Sri Lanka augments public procurement process

The Sri Lankan government will be enhancing the effectiveness, efficiency and transparency in the public procurement system making it more accountable, streamlined and cost effective.

In this undertaking, the National Procurement Commission (NPC) established under the 19th Amendment to the Constitution has devised an Action Plan which will contribute to the efforts of the government's financial management reforms.

The launch of the ‘Action Plan’ and the website of the NPC will take place at a ceremony to held at the BMICH in Colombo (tomorrow) February 27 under the patronage of Speaker of Parliament Karu Jayasuriya.

This plan contains five main activities and 25 sub-activities and they are categorized as immediate, medium and long term actions and for each sub activity deadline for the implementation is given.

These five activities are functionality of NPC, review and formulation of procurement guidelines and complete the procurement legislative framework, fulfillment of competencies of NPC, capacity building in public procurement, and development of website and e-government procurement system.

This action plan sets out a consistent template for public bodies to follow and seeks to ensure that purchasing decisions will be informed by proper consideration of all the social, economic and environmental impacts - and benefits - relevant to the goods or services.

Public procurement is a deci- sive arm of the government‘s financial management strategy since over 25 per cent of the national budget is spent through the public procurement system.

“This plan has been developed by the NPC with the assistance of Short term Assistance to Improve Public Financial Management Reform (STAIR) project under the USAID Sri Lanka Reform Agenda (SLRA),” Eng. Nihal Wickramasuriya, Chairman of the Commission, told the Business Times.

The e-government procurement will also be shortly on the directions of NPC.

E- Government procurement involves the use of electronic systems to handle any or all steps of the procurement process, from online publication of tender notices, supplier registration and e-submission of bids.

The ADB, World Bank and other development partners have expressed willingness to provide technical assistance to implement action plan for the public sector in Sri Lanka, Mr. Wickremasuriya said.

The NPC is devising proper procedures and guidelines for the procure- ment of goods and service, works, consultancy services and information systems of government institutions.

A national procurement strategy will also be introduced in line with the macro economic objectives, targets and priorities of the country

“These guidelines are being prepared in accordance with international best practices and with the assistance of international donor agencies to fulfill the needs of the country,” he said pointing out that it will be introduced by mid this year.

The launch of the ‘Action Plan’ and the website of the NPC will take place at a ceremony to held at the BMICH in Colombo (tomorrow) February 27 under the patronage of Speaker of Parliament Karu Jayasuriya.