Public Procurement Distance Learning e-Course Launched in Kyrgyz Republic

BISHKEK, May 23, 2016 – A new online public procurement e-course, launched today at a roundtable organized jointly by the Training Center of the Ministry of Finance and the World Bank, is dedicated to building the Kyrgyz Republic’s capacity in public procurement through new and innovative learning methods.

The “Online electronic public procurement course”, developed by the Training Center of the Ministry of Finance, with technical and financial support from the World Bank, comprises several learning blocks, including an “Online electronic introductory course” for procurement specialists of public organizations and an “Electronic government procurement usage course” for procurement specialists. Both of these courses are also provided separately for vendors and service providers/contractors.

The objective of the e-Course is to provide procurement specialists and vendors with comprehensive knowledge ranging from legal requirements to best practices in public procurement. The course also covers procurement planning and bidding procedures required under the national public procurement process, and contains video lessons on how to use the Electronic Government Public Procurement Portal.

“Over the past few years, the Kyrgyz Republic has made a bold step towards an electronic government procurement system, and we commend the Ministry of Finance for taking the lead in this process. Today, the Kyrgyz Republic is one of the vanguard countries in the region in terms of adopting new laws that open up public investment and make this country more attractive for private investment,” said Jean-Michel Happi, World Bank Country Manager for the Kyrgyz Republic.“This is the right direction to follow. However, the road to sustainable public procurement is challenging, because to achieve lasting results, robust capacity strengthening is necessary. We hope that this innovative capacity building product, which we are pleased to launch today, will help in preparing the next generation of public specialists with expertise valuable not only for this country but for the development community across the world,” Happi added, as he presented a set of CDs with the learning course to Zuura Bayamanova, State Secretary of the Ministry of Finance.

The online version of the course is available on the Training Center’s website. Since Internet connectivity is still unavailable in remote towns and villages, the training course will also be distributed on CDs to local offices of the Ministry of Finance and to local municipalities so that staff of local public and municipal organizations could have “anytime/anywhere” access to the course. Once the course is passed, procurement specialists can then pass a test to obtain the mandatory certification for conducting public procurement in their organizations.

During the roundtable, participants representing government, public procurement practitioners, Chamber of Accounts, business community, media and civil society discussed the results of the Public Procurement Capacity Building ​​ to Achieve Development Effectiveness project financed from the World Bank-administered ECA Public Finance Management Trust Fund, as well as professionalization of public procurement in the Kyrgyz Republic in general.

In addition, the participants exchanged views on the progress of public procurement reform in the country, the results of the operation of the independent procurement complaints review committee, the role of the electronic public procurement portal as a tool for civil society monitoring of public finance management, and the importance of distance learning in strengthening the country’s institutional capacity.

The World Bank’s support to strengthening the Kyrgyz Republic’s public procurement system includes assistance in developing a new version of the Public Procurement Law, which was adopted in May 2015. The Law mandates that all public tenders be held electronically through the electronic public procurement portal in order to eradicate corruption, create favorable conditions through savings of time and financial resources for bidders (vendors/ providers) and procuring entities, and ensure effective and efficient use of public resources. According to the Kyrgyz Ministry of Finance’s Public Procurement Department, the introduction of mandatory e-procurement resulted in savings amounting to 12 percent of the total funding (KGS 5.5 billion) allocated for public procurement in 2015.

In 2013-14, the World Bank also provided support to the Training Center at the Ministry of Finance in training 2,500 procurement specialists of public medical institutions, road maintenance enterprises, urban and rural administrations, municipal education departments, and other organizations financed from national and local budgets about applying new public procurement rules and methods.