ANKARA, May 27, 2014—The Public Procurement Authority of the Republic of Turkey and the World Bank are hosting a four-day International Knowledge Exchange Forum on Measuring Performance of Public Procurement in Istanbul, May 27-30.
The Forum is bringing together more than 100 procurement experts from 22 countries of Europe and Central Asia, and allows the participants to learn about the recent developments in the area of public procurement in different countries. Turkish Minister of Finance Mehmet Şimşek and President of Public Procurement Authority Mahmut Gürses are attending the Forum.
Organized by the Asian Development Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Islamic Development Bank, and the World Bank, in cooperation with SIGMA and the European Investment Bank (EIB), and hosted by the Government of Turkey this year, the Public Procurement Knowledge Exchange Platform is celebrating its 10th Anniversary.
“The introduction of the Public Procurement Forum in 2005 was an important moment, in terms of support being provided by the World Bank,”noted Samia Msadek, Director for Operational Services and Quality in the ECA region of the World Bank, “this forum is fundamental in helping to ensure the sustainability of the work we are doing in coordination with our public procurement partners throughout the region.”
Participants will exchange experiences and hear about advances in performance assessments of public procurement along three main dimensions: (i) national, system-level assessments of the legal framework for public procurement and the strength of institutions and processes that govern its implementation; (ii) assessments of the capacity of procuring entities, such as line ministries, local governments, or state owned enterprises to manage risks, and deploy complex procurement methods to ensure quality and efficiency; and (iii) contract level assessments that determine whether the results of a tender and subsequent contract implementation has delivered value for money.
In his opening remarks, Martin Raiser, World Bank Country Director for Turkey, said, “Strong public procurement systems are central to well-functioning public financial management institutions and good public sector governance. Transparent tender documents and processes, an independent procurement agency that sets standards and monitors their enforcement, and an independent appeals body to hear complaints of participating bidders, as well as investment in capacity building and new technologies are all key to ensure the smooth functioning of a rules-based procurement system.”
In twenty three different panel discussions and presentations various aspects of public procurement ranging from Measuring Performance to Developing Performance Indicators; from Measurement of Success to Benchmarking; experts will exchange experiences on public procurement policies implemented in Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Georgia, Kosovo, Kyrgyz Republic, Kazakhstan, FYI Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Romania, Russia, Slovenia, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. Speakers from Netherlands, Italy, EU, OECD, SIGMA, EIB, WTO and the Cosponsors will also give presentations.
The Platform will close with a final panel discussion on “How The Public Procurement Knowledge Exchange Platform can be Developed to a Higher Bar?” and a presentation of an action plan for the next year for all participating countries.
