Tender alert system effective

WE AGREE with Mr Galen Yeo that the government procurement system must ensure that tender opportunities are well-publicised, to match the Government's needs with the best suppliers ("NParks' expensive bikes controversy: Improve tender alert to businesses"; last Wednesday).

The government procurement system - the electronic business portal called GeBiz - is designed to do just that. It aims to promote fair and open competition, transparency and value for money.

All government agencies are required to post their tender opportunities openly on it.

GeBiz is widely used; there are about 55,000 registered suppliers.

It is easy and cost-free for suppliers to be GeBiz trading partners. Once a supplier signs up, he is given a free user account to transact with the Government.

GeBiz works in two ways. Registered suppliers can search its database for relevant business opportunities and download tender documents easily throughout the tender opening period.

To ensure that they do not miss any business opportunity, businesses can opt to receive alerts on tenders and quotations relevant to them via GeBiz Really Simple Syndication or via e-mail on Spring's EnterpriseOne portal (www.enterpriseone.gov.sg/SignUp.aspx).

When sourcing goods and services, government agencies typically do market research and make inquiries.

They may do so even with suppliers that are not registered on GeBiz.

However, agencies need to call for a quotation or tender by publishing the notice openly on GeBiz to allow all interested suppliers to participate.

Agencies can alert suppliers to these opportunities through GeBiz alerts, direct phone calls or publicity on the agency's website.

This is to ensure that the procurement opportunity receives sufficient attention, without compromising fairness and transparency.

This is an improvement from the past, when suppliers had to search the newspapers for relevant opportunities, and travel to government agencies to obtain tender documents.

We encourage suppliers who are interested in government procurement opportunities to visit the GeBiz website (www.gebiz.gov.sg) to register as trading partners.
Lim Bee Khim (Ms)
Director (Corporate Communications)
Ministry of Finance
ST Forum, 6 Aug 2012

Improve tender alert to businesses
IT APPEARS that the key problem with the Government's tender system is in publicising or disseminating the tender information to the business community ("CPIB investigating NParks bicycle purchase; bikes taken back from staff"; last Thursday).

Few bike stores knew about the tender, and for obvious reasons. Why would the National Parks Board or anyone else assume that companies would come to the GeBiz website and find their tender?

This does seem to be a potentially inadequate or limited way of matching the Government's specialised needs with the best suppliers.

The Government could be more proactive using a simple way and reach out to more people: set up a Facebook page, where interested parties can sign up for announcements; and take out prominent full-page advertisements in the newspapers for tenders.

Now and then, my company does get notifications from the GeBiz system, but most companies are not registered on it.

Some companies might stumble upon the occasional call for tenders in the newspapers, while other more seasoned companies check the GeBiz system regularly to find opportunities.

Regardless, in the private sector, most companies in search of a service or product do their research, make inquiries, and ask suppliers to provide quotes.

Does the Government have a similar set of standard operating procedures in place in its procurement process, regardless of budget levels?

It seems like a shot in the dark when a tender is opened. How can that possibly be an optimal way of sourcing for something, or getting an informed deal?
Galen Yeo
ST Forum, 6 Aug 2012