Speech by Minister for Trade and Industry, Mr Lim Hng Kiang, at the Pro-Enterprise Panel 10th Anniversary Gala held at Movida@St James Power Station on 1 Nov 2010

Distinguished guests,

Ladies and gentlemen,

Good evening,

I am pleased to join you today to celebrate the Pro-Enterprise Panel’s, or PEP’s, 10th anniversary.

The PEP was set up a decade ago, in 2000, as a public-private partnership. Chaired by Head Civil Service and comprising senior public officers and business leaders, the PEP seeks feedback from the business community with the aim of cutting red tape. The PEP signaled a significant shift of the government from its traditional role as a regulator, to a facilitator of business as well.

Over the last ten years, the PEP has received about 1,800 suggestions, and more than half of them were accepted after careful review by the PEP and the relevant government agencies.

The PEP recognizes that rules are necessary to run a country but they must be ‘smart’ rules. 'Smart’ rules safeguard the interests of the public without excessively imposing time, effort, and cost on businesses. By balancing the cost of rules against their benefits and managing risks appropriately, the PEP has helped to cut red tape to benefit businesses, big and small, from diverse sectors.

The PEP’s contributions have been recognized internationally. Just last month, the Commonwealth Association of Public Administration and Management, or CAPAM, presented the PEP with an award for innovation in public service management and accountability. This award celebrates the spirit of innovation in the public service by recognizing those who have made significant contributions to improving public sector governance in the Commonwealth countries.

The World Bank has ranked Singapore as the easiest place in the world to do business for four consecutive years (2007 – 2010).The PEP, which has championed tirelessly for a pro-enterprise regulatory environment can take pride that its efforts have contributed to Singapore’s top ranking.

The PEP cannot be effective without good suggestions from businesses. Tonight, we recognize the contribution of the business community by presenting the Best Suggestion Awards to three businesses that have given suggestions that are impactful and innovative.

Pro-enterprise suggestions bring benefits beyond the specific business that gives the feedback. The community at large benefits as well. For example, Malaysian confinement nannies used to have to leave Singapore for a month after working 60 days here, even though their work permits were valid for 16 weeks. One of our winners tonight, who runs a confinement nanny agency, managed to get this restriction lifted this year through a suggestion to the PEP.

Able to better cater to customers’ demands now, the company has seen an increase in assignments and is committing more resources into their nannies’ training and development. And yes, I believe we have more happy new mothers as a result.

Increasingly, we are also seeing more complex suggestions to improve rules that cut across different agencies. For example, another winning suggestion required the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority, Urban Redevelopment Authority, Building and Construction Authority, and Maritime and Port Authority to work together in starting a pilot for fish farms to be opened up to visitors for leisure activities. Such suggestions help drive inter-agency collaboration to ensure that Singapore retains its competitive edge as the best place in the world to do business.

To mark its 10th anniversary, the PEP has published a commemorative booklet to showcase other success stories in the last decade. I am sure all of us will enjoy the interesting selection of PEP cases in the booklet. I hope that both businesses and public officers will be encouraged by these success stories to help us make our rules better.

Ideas from the businesses will have a positive impact only if our public agencies are receptive to feedback and consider them from the perspective of businesses.

Since 2004, the Rules Action Crucible of the Action Community for Entrepreneurship (ACE) has commissioned the annual Pro-Enterprise Ranking Survey to help make agencies more aware of businesses’ perception of their regulations and processes; and identify the main areas for improvement.

Full credit must be given to the Rules Action Crucible, headed by Mr Patrick Daniel, and comprising Mr Alvin Tay, Mr Seah Liang Chiang, and Mr Carlos Nicholas Fernandes, for initiating this survey and staying committed to its purpose of benchmarking and raising the overall level of pro-enterprise regulations across government agencies.

This survey is now in its 7th year. The 26 agencies surveyed this year have achieved our best ever score in the survey. Tonight, we will be recognizing the top five agencies of the 2010 Pro-Enterprise Ranking Survey. They are the Singapore Land Authority, IE Singapore, Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore, Building and Construction Authority and Monetary Authority of Singapore.

While the government will continue to foster a pro-enterprise environment for businesses to operate in, businesses have to be productive and innovative to sustain their growth and competitiveness.

At the national level, Singapore aims to achieve 2 to 3% productivity growth over the next decade. The PEP will have to play a crucial role in raising productivity by reducing compliance cost and red tape so that businesses can focus on what they do best – innovating, pursuing new opportunities, and creating value. The work of the PEP therefore going forward takes on greater importance.

But the PEP can work only if it continues to have good ideas from businesses. I strongly encourage businesses that have suggestions on how our rules and regulations can be changed to improve productivity, to write to the PEP. The PEP will continue to ensure that these suggestions are considered seriously, with a view to facilitating business as well as raising productivity.

At the same time, the PEP will re-double its efforts to reach out to businesses, using new avenues and tools. This year, for instance, the PEP visited businesses in industrial estates in a specially designed van and posted videos on YouTube.

Let me extend my thanks to the business community, members of the PEP, and public agencies for making the PEP a success and contributing to Singapore’s success. Have a pleasant evening ahead. Thank you.