In times of limited resources and infinite demands, efficiency is the key to making our money stretch further. One of the many ways to do this is to finds ways to do what we do currently better and the costs savings will result in valued for money for taxpayers and reduce the ever growing cost of doing business.

In that spirit here is my Top 10 recommendations for Budget 2011.

- Merge the international and domestic trade ministries. In the globalised world, there is not much difference and a powerful combined ministry (ala the department of trade in the US and UK) will harness the best brains in government and private sector while increasing the efficiency of regulating and promoting businesses both locally and abroad.

- Combine the various different monthly contribution forms that a business needs to fill up for the Inland Revenue, Socso and EPF. All into one where our IC or passport number is the reference number and the various contributions are listed on one document.

Not only will this save compliance cost for businesses but also cross-check whether employers are accounting for all their employees. Actual payments should be allowed at any bank or post- office and the payment counters at the various agencies can be reduced and the staff better utilised for customer services

Notwithstanding the above suggestion, merge Socso and EPF allowing for one agency dealing with both retirement benefits and injury protection just like how the private insurance companies do it.

Surplus funds of Socso should be refunded to contributors via bonuses as private insurance companies operate .

- Allow payment of SSM fines and payments and IRB stamp duty payments via cheques. At the moment, only bank drafts are accepted. Cheques are legal tender, why do these agencies not accept them? The requirement to get bank drafts only serves to enrich the banks.

If cheques bouncing are an issue, set the penalty for cheques bouncing at say RM5,000 so one will not even think of pulling a fast one. After all, income and corporate taxes can be paid via cheques so why not other form of duties, taxes and fines?

- Transfer all responsibility and control for film-making to Finas including the Film Censorship Board and combine the various different licenses and certificates currently required of a filmmaker to just one - to be issued by Finas.

- Accept and gazette ministry of finance categories for licensing as the only one in the country and every other government ministry and agencies to just accept these categories as the ultimate description. Presently the number of registrations a business has to do is mind-boggling, depending on which area one is involved in.

We must register with MOF. Martrade, CIDB, MOA, TNB, TMB , Miti and the list goes on. Just combine all these into one master business description code and all including SSM should use the one standard one.

- Create and enforce a giro system on the banking infrastructure whereby all and any payments for utilities and services can be made at any bank or by credit cards if cards accepted. Presently utilities or service providers choose the banks that will process payments to them and this is inefficient if one own bank is different. The giro system as practiced in UK is just the perfect one. One can just write one cheque to cover as many bill payments and the bank will process it without fuss.

- Merge the education and higher education ministry for a seamless cradle to grave education oversight.

- Create a central scholarship unit (similar to Unit Pusat University) say under existing framework such as JPA and centrally process all scholarship applications currently being undertaken separately via the different government agencies, companies, GLCs and GLICs, such as Petronas, TNB, TMB, EPF, Khazanah, Securities Commission.

The various yearly allocated amounts should just be given to this central unit with the type of candidate preference and it then can be centrally processed. This will save on administration costs among the individual companies as well as save cost for candidates who can just apply once rather then a million times.

- While on the subject, merge PTPTN and the JPA loan unit. The JPA loan unit has been in existence for many years and they been doing an excellent job.

Merge Pemande and Mampu into one entity. Broadly speaking, both roles are the same. First thing Pemandu should do is suggest cost savings by using existing infrastructure available via Mampu and not create new ones.