20% of contracts to small businesses next year – Govt

Twenty per cent of Government contracts will be awarded to small businesses from next year, as moves are currently afoot to modify the procurement process to facilitate the execution of a provision in the Small Business Act which allows for this to happen.

Business Minister  Dominic Gaskin
Business Minister Dominic Gaskin

Business Minister Dominic Gaskin told a year-end press conference of the Small Business Bureau (SBB) that the process should come on stream by the second quarter of the New Year.
He said the proposed mechanism is to assess the current procurement process to determine if extra points are needed to be given for registered small businesses and on what criteria.
“The idea is to create a system to allow us to assess the value of contracts and percentage of contracts that actually go to small businesses and then to intervene if necessary to provide an extra incentive for small businesses,” he explained.
Gaskin noted too that the modified system would have to be integrated with the recently established Public Procurement Commission (PPC) which will be taking over the role of the Cabinet to review suggestions made by the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB).
The Business Minister explained that the authorities are likely to run a pilot programme in the first quarter of the year to assess whether the proposed mechanism is workable.
Thereafter, the system will be extended to the Ministries which conduct their own procurement process for particular goods or services.
Minister of State Joseph Harmon had explained that by activating this provision, everyone will “get a piece of the pie”.
“If the country gives out $10 billion in contracts per year, 20 per cent of that should go to small contractors,” he had stated.
For years, small businesses have been complaining about larger enterprises getting the bulk of the contracts being awarded by Government.
The 20 per cent of contracts will be awarded yearly and the Business Minister had previously estimated that it would amount to some $15 billion.