Govt agencies are encouraged to produce electronic annual reports

Published in TODAY (14 Dec, Voices, Pg 14)

We refer to Ms Jenny Ng’s letter “Govt agencies should scrap annual reports” (Dec 11) and thank her for her feedback.

One of the purposes of annual reports is to provide accountability to Parliament on the agencies’ performance and finances. They also provide the public with information about government agencies’ key activities and financial performance.

We agree with the writer that these purposes can largely be met by publishing the annual reports online. They should only be printed if necessary and, in such instances, the report should be appropriate for its purpose and its production cost-effective.

The Ministry of Finance will be reminding agencies to bear these considerations in mind in the production of their annual reports.

Lim Yuin Chien
Director
Corporate Communications
Ministry of Finance