Participation of Merchants in the CDC Vouchers Scheme

Response to parliamentary question on participation of merchants and hawkers on the CDC Vouchers Scheme

Written PQ 5826. Assoc Prof Jamus Jerome Lim: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance (a) whether the Ministry actively solicits specific merchants’ participation in the CDC hawkers programme in the 2024 CDC Voucher Scheme; and (b) given that NTUC Fairprice is participating in the merchants' programme, why are NTUC hawker groups, such as Foodfare or Kopitiam, not included in the Scheme.

1. The nationwide digital CDC Vouchers Scheme, first launched in December 2021, aims to help Singaporeans with their daily expenses and support local heartland merchants and hawkers in their businesses.
2. Since October 2021, the CDCs have been engaging hawkers and merchants in the heartlands and onboarding them onto the Scheme. The CDCs also work closely with associations like the Federation of Merchants’ Association, Singapore (FMAS) and Heartland Enterprise Centre Singapore (HECS), as well as various merchant and hawker associations, to reach out to the merchants and hawkers. 
3. The CDCs will continue to reach out to a broad spectrum of heartland merchants and hawkers so that Singaporean households can benefit from more options to spend their CDC Vouchers.