Good Regulatory Practices to Support Small and Medium Enterprises in Southeast Asia
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can find it challenging to cope and comply with regulations and adapt regulatory changes. Good regulatory practice (GRP) helps create a stable and enabling regulatory environment for investment, trade, and entrepreneurhsip, and thus supports healthy economies and regional competitiveness. This report is the first comprehensive stock-taking of GRP implementation in Southeast Asia to support local SMEs and their integration into global value chains. For each of the ten countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the report provides examples of GRP tools and approaches in areas such as administrative burden reduction, e-government, regulatory impact assessment, ex post evaluation, and stakeholder consultation. The report also includes an overview of collective efforts pursued at the ASEAN level to promote the GRP agenda across the region.
Singapore
Singapore’s regulatory reform efforts have focused on improving services and creating space for innovation through its digital strategy. Regulatory reviews, both pre- and post-implementation, are conducted on a regular basis. Public consultation for business-related issues is done through the reaching everyone for active citizenry @ home (REACH) platform or through the involvement of the Pro-Enterprise Panel (PEP) and industry stakeholders. In order to strengthen small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) linkages to the global value chain and encourage innovation, the government has been encouraging private sector collaboration through industry exchanges, the introduction of regulatory sandboxes, and programmes to link government procurement with SMEs.