National procurement website to be launched in 2026

– new system to boost transparency, accessibility, and cost-efficiency
The Government of Guyana is expected to roll out a national procurement website in 2026, designed to advertise all public contracts and make the procurement process more transparent, accessible, and cost-effective, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo announced on Thursday during his weekly press briefing.

Currently, Government contracts are advertised primarily through newspapers. In 2024 alone, Jagdeo revealed, nearly $800 million was spent on newspaper advertisements. He explained that beyond the cost, the system limits accessibility, as ads are typically only available for a single day, and readers must manually search the papers to find opportunities.
“So, in 2024 alone, the cost to the Treasury of putting out those ads in the newspapers was nearly $800 million. That went to the newspapers. And once it goes in, one day it’s in the newspaper, except for the online edition, if people go and read it, it’s not — it disappears. People can’t read it the following day because it’s not in the newspaper for the following day. If we have a procurement site now, once it goes up there, people can go to that site and for the duration of their period when the tender is valid for, that is the advertisement, it shall be on the site. So, you can then go there, you will see what the opportunities are. People don’t have to go and buy newspapers now and scan the newspapers. For this they can check from their phones wherever they live across the country,” Jagdeo said.
To facilitate the smooth implementation of the proposed site, the Government will also amend legislation to support the initiative and expand the use of online media outlets to carry contract advertisements.
On this point, the Vice President explained that while traditional newspaper ads would not be eliminated entirely, the focus would shift towards more democratic and efficient access to procurement information, reducing unnecessary costs.
“So, we are not going to cut out ads totally but we can cut down the cost or give online media outlets that get no share of this ad, although they reach more viewers often than the newspapers themselves…But that will be something that we want to do and it’s all in keeping with what the President said in his inaugural address. I want to make this system more transparent, more accessible to every Guyanese and because definitely that would be accessible. Anybody from their own home, in their own home, they don’t have to hunt down now newspapers to look for ads any longer. That will be a very efficient system. So ,look out for that. We’re already working on it,” he added.

The Vice President also spoke about the need for the procurement system to be widened to cater for more small contractors.
He noted that the Government was already working on this, and also emphasised the need for better quality work among contractors.
While the Government was looking ramp up Guyana’s public procurement system, the Administration pledged to continue tightening loopholes in the system.