12 October 2004

SPRING-supported initiative opens doors for SMEs to Australasian opportunities

  1. In a ceremony witnessed by Mr. Lim Hng Kiang, Minister for Trade and Industry, Business@lert, a Singapore industry-wide collaboration initiative, signed an MOU with TenderLink.com, a company based in New Zealand and Australia, to facilitate the sharing of government and private sector tenders and RFQ (Request for Quotation) information between Singapore and Australasia. Also present at the ceremony which was held at the Global Entrepolis @ Singapore were guests from the High Commissions of Australia and New Zealand and Singapore's business community.

  2. With this collaboration, first-hand information of an additional 60,000 tenders and RFQs from Australia and New Zealand will be accessible to Singapore's enterprises via the internet in accordance to company's business profile.

  3. Business@lert currently processes about 90,000 tenders and RFQs annually, equivalent to an estimated contract value of about S$ 120 billion. Of these opportunities, 15% are from the Singapore Government and Singapore-based private enterprises, while the rest are from Singapore's key Free Trade Agreement (FTA) partner, USA.

  4. "Unlike larger companies, many SMEs lack the resources to have a dedicated team to look out for business opportunities," said Mr Loh Khum Yean, Chief Executive, SPRING Singapore. "With the growing trend for more buyers, both in the public and private sectors, to conduct their purchases online, SMEs may also miss out on such opportunities or get to know about them too late to make a timely response. Hence, Business@lert was developed jointly by Abecha and SPRING last year to link SMEs to business opportunities in Singapore and overseas. This collaboration with TenderLink.com of Australasia will now enable Singapore SMEs to access business opportunities in Australia and New Zealand."

  5. "We believe that Business@lert will open up more business opportunities, both locally and regionally, to our industrial tenants. We therefore encourage our tenants to take advantage of this service to expand their businesses," said Mr. Lim Chin Chong, Director, Customer Services Group, JTC Corporation, an alliance partner of Business@lert.

  6. "This agreement is a practical expression of close economic links between New Zealand and Singapore, and because of the NZ-Australia partnership in Closer Economic Relations (CER), it is a step towards greater CER/Singapore engagement," said New Zealand High Commissioner, HE Dr. Richard Grant. "We expect to see more collaboration amongst companies of the 3 countries to jointly bid for projects in this region."

  7. "This is a win-win collaboration for both Business@lert and TenderLink.com. Our customers will benefit from the aggregating of procurement opportunities through a single channel," said Mr Rhys Greensill, Executive Director TenderLink.com.

  8. "Through our partnership with TenderLink, Business@lert will be an ideal platform for Singapore enterprises to penetrate the Australia and New Zealand markets, which are currently seeing strong economic growth," said Chief Executive Officer, Abecha Pte Ltd, Mr. Ong Teck Soon. "In addition to the USA, Australia and New Zealand business opportunities, we are actively seeking similar collaborations with Singapore's other key trading partners, such as the European Free-Trade-Area (EFTA), Japan, China and India."

  9. The current 8,000 registered subscribers of Business@lert are expected to benefit immediately from this initiative.

  10. Business@lert also announced the release of its latest software version B@2004 today. Equipped with new features to provide information and alerts for large private enterprises' closed tenders and RFQs, it will allow large private enterprises to select suppliers from Business@lert's database for notification to participate. Corporations such as SingTel, Singapore Airlines and Thomson Multimedia have already subscribed to this platform.

  11. Ms Madalene Hee, Director for Procurement, SingTel said, "B@2004 will serve as an e-channel to inform our suppliers and business partners of our tenders and RFQs. We believe B@2004 is able to provide an efficient means of reaching out to a ready supply base, and at a much faster rate than the traditional paper-based tenders and RFQs."

  12. The subscription fee of Business@lert has also been revised to a three-tier structure, starting with a free-of-charge basic package for subscribers. Professional and corporate packages with added features are also available. Business@lert's membership is expected to grow significantly within the next quarter.

Issued jointly by Abecha Pte Ltd and TenderLink.com.


About Business@lert

Business@lert is Singapore's first industry-wide collaboration to provide notification of business opportunities for Singapore's enterprises. Inaugurated on 28 November 2003 by then Minister of State, Foreign Affairs and Trade & Industry, Mr Raymond Lim, Business@lert is powered by Abecha Pte Ltd and supported by SPRING Singapore. The system proactively collects procurement opportunities of the Singapore government, Singapore's FTA partners, GLCs and private companies and disseminates the information to corporate members via the internet, SMS, email and fax, in accordance to business profiles.

For more information on Business@lert, please visit www.businessalert.com.sg.


About TenderLink.com

TenderLink.com is the largest tender notification service provider in Australasia, and has provided tender notification services throughout New Zealand and Australia for the past 10 years.

Established in 1994, TenderLink has become the preferred choice for advertising and viewing tender, RFI and RFP notices in the Australasian market. TenderLink acts as the central gateway for tenders being advertised throughout Australia and New Zealand at all levels of government and for the private sector. Independent analysis has shown that TenderLink covers 99% of all publicly available tenders in these countries and has an increasing content of exclusive tender notices.

Tender notices are sourced, coordinated, disseminated and distributed electronically through its on-line portal, www.tenderlink.com which is based on a Jade technology platform. TenderLink also provides an ASP solution for government departments or corporates, which enables them to place RFP or tender notices with their own private list of suppliers, or through TenderLink's targeted supplier base. TenderLink has recently been selected to provide the technology to power the New Zealand Local Government tendering portal.

For more information on Tenderlink.com, please visit www.tenderlink.com.


About SPRING Singapore

SPRING Singapore (Standards, Productivity and Standards Board)'s mission is to enhance the competitiveness of enterprises for a vibrant Singapore economy. We work to nurture a pro-business environment that encourages enterprise formation and growth; facilitate the growth of industries; enhance productivity and innovation, and capabilities of enterprises; and help increase access to markets and business opportunities.

For more information on SPRING Singapore, please visit www.spring.gov.sg.


About Abecha

Abecha Pte Ltd, a joint venture of SESAMi and Microsoft, is a premier sourcing and procurement service provider. It was founded in July 2001 with JTC Corporation, with the mandate to serve JTC's community of 7,000 industrial business tenants. Its core services are sourcing, e-auction, procurement and e-marketplace services.

For more information on Abecha Pte Ltd, please visit www.abecha.com.

Press Contacts :

TenderLink.com

Rhys Greensill
Executive Director
PO Box 154
New Plymouth
NEW ZEALAND

Email: rhys@tenderlink.com
Telephone: +64 21 758 188


Abecha Pte Ltd

Pang Yee Ean
Director
11 Keppel Road,
#01-03 RCL Centre
Singapore 089057

Email: yeeean@abecha.com
Telephone: (65) 63722500, (65) 98398223 (HP)
Fax: (65) 63722021