Ashgabat, February 4, 2011 – On January 31-February 3, 2011 the World Bank held a four day fiduciary workshop on “Procurement, Financial Management and Disbursement procedures under the World Bank financed projects” which took place at the Conference Hall of “Grand Turkmen” Hotel in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan. The workshop was delivered by the World Bank procurement team consisting of Mr. Devesh Chandra Mishra, Regional Procurement Manager for Europe and Central Asia Region, Mr. Yuling Zhou, Senior Procurement Specialist for Central Asia Region, Mr. Nurbek Kurmanaliev, Procurement Specialist from the World Bank Office in Kazakhstan and the financial management team comprised of Mr. John Ogallo, Senior Financial Management Specialist and Mrs. Aliya Kim, Financial Management Analyst.
The workshop was attended by about 25 representatives from ministries and government agencies including the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Economy and Development, Ministry of Energy and Industry, State Committee of Statistics, Ministry of Health and Medical Industry, the State Service for Maritime and River Transport, Ministry of Trade and Foreign Economic Relations, the Institute of Strategic Planning and Economic Development and some others.
The main objective of the 4-day workshop was to familiarize the relevant Government agencies with the basics of Procurement, Financial Management and Disbursement procedures to be followed in the projects financed by the World Bank. The World Bank team has covered the topics, such as Procurement Guidelines and Consultant Guidelines, Procurement Cycle and Procurement Planning, Procurement of Goods, Preparation of Bidding Documents, Consultants’ Selection Methods, Bid Evaluation, Financial Management and Disbursement as well as other related topics and case studies.
This was a first workshop of this kind that was held in Ashgabat in recent years. The workshop was organized in light of enhancing relations between the World Bank and the Government of Turkmenistan and growing interest of Government agencies in the World Bank financed projects.
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Turkmenistan signed the Articles of Agreement of the World Bank Group on September 22, 1992. The first Country Assistance Strategy (CAS) for Turkmenistan was presented to the World Bank’s Board on May 27, 1997. In 1996, the Bank established a Liaison Office in Ashgabat to enhance communications with the government and to provide operational support. Currently, the World Bank Group continues to conduct a dialogue with the Turkmen Government by providing assistance in a number of areas of mutual interest.
