Improving Procurement Performance: South Asian states agree on four-point Regional Action Plan 2014

South Asian countries on Thursday joined hands on a four-point Regional Action Plan 2014 for improving Procurement Performance, besides strengthening regional co-operation. The 2nd South Asia Regional Public Procurement Conference "Moving from Compliance to Performance" jointly organised by Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA), World Bank and Asian Development Bank (ADB) concluded here on Thursday.
Representatives of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka participated in the moot. India for unknown reasons did not attend the conference. At the end of the conference, a four-point Action Plan 2014 was issued covering regional network, capacity building, electronic government procurement and framework agreements. The conference agreed to identify a country focal point for follow-up on actions. Bangladesh has been offered to host the next conference, which was accepted.
The participants agreed on establishment of the South Asian Public Procurement Network (SAPPN) as a link to Saarc. All regional countries participating in the conference 2014 were supportive of the proposal. They further agreed on co-operation among the Saarc countries on the implementation and promotion of Massive Open Online Course (MOOC)-mechanism of co-operation will be decided by June 2014. They further agreed on linking of public procurement website of all SAARC countries to facilitate information and experience sharing. The participants also stressed on introduction of E-governance to ensure transparency, besides reducing corruption in public procurement.
Addressing on the occasion Nazrat Bashir Managing Director Pakistan Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) said that the conference would further strengthen regional co-operation. Procurement regime exists in every country, however there is commitment to take it to next phase ie from compliance to performance, she maintained.
During the conference Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on procurement was inaugurated, which would be available as a basic module for developing procurement competency. The conference noted that some of the developed countries did not have procurement laws, but their focus is on good practices, and performance with due consideration to the basic principles of transparency, equal opportunity and efficiency. Capacity and training of the procurement practitioners was also a major aspect contributing to performance. They were unanimous of the need of optimising the available resources and the crucial link that good procurement practices have in achieving results.