEs to participate while ensuring it is sufficient for suppliers to invest in innovative solutions or technology that improve productivity.

B6.      Last year, we announced two initiatives to make procurement opportunities more accessible: (i) expanding Tender Lite to construction and ICT procurement, and (ii) introducing the new Innovative Procurement Partnership.  Let me share updates on each in turn.

TENDER LITE

B7.      Tender Lite was first introduced in April 2024 to simplify contract conditions of tenders up to $1 million, making them more accessible to SMEs. We implemented Tender Lite first for the procurement of general goods and services and then expanded to construction procurement in May 2025.

B8.      MOF has been working closely with industry stakeholders to expand Tender Lite to ICT procurement. We have incorporated feedback from the Singapore Business Federation (SBF), the Association for Small and Medium Enterprises (ASME), and SGTech:

a.   First, we will streamline the number of contract conditions so that businesses find it simpler to participate.

b.   Second, we will share risks with businesses. We will remove clauses on liquidated damages where possible or cap the liquidated damages for late delivery and service performance at 10% of the relevant contract value. MOF will also remove the need for security deposits. These changes will ease businesses’ cashflow and reduce the risks that they bear.

B9.      MOF will be launching Tender Lite for ICT procurement from Apr 2026,. With the expansion of Tender Lite to ICT contracts, Tender Lite will cover all procurement with tender value up to $1 million. With Quotation and Tender Lite, around 90% of government procurement opportunities will benefit from simpler contract conditions, making procurement more accessible to businesses, especially SMEs.

INNOVATIVE PROCUREMENT PARTNERSHIP

B10.  MOF recognises the need to foster innovation and has been supporting the procurement of innovative solutions

B11.  Last year, we have taken this further and introduced the Innovative Procurement Partnership.

a.   This initiative enables public agencies to collaborate with businesses to test innovative solutions and provide assurance to businesses of the opportunity to scale up if the pilot testing is successful.

b.   To make the Innovative Procurement Partnership more accessible to SMEs and start-ups, established track records are not a requirement. The Government will also share risks with businesses by removing the need for security deposits and liquidated damages by default during the pilot testing phase.

c.   In addition, the Innovative Procurement Partnership is conducted via open sourcing. In other words, any business can participate.

PROGRESSIVE PAYMENT

B12.  I thank Mr Edward Chia and Ms Denise Phua for their suggestions to ease cashflow for smaller firms and freelancers.

B13.  MOF provides government agencies with contract templates and guidelines on payment milestones, including increasing the number of payment milestones where appropriate to ease cashflow. These templates and guidelines are developed with inputs from businesses and government agencies to reflect industry norms.

B14.  For example, when procuring design services, government agencies are required to specify the expected iterations of changes to allow the supplier to better price their bids.

C.          LEVERAGING TECHNOLOGY TO ENHANCE AGILITY AND ACCOUNTABILITY

C1.      Ms Denise Phua and Mr Shawn Loh asked how MOF agencies are harnessing technology, such as Artificial Intelligence, to strengthen governance and improve the experience for businesses and citizens when transacting with government. Ms Yeo Wan Ling also suggested refreshing GeBIZ, our centralised e-procurement portal for government agencies, and Mr Ng Shi Xuan suggested incorporating AI into our procurement processes.

C2.      We are committed to continuously making improvements and one such opportunity is with GeBIZ.

a.   GeBIZ was introduced in 2000 to digitalise procurement processes and consolidate government quotations and tenders. Businesses can access government procurement opportunities and submit their proposals.

b.   Over the years, we have continuously enhanced GeBIZ. For instance, we implemented GeBIZ Supplier File Repository in 2024 to enable suppliers to use a single set of documents across multiple bids, reducing duplicative work.

c.   Moving forward, we will tap on the latest technology to comprehensively refresh the GeBIZ system. The refreshed GeBIZ will go beyond the sourcing stage, covering pre-sourcing and contract management stages. This will consolidate systems that are currently operating separately, and make procurement even more transparent, effective, and efficient. This will be a multi-year effort.

C3.      MOF will work with Singapore Business Federation (SBF) and Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (ASME) on the modes of engagement with business to ensure the refreshed GeBIZ system meets the needs of our government procurement and business community. We invite businesses, who are interested, to sign up for the engagement when we send out the invitations.  

C4.      A development that we will harness is the increasing capability of AI systems, which are becoming more widely used across businesses. AI can significantly improve productivity if well implemented. MOF is committed to integrate AI tools into the refreshed GeBIZ system where possible.

C5.      Beyond procurement, we are also leveraging AI in other areas of finance and governance. For finance and audit, we trialled the use of AI, on top of data analytics, to obtain insights from large volumes of data. Through these tools, ACRA, AGD and Customs officers will be able to identify trends and detect anomalies such as non-compliance or fraud, that may not have been detected as quickly via more traditional methods.

C6.      We will continue to harness technology and leverage appropriate AI tools to enhance public service delivery and accountability.

D.          CONCLUSION

D1.      Mr Chairman, in Mandarin please.

D2.      财政部会确保政府采购流程保持公平和透明。我们会继续推出措施，协助企业更轻易地参加政府招标活动。另外，我们会善用科技，把企业与政府交易的过程变得更有效率，更简易。我们会继续跟商团商会和业界合作，收集反馈，持续优化企业和政府之间的交易过程，让企业省钱，省力，省时间。

D3.      Mr Chairman, MOF remains committed to create a better Singapore through finance. We will continue to:

a.   Ensure fiscal prudence and sustainability

b.   Advance a pro-enterprise environment where regulatory requirements are streamlined to reduce compliance costs

c.   Improve access to government procurement; and

d.   Leverage technology to improve efficiency and strengthen governance.

D4.      These efforts will enable us to serve Singaporeans and businesses better.

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