According to the latest edition of the World Bank Group’s 2017 Benchmarking Public Procurement (BPP) report, public procurement rules and practices remain inefficient in large swathes of the world, despite government efforts towards efficiency in delivering better services to their citizens.
The report which assesses public procurement regulatory systems in 180 economies has noted that accessibility and transparency of public procurement rules and practices remain limited, depriving many small- and medium-firms the opportunity to bid for service contracts for government and other public sector institutions.
According to the report, the worldwide public procurement market is estimated at approximately US.5 trillion each year. Of this, developing countries spend an estimated US0 billion a year worth of citizens’ funds, about 50 per cent or more of their total government expenditure, on procuring goods and services that range from food for welfare programmes, to wiring for electrical grids that power homes and businesses.
Public procurement markets, therefore, represent huge opportunities to boost competition and economic growth. As explained in the report, an e-procurement system, for example, benefits the private sector as well as governments by making procurement more transparent and fair.
It is worthwhile to mention too that the report has found that in 15 per cent, or 25, of the economies surveyed, an electronic portal dedicated to procurement does not even exist. Moreover, in the economies that do have such portal, a wide gap exists between economies that have sophisticated e-procurement platforms offering a range of services and ones that only use the internet to publish basic information such as procurement laws.
The report notes that publicising future procurement opportunities, electronic submission of bids and public announcements of tender awards are other best practices that could be more widely adopted. Providing information such as procurement plans during the pre-tendering phase online, can help suppliers when planning their sales strategies and preparing their bids.
The report found that only 74 economies publish procurement plans online. More surprisingly, in only 24 of those does the law expressly mandate that such information be made available electronically.
Private sector firms wishing to participate in Government contracting also face significant challenges on the financial aspects of the procurement process. On this basis it is necessary that a well-functioning component be included to address complaints or challenges from bidders on any aspect of the procurement process, including final contract awards.
After years of wrangling between the major political players, Guyana finally made a major breakthrough in relation to the awarding of state contracts with the establishment of the Public Procurement Commission. It is expected that when the commission is fully operational it will oversee the award of contracts and handle complaints from aggrieved persons.
This is indeed a step in the right direction as it will seek to address the many concerns that have been raised over the years about transparency and efficiency in awarding of Government contracts. Citizens would only have a high level of confidence in the system if they feel comfortable that the process is transparent and could withstand scrutiny.
Only recently, there has been a barrage of criticisms over the present Government’s handling of various contracts. Many have expressed the view that the Administration has been favouring its own supporters and friends of the Coalition in the awarding of these contracts. Over the past few months it’s one scandal after the other – the infamous drugs bond scandal, the D’Urban Park project, the awarding of scholarships, among many others. This being done and the Government has done very little to assuage the fears and concerns of the populace that taxpayers’ dollars are spent in the most transparent and fair manner.
There are many lessons to be learnt from these experiences and it is hoped that the Government is taking the concerns of the various stakeholders seriously. Certainly the Government can do more to improve access to public procurement opportunities. By highlighting good practices as well as areas for improvement, we hope the evidence in this World Bank report will galvanise policymakers to effect the needed reforms and, thus, help the economy benefit from private sector growth and get better value for money in the procurement of goods and services.
