Launch hosted by World Bank Group, U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Global Business Coalition
Washington, D.C., December 05, 2016 – The World Bank Group and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce have hosted the second Annual Global Benchmarking Public Procurement Conference with the support of the Global Business Coalition (GBC) and launched the World Bank Group’s Benchmarking Public Procurement 2017 Report on the occasion.
The Report presents new findings on public procurement laws and regulations across 180 economies and addresses legal and regulatory environments that impact the ability of private sector companies to do business with governments around the world. Two thematic pillars structure the 2017 publication: i) The procurement process, from the needs assessment to the implementation of the procurement contract; ii) the public procurement complaint mechanism.
Public procurement is the largest single marketplace in developing and developed economies, accounting for around one-fifth of global GDP. A transparent, fair, and competitive public procurement system can generate business opportunities, stimulate innovation, and drive economic growth. The World Bank initiative thus aims at fostering transparency in governance, reforms and improvement of public spending globally.
The Global Business Coalition (GBC), formerly B20 Coalition, brings together leading independent business associations from the major world economies and advocates on behalf of more than 6.8 million small, medium and large companies. The Coalition is committed to cooperating with the World Bank in this process, notably by supporting the collection of relevant data with the aim to promote evidence-based decision making by governments.
The panellists at the conference included, John Hopkins, Chairman of the Board, CEO of NuScale Power, LLC; Christopher Browne, Chief Procurement Officer, World Bank Group; Raffaele Cantone, Head of Italy’s Anti-Corruption Authority; and Issa Ide, Chief Procurement Officer, Islamic Development Bank. The panels reviewed procurement in the Americas, Europe, Africa, Asia, Pacific & the Middle East, and the conference concluded with a discussion on the impacts of technology and globalization on procurement practices.
MORE PRESS RELEASES RELATED TO THE REPORT LAUNCH
U.S. Chamber, World Bank, and Global Business Coalition Release 2017 Benchmarking Public Procurement Report
Washington, D.C., December 5, 2016 — The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the World Bank Group, and the Global Business Coalition held the second annual Global Benchmarking Public Procurement Conference, releasing the World Bank’s 2017 Benchmarking Public Procurement Report. The conference featured U.S. Chamber Chairman John Hopkins, the World Bank’s Augusto Lopez-Claros, and public procurement specialists from foreign governments and the private sector.
The report breaks new ground as the first comprehensive independent survey of 180 markets with detailed country-by-country scoring of every step of public procurement. It is the first to score countries by the impact their legal and regulatory environments have on the ability of private sector companies to participate in procurement activities.
“Public procurement is one of the most significant areas of economic activity around the world. But until now, there has not been a fact-based understanding of how private sector companies can deliver goods and services to the public sector,” said Gary Litman, vice president for Global Initiatives at the U.S. Chamber. “If done fairly, competently and with integrity, public procurement can drive innovation, provide competitive service for citizens, and ultimately spur economic growth. The report is an important step to understanding how to maximize this potential.”
Global public procurement accounts for 25 percent of all government spending and accounts for approximately one-fifth of global GDP. The report tracks this spending across all of the markets, from the moment of needs assessment to the disbursement. It indicates which countries have room for improvement and where the risks of working with governments are low.
The report was released at the second annual Global Benchmarking Public Procurement Conference hosted at the U.S. Chamber. Representatives from the World Bank procurement leadership team and other prominent procurement officials discussed global public procurement in the Americas, Europe, Africa, Asia, Pacific and the Middle East, as well as the impacts of technology and globalization on procurement practices.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is the world’s largest business federation representing the interests of more than 3 million businesses of all sizes, sectors, and regions, as well as state and local chambers and industry associations. Its International Affairs division includes more than 70 regional and policy experts and 25 country- and region-specific business councils and initiatives. The U.S. Chamber also works closely with 117 American Chambers of Commerce abroad.
Source: USCC
World Bank: Despite progress, transparent and efficient government procurement rules remain a global challenge: WBG report
Washington, D.C., December 5, 2016 – Public procurement rules and practices remain inefficient in large swathes of the world, despite government efforts towards efficiency in delivering better services to their citizens, says the latest edition of the World Bank Group’s Benchmarking Public Procurement (BPP) report.
Accessibility and transparency of public procurement rules and practices remain limited, depriving many small and medium firms of the opportunity to bid for service contracts for government and other public sector institutions, finds Benchmarking Public Procurement (BPP) 2017, which assesses public procurement regulatory systems in 180 economies.
The worldwide public procurement market is estimated at approximately US$9.5 trillion each year. Of this, developing countries spend an estimated $820 billion a year worth of citizens funds, about 50 percent or more of their total government expenditure, on procuring goods and services that range from food for welfare programs, to wiring for electrical grids that power homes and businesses. Government procurement can average as much as 16 percent of GDP in the European Union to 33 percent in Eritrea.
Public procurement markets, therefore, represent huge opportunities to boost competition and economic growth.
An e-procurement system, for example, benefits the private sector as well as governments by making procurement more transparent and fair. However, the report finds that in 15 percent, or 25, of the economies measured by the report, an electronic portal dedicated to procurement does not even exist. Moreover, in the economies that do have such portal, a wide gap exists between economies that have sophisticated e-procurement platforms offering a range of services and ones that only use the internet to publish basic information such as procurement laws.
Publicizing future procurement opportunities, electronic submission of bids and public announcements of tender awards are other best practices that could be more widely adopted, says the report.
Providing information such as procurement plans during the pre-tendering phase online, can help suppliers when planning their sales strategies and preparing their bids.
Only 74 economies publish procurement plans online. More surprisingly, in only 24 of those does the law expressly mandate that such information be made available electronically.
“As large buyers, governments and the public sector are an important source of business for the private sector, which, in turn, is an important source of jobs for citizens. A fair and open government procurement process can be a vital stimulant for a well-functioning economy in which all stakeholders – governments, private enterprise and citizens – thrive,” said Augusto Lopez-Claros, Director of the World Bank’s Global Indicators Group, which produces the report.
Private sector firms wishing to participate in government contracting also face significant challenges on the financial aspects of the procurement process. Bid security is an essential element of the procurement process as they ensure serious offers. They are required in most economies measured. While there is no clear good practice as to the amount that should be requested, there is agreement that it should not be set so high as to hinder participation or so low as to allow frivolous offers. In 31 economies, the amount of bid security requested from bidding firms is left completely to the discretion of the procuring entity, finds the report.
Payment delays by procuring entities are also common and constitute a major deterrent for small and medium enterprises to take part in the government procurement market. The report finds that payments are timely in only one-third of the economies measured, and delays can range from 30 to more than 180 days.
An efficient procurement system should also include a well-functioning component to address complaints or challenges from bidders on any aspect of the procurement process, including final contract awards. The report finds that bungled complaint mechanisms remain prevalent across economies of all income groups and appeal costs are often prohibitive for bidders.
“As the data shows, governments around the world can do more to improve access to public procurement opportunities,” said Federica Saliola, lead author of the report. “By highlighting good practices as well as areas for improvement, we hope the evidence in this report will galvanize policymakers to effect the needed reforms and, thus, help their economies benefit from private sector growth and get better value for money in the procurement of goods and services.
Source: World Bank