E-bidding benchmarks face chop
The Finance Ministry is considering lowering the reference prices for electronic bidding to better reflect market value after the previous auction saw winning bids averaging 17-18% below the benchmarks.
The lower winning prices could be largely attributed to softer oil prices, said Finance Minister Apisak Tantivorawong.
Even so, none of the bid winners left jobs unfinished, suggesting they still made a profit, he said.
Since the adoption of e-bidding three years ago, the government has saved 30 billion baht a year.
E-bidding was adopted to replace e-auctions, which were used for a decade, as a way to avoid corruption and price collusion and improve procurement transparency.
The government said e-bidding could close e-auction loopholes, as bidders must key in bids on the Comptroller-General’s Department’s computer system at a location specified by the state agent and bidders cannot meet one another, preventing collusion.
Mr Apisak said e-bidding can prevent collusion among bidders because they are unaware of who else will take part in the auction, unlike e-auctions in which participants knew who would join the bidding.
The Public Procurement Act 2017, which came into effect in August, is aimed at stamping out corruption. The law is compliance with international standards such as the UN Commission on International Trade Law and the World Trade Organization’s Government Procurement Agreement.
As part of anti-graft efforts, the government has adopted an integrity pact, whereby procurement for infrastructure projects is monitored by observers.
According to the integrity pact, both state agencies and bidders are required to declare that they will abstain from collusion, bribery and other forms of corruption in the project. Signatories also consent to letting a third party monitor the entire process, including bidding and transactions, to ensure transparency.
To also ensure that observers are free from political influence, they must be selected by the Anti-Corruption Organization of Thailand and the Joint Standing Committee on Commerce, Industry and Banking.