Lack of harmonisation among donors delays public procurement
FE Report | Tuesday, 24 June 2008
Finance and Planning Adviser Dr Mirza Azizul Islam said Monday lack of harmonisation among the development partners is a major reason for delay in public procurement and implementation of co-financed projects in Bangladesh.
"We do have some particular problems in procurement for the projects co-financed by the donors as the procurement rules for them are different. So, harmonisation of the procurement rules of the donors should be ensured," he said at the inaugural session of a regional workshop in the city.
The finance adviser said: "A greater harmonisation among the countries in the region on procurement should also be done. Most of the time the bidders of one country can not participate in the bidding process of another for differences in the procurement rules, which lead to delay in project implementation."
The government of Bangladesh the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the UK's Department for International Development (DFiD) and the Australian donor agency, AusAid, jointly organised the programme titled "The Asia Regional Workshop on Implementing Procurement Reforms and Improving Performance."
Presided over by the secretary of the Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division (IMED) of the planning ministry, Sk AK Motahar Hossain, country directors of the World Bank and of the ADB, Xian Zhu and Hua Du respectively, also spoke on the occasion.
Representatives from different Asian countries are taking part in the three-day regional workshops aiming to hammer out an effective public procurement system for this region.
Mirza Aziz said: "The country assistance programmes of the donors should also be harmonised to make an efficient public procurement system and help implement the development projects in time in the respective countries."
"We have enacted a Public Procurement Act (PPA) in 2006 and framed rules in 2008 to establish accountability and transparency in government procurement. Our government agencies follow the law and rules. But harmonisation in the intra-regional countries can strengthen the efficiency of the procurement system," he said.
The WB country director Xian Zhu said: "In Bangladesh, there remain several cross-cutting institutional and governance constraints. Clearly, much more needs to be done to make it sustainable with contributions from public officials and bidding community."
"Experiences of other countries show that involvement of civil society and non-government organisations (NGOs) in procurement monitoring has been important in ensuring that procurement process is accountable and outcomes are defensible."
"Such participatory monitoring would help deter leakages of funds with strengthened voice of the civil society," he said urging the governments of the Asian region to introduce electronic government procurement (e-GP).
The ADB chief in Dhaka, Hua Du, said: "Efforts to make procurement process more effective and efficient sometimes resulted in delays in procurement, badly affecting development works
"We do have some particular problems in procurement for the projects co-financed by the donors as the procurement rules for them are different. So, harmonisation of the procurement rules of the donors should be ensured," he said at the inaugural session of a regional workshop in the city.
The finance adviser said: "A greater harmonisation among the countries in the region on procurement should also be done. Most of the time the bidders of one country can not participate in the bidding process of another for differences in the procurement rules, which lead to delay in project implementation."
The government of Bangladesh the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the UK's Department for International Development (DFiD) and the Australian donor agency, AusAid, jointly organised the programme titled "The Asia Regional Workshop on Implementing Procurement Reforms and Improving Performance."
Presided over by the secretary of the Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division (IMED) of the planning ministry, Sk AK Motahar Hossain, country directors of the World Bank and of the ADB, Xian Zhu and Hua Du respectively, also spoke on the occasion.
Representatives from different Asian countries are taking part in the three-day regional workshops aiming to hammer out an effective public procurement system for this region.
Mirza Aziz said: "The country assistance programmes of the donors should also be harmonised to make an efficient public procurement system and help implement the development projects in time in the respective countries."
"We have enacted a Public Procurement Act (PPA) in 2006 and framed rules in 2008 to establish accountability and transparency in government procurement. Our government agencies follow the law and rules. But harmonisation in the intra-regional countries can strengthen the efficiency of the procurement system," he said.
The WB country director Xian Zhu said: "In Bangladesh, there remain several cross-cutting institutional and governance constraints. Clearly, much more needs to be done to make it sustainable with contributions from public officials and bidding community."
"Experiences of other countries show that involvement of civil society and non-government organisations (NGOs) in procurement monitoring has been important in ensuring that procurement process is accountable and outcomes are defensible."
"Such participatory monitoring would help deter leakages of funds with strengthened voice of the civil society," he said urging the governments of the Asian region to introduce electronic government procurement (e-GP).
The ADB chief in Dhaka, Hua Du, said: "Efforts to make procurement process more effective and efficient sometimes resulted in delays in procurement, badly affecting development works