David Clarinval, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for the Middle Classes, Self-Employed, SMEs and Agriculture, Institutional Reforms and Democratic Renewal, wants to improve the participation of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in public procurement.
The number of SMEs submitting bids for public contracts has been declining over the years. Obstacles such as heavy administrative burdens, complex tender procedures and extended payment terms have been identified as the main reasons for this decline. Convinced that public procurement represents opportunities for our SMEs and for the Belgian economy, the Deputy Prime Minister has introduced several measures to encourage their participation, such as promoting electronic invoicing, the option of advance payments and shorter payment terms.
In this context, the FPS Economy announced this week the launch of a communication campaign and took the opportunity to highlight the existence of the digital e-Procurement platform, a new version of which was launched on 4 September. It enables SMEs to find the various public contracts from all Belgian authorities and take part according to their specific characteristics.
The federal Deputy Prime Minister recalled the efforts made during this legislature to make it easier for SMEs to access public procurement. "The procedure for participating in public contracts has gradually been fully digitised at all levels of government, which represented a real challenge for our smallest businesses. The new e-Procurement platform, designed to be more accessible and user-friendly, will in particular aim to support these businesses." He invites our SMEs to consult the FPS Economy website for more information.