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Wednesday Dec 25, 2024
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Sri Lanka on Monday welcomed the heads of public procurement agencies or authorities of eight South Asian countries to the Fourth South Asia Region Public Procurement Conference. The conference was inaugurated by President Maithripala Sirisena.
The theme of the conference, ‘e-GP in South Asia – Achievements, Opportunities and Challenges,’ throws the spotlight on how e-Government Procurement can support countries in boosting the efficiency, transparency and competitiveness of their public procurement systems.
While South Asian countries find themselves at different stages in the introduction and operationalising of e-GP systems, it is seen as a tool that not only enables strategic public procurement, but can provide a wealth of data that feeds back into the steady improvement and increasing effectiveness of E-GP services.
The Colombo conference is the fourth in a series of South Asia Region Public Procurement Conferences. The first instalment was in Kathmandu, Nepal in April 2011, the second in Islamabad, Pakistan in March 2014, and the most recent in Dhaka, Bangladesh in November 2015.
The Conference is an important feature of the evolving South Asia Region Public Procurement Network (SARPPN). During this Conference, the winners of the first-ever South Asia Procurement Innovation Awards 2016-17 will also be felicitated for their winning papers.
The Fourth South Asia Region Public Procurement Conference is being hosted by the Department of Public Finance, Ministry of Finance, Government of Sri Lanka, and the conference is co‐sponsored by the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, and Islamic Development Bank. After the inauguration in Colombo, the conference now moves to Kandy till 23 February, where there will be more in-depth technical sessions. The final output of the Conference will take the form of an action plan to track progress in this specific area.
Addressing the gathering, Idah Pswarayi-Riddihough, World Bank Country Director for Sri Lanka, said: “At the World Bank, we are committed to procurement reforms with a view to improving market efficiency and better service delivery.”
She added: “It is well understood, and illustratable with examples from many parts of the world, that weak procurement systems steer investments away from development and hence minimize the impact on poverty reduction and shared prosperity.”
Following is her full speech:
Your Excellency, President Maithripala Sirisena, Honourable Minister of Finance, Ravi Karunanayake, our partners in development, delegates to the conference, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, first and foremost, I would like to thank His Excellency the President of Sri Lanka and the Honourable Minister of Finance for gracing this occasion. This is a clear signal of the Government’s commitment to good governance.
Sri Lanka in recent times has taken many positive steps towards ensuring principles of good governance. Of particular relevance to this conference is the decision, under the 19th Constitutional Amendment, to establish the National Procurement Commission (NPC) which is one of 10 Independent Commissions. Earlier this month, Sri Lanka implemented the much-awaited Right to Information Act with a commitment to ensure transparency and accountability to its citizens. The President of Sri Lanka was a key speaker at its launch just this last week.
In the speech, the President talks of the importance of information, as well as the power that comes with it and cautions that it must be used with responsibility to build trust in public officials, politicians and the civil society. Information has the potential to be used as a relationship building tool for effective development outcomes.
Transparency is a big dividend in procurement. There is no doubt that strong institutions committed to principles of integrity, efficiency and professionalism are essential for economic growth and development.
The presence at this conference of high-level officials from the Government of Sri Lanka and the commendable initiatives they have taken to establish e-Government further underscore their commitment to this important initiative.
e-Government Procurement makes public procurement more strategic and serves as an effective innovation to institute procurement reforms with greater performance in terms of efficiency, transparency, competition, fairness and value for money. It also provides a wealth of information to decision makers, the private sector and citizens alike, on the performance of public procurement.
At the World Bank, we are committed to procurement reforms with a view to improving market efficiency and better service delivery. It is well understood, and illustratable with examples from many parts of the world, that weak procurement systems steer investments away from development and hence minimise the impact on poverty reduction and shared prosperity.
Moreover, in a fast changing world, modern and efficient procurement systems are key contributors to efficient delivery of services to citizens, our ultimate stakeholders. The World Bank itself has made far-reaching changes in its procurement regime and our New Procurement Framework is geared to provide more flexibility, choices and strategic approaches to the procurement of goods, works and services for our clients.
Today, we inaugurate this conference, which is the fourth in the series, aimed at building a community of practice committed to procurement reforms in the South Asia Region. The event is sponsored and facilitated by the World Bank, Asian Development Bank and the Islamic Development Bank.
The heads of public procurement entities of South Asian countries have been interacting with each other bilaterally and multilaterally for knowledge and experience sharing. By bringing together these policy and decision makers, as well as other key stakeholders from various countries through a conference such as this, knowledge and experiences can be exchanged more broadly while allowing for networking in real time.
The bank is very happy and honoured to be supporting this event. On behalf of the World Bank, I wish the participants an insightful knowledge exchange with counterparts. Everyone knows that learning is enhanced when we learn with and from our peers; and so I encourage you to meet and talk with as many people as you can during this event. For those who have travelled to Sri Lanka, please do take time to enjoy this amazingly beautiful country.
The proposed Electronic Government Procurement system will assist the Government to clean up public procumbent to make it more efficient and transparent, Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake said yesterday.
“Electronic Government Procurement makes public procurement more strategic and serves as an effective innovation to institute procurement reforms. It will also boost performance in terms of efficiency, transparency, competition and fairness. It will bring value for money as well,” the Minister said.
The Minister was addressing the inaugural session of a four-day conference titled ‘Electronic Government Procurement (e-GP) in South Asia: Achievements, Opportunities and Challenges,’ held under the patronage of President Maithripala Sirisena.
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and several top level local and foreign speakers are scheduled to address the conference.
This annual learning, knowledge and experience sharing event is organised under the auspices of the South Asia Region Public Procurement Network which comprises senior public procurement officials from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
Speaking further, Minister Karunanayake said that this conference was being hosted at the right time as the World Bank had indicated its support to introduce an electronic-Government Procurement system (e-GP) in the public sector. He also said the WB, USAID, ADB, EU, JICA and several other development partners had agreed to help Sri Lanka in number of public sector finance management reforms.
He said that the discussion to be held in this conference and the subsequent recommendations would help tremendously for all participants’ countries in implementing better public procurement system thereby facing existing challenges and improving efficiency and transparency in the system.
Finance Ministry Secretary Dr. R.H.S. Samaratunga, Public Finance Department Director General P. Algama, WB Country Director for Sri Lanka and the Maldives Idah Pswarayi-Riddihough, ADB Country Director Sri Widowati and several others participated.
