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Policy

Singapore Minister: govts should embrace culture of transparency

By Kelly Ng | 23 June 2009

Many countries in Asia resist adopting better governance measures because it is the inefficiency and lack of transparency when issuing government licenses and permits that enable them to reap personal gains, a top Singaporean Minister has declared.

The citystate’s Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong said that good governance is the foundation for successful e-government, which in turns makes government more effective. However in order for a government to make the transformation to an e-government model, it needs to embrace “a culture of transparency, accountability and incorruptibility.”

“By keeping government clean, we remove a major impediment to the successful implementation of e-government,” said Goh.

Governments need to review their regulations continually when introducing electronic systems, he added. For example, Singapore waived a registration requirement for some 14,000 lower risk factories and only required an online declaration on risk controls. Here, policy changes are required to simplify administration so that inefficiencies will not be imported into an electronic system.

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