UOB and Doxa, an online procure-to-pay platform, have partnered up to enable companies to move their procurement and trade financing processes online.
Both companies signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on Aug 18 with their client, Kimly Construction. The trio will execute its first green trade finance transaction together.
The transaction means that the procurement and trade financing processes for Kimly Construction’s latest green project, the construction of the Singapore Institute of Technology’s (SIT) campus at Punggol North (Plot 2), will be moved entirely online.
The move will include the creation of invoices, uploading and validation of supporting documents, and transmission of data and disbursement of funds, done through UOB Infinity and Doxa Connex.
According to UOB, the pilot with Kimly and Doxa will lead to easier procurement and trade financing processes, to build efficiency and incorporate sustainability in the ecosystem for the long term.
“The collaboration with Kimly Construction and Doxa will accelerate the digitalisation of an industry that is generally very manual and paper based. With Doxa Connex, Kimly Construction and its suppliers can manage their business processes with greater efficiency,” says So Lay Hua, head of group transaction banking, UOB.
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“Leveraging the existing digital data available on Doxa Connex, UOB will be able to provide Kimly Construction with green and sustainable trade financing without additional paper documents. This is part of UOB’s effort to bridge the digital divide, to enable our customers to connect with their suppliers digitally and to build resiliency for their business,” So adds.
“With financial services embedded in Doxa Connex, we work as the information highway backbone to provide financial institutions with a single source of data truth and greater transparency. Thus, SMEs gain better access to capital and a lower cost of funds. Together with UOB and Kimly Construction, we are taking the first step to achieve green trade finance, and towards the SGTraDex initiative. This will unify the financial ecosystem and we are excited to be part of this journey,” says Edmund Ng, Doxa’s CEO and co-founder.
“We have always wanted to automate and digitalise our procure-to-pay and trade financing processes. By collaborating with UOB and Doxa, we have accelerated our development of the end-to-end automation and digitalisation of our processes. We believe with Doxa’s trade financing module, it will help us in reducing manpower cost and boost productivity and achieve process efficiency in the long term,” says Louis Khoo, director at Kimly Construction.