Solid public procurement systems rooted in transparency, trust, and efficiency are necessary for successfully handling public procurement during challenging times was a key conclusion of the conference "Reflecting on the Past, Building for the Future: Public Procurement During Challenging Times".
World Bank
Please replay our virtual Conference about carrying out procurement during challenging situations, such as climate change, pandemics, and conflicts. The sessions included reflecting on lessons learned in the past years, learning to overcome disruptions in construction contracts and the role that procurement policy units can play in designing and implementing efficient and effective public procurement systems.
Click on the links below to replay all the sessions:
DAY 1: RESPONDING TO GLOBAL CHALLENGES
DAY 2: INFRASTRUCTURE CONTRACTS
DAY 3: POLICY UNITS
DAY 1: RESPONDING TO GLOBAL CHALLENGES
1. In the past several years, countries in MENA have strengthened their public procurement systems through legal and regulatory reforms (e.g. Egypt's new 2018 Public Procurement Law; Jordan's 2019 new, harmonized By-Law for Public Procurement; West Bank & Gaza's 2014 law; Kurdistan Region of Iraq's new 2016 Regulations; Kuwait's 2016 law; Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's 2019 law; and Lebanon’s 2021 law) to regulate the procedures of planning and implementing public contracts, achieve effectiveness and efficiency of public expenditures, enhance the principles of governance, provide fair treatment to the business community dealing with procuring entities, and provide an enabling environment for micro, small and medium enterprises to compete in the public procurement process. Other notable achievements include the amendment of Tunisia’s public procurement decree to make mandatory the use of the electronic procurement system (TUNEPS) by all procuring entities effective since September 2018; Morocco’s decree to make electronic submission of bids mandatory; Lebanon’s reform program that came out of the results of the MAPS assessment and includes the launch of a National Procurement Strategy that lays out GoL’s objectives in public procurement for the next 5 years and the establishment of an inter-ministerial committee to lead public procurement reforms; Jordan’s development and deployment of an electronic government procurement system; and West Bank & Gaza’s preparation for an electronic procurement system, among others.
2. Such reforms are critical to building strong public procurement systems that are strategic enablers of economic growth and social impact. They are also critical steps to ensure the public procurement is resilient to global threats, from the ongoing public health crisis to the War in Ukraine to climate change and to food insecurity. 3. The sessions on Day 1 are an opportunity for panelists to share lessons learned and experiences in strengthening public procurement in the last five years, and particularly what achievements and challenges countries faced during the COVID-19 pandemic. It will also be an opportunity to look ahead to what countries are planning to do to continue strengthening their public procurement systems. In addition, the second panel of the day will be an opportunity for representatives from MDBs and UNICEF to share how they respond to critical emergencies and any future plans.
3. The sessions on Day 1 are an opportunity for panelists to share lessons learned and experiences in strengthening public procurement in the last five years, and particularly what achievements and challenges countries faced during the COVID-19 pandemic. It will also be an opportunity to look ahead to what countries are planning to do to continue strengthening their public procurement systems. In addition, the second panel of the day will be an opportunity for representatives from MDBs and UNICEF to share how they respond to critical emergencies and any future plans.
DAY 2: INFRASTRUCTURE CONTRACTS
4. The World Bank estimates that MENA will need to invest between US$75 and US$100 billion annually over the next twenty years to meet its infrastructure needs, and that MENA needs to spend at least 8.2% of its GDP in infrastructure by 2030 to accelerate economic growth.
5. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the critical role that infrastructure plays in keeping societies working, the need for quality infrastructure, and the significant vulnerabilities that exist, such as supply chain disruptions. While MENA, as most of the rest of the world, is now emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic, the region continues to face a confluence of potential disruptions, including conflict and climate change, which threaten the effective and efficient delivery of much needed infrastructure projects in the region.
6. There is a need to build resilience to disruptions and to equip practitioners with the tools need to facilitate the procurement and contract management of infrastructure even during challenging times. The format of the session will be a panel discussion to exchange views on challenges and opportunities in the implementation of infrastructure projects within the context of MENA with a focus on the exceptional circumstances arising from COVID-19 and the ongoing crisis from the war in Ukraine.
DAY 3: POLICY UNITS
7. One of the most important aspects of a modern public procurement system is the establishment of central oversight and policy mechanisms for guiding the development and implementation of government procurement systems. Such mechanisms have been established in numerous countries in MENA and beyond. That is due in large part to the increased recognition of the central role that a government procurement system has in ensuring not only an improved governance but also a more effective public sector in terms of performance and results, essential service delivery, economic development, and social welfare and accountability.
8. International best practice is that policy and oversight functions should be autonomous from Government structures that exercise operational functions of procurement. In other words, units exercising nonoperational policy and oversight functions should not simultaneously be involved in implementing procurement activities that they are supposed to regulate. But there are also several other considerations to consider – how does the policy unit command sufficient authority? Where should the policy unit sit so that it can report views and concerns to the highest levels of policy making and political accountability in the country? What are the functions of a policy unit? What are the organizational arrangements?, etc.
9. The Conference will conclude with remarks on the way forward and the changing role of public procurement from compliance to expenditure efficiency. The concluding remarks will include a look at the experiences of governments in MENA and elsewhere to use public procurement to pursue economic and social objectives; and what the next 10 years look like for client governments.