Asia Pacific Procurement Forum

1st CONSULTATIVE MEETING

Asian Development Bank, Manila, Philippines
August 24 to 25, 2009

Summary of Breakout Discussions

Discussion Challenges/Issues Responses/Possible Solutions Forum Intervention/Actions

Topics
1.Assessing 1. Limited guideline (standardized) to 1. Everyone is familiar with the 1. it was suggested the forum could
Procurement do CPI; assessment gets difficult when Baseline Indicators (BLI) system and assist with providing assistance
Systems and officers do not have a background of likes it. It is an accepted "gold (guidelines, training, etc) for countries
Evaluating dealing with this technical topic. -standard" for assessing procurement using the CPI
Performance systems. Most interest was shown in
the Compliance Performance
Indicators (CPI)

2. Responsibility for assessment; lack 2. There is a desire for countries and 2. perhaps the forum could assist in
of integration of public procurement donors to work together on assessing facilitating joint work
planning with PFM System procurement systems
(procurement plan); Donor/Country
acceptance of assessment tool and
results of it; lack of procurement plan
mechanism

3. difficulty in data collection 3. The issue of data collection was 3. It was suggested that the forum,
noted as critically important to with donor support, might act as an
assessment, yet difficult to do properly, "honest broker" for data collection.
especially as some data is
commercially sensitive.

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 Discussion Challenges/Issues Responses/Possible Solutions Forum Intervention/Actions
Topics
2. Developing 1. lack of political support 1. MDB loans/grants linked to reform 1. a sharing of experiences (eg.
Procurement strategy; use CSOs/NGOs success stories) was suggested
Reform through the Forum
Strategies
2. corruption 2. Eliminate/lessen discretionary 2. Learn from other countries; access
actions to address corruption. to online tools; all possible through a
common website.

3. ownership 3. find champions or agents for change 3. organize seminars on procurement

auditing

4. procurement legislation 4. technical assistance / funding 4. legislative strategy (legislation part

support of PFM?)

5. harmonization 5. develop expertise 5. international institute for generally

accepted principles

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 Discussion Challenges/Issues Responses/Possible Solutions Forum Intervention/Actions
Topics
3. Strengthening 1.Framing public procurement policy 1. On the matter of "best practice" 1. The forum could assist with studies
Procurement authority there was general agreement that and shared experiences so that
Management there is no "one size fits all" definition countries can learn from each other
2.Implementation/ enforcement and it should be accepted that there what works and what does not in
procurement policy will have to be different practices to different circumstances.
meet country-specific circumstances.
3. Defining role of NGO/ public private The objective should be to work 2. The forum could assist with
sector towards a framework of commonly roadmaps and benchmarking
accepted principles within which examples (this links back to the
4. Capacity building countries may adopt varying BLI/CPI topics of group 1.
approaches.
5. E-procurement 3. The forum could assist with
2. Sharing of experiences was again guidance on the role of NGOs and
emphasised as an important role for other civil society participants.
the forum.

3. On the role of civil society, there was

extensive discussion on the line
between government responsibility and
the extent to which civil society might
become involved in public
procurement, although there is
consensus that civil society has a
positive role to play.

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 Discussion Challenges/Issues Responses/Possible Solutions Forum Intervention/Actions
Topics
4. Improving 1. developing e-Procurement – IT side, 1. review current system / explore 1. sharing good practices and lessons
Procurement e-standards, integration of e- changes and develop MIS/business learned
Execution Procurement and traditional methods process re-engineering; step-by-step
approach; suppliers training 2. networking; procurement
2. increasing access to information; commonalities of practice (COPs)
transparency in procurement process 2. develop rules and procedures to
adopt MIS for public procurement 3. lending and non-lending assistance
3. improving procurement MIS to support e-Procurement
3. develop expertise, new rules,
4. retaining the right people procedures, templates 4. identify and share
knowledge/templates/procedures and
5. handling specialized areas eg. processes; disseminate information on
PPPs, new procurement methods successful PPP projects

6. development partners should be

more serious about country systems
use

5. Performance 1. Are monitoring Agencies truly 1. Everyone knows and accepts the 1. The forum could assist with
Monitoring & independent, properly empowered and concept of the "independent supporting the establishment an
Oversight adequately resourced? procurement agency", an agency operations of such agencies through
responsible for policy and oversight, sharing of experiences in (i) legislation
but which does not conduct to establish such agencies, (ii) staffing,
procurement itself. particularly independent senior staff,
and (iii) funding.

2. Sustaining civil society participation 2. The role of civil society in 2. As also noted in group 3, the forum
in procurement processes (supply vs performance monitoring and oversight could provide guidance, or sharing of
demand) is another area the forum could assist experiences on the exact role of NGOs
with. and others, and address issues such
as funding, legal arrangements, etc.

3. Effectiveness of procurement audit 3. Procurement audit was identified as 3. Assistance to "professionalize" the
an area that the forum could tackle. procurement audit function, and to
build capacity were two noted areas of
support.

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 Discussion Challenges/Issues Responses/Possible Solutions Forum Intervention/Actions
Topics
6. Building 1. funding and sustainability of 1. university courses (eg. SCM) 1. share experiences and good
Procurement capacity building efforts practices advocacy by Forum to
Capacity allocate resources for capacity building

2. finding right approach to training 2. undertake needs assessment and 2. set up core working group; develop
and incentives to participate (eg. tailor-make approach depending on performance indicators for
Quality, curriculum, certification, and needs; performance-based monitoring procurement training evaluation
for assessment) (outcome-based)

3. lack of career path and incentives 3. civil service reform

for procurement professionals

7. Forum 1. The forum should have a simple and a) A Secretariat housed in ADB provides technical and administrative support to
Management effective structure and ensure the the Forum; coordinates the meetings and communication of member countries,
and ownership of member countries working groups and other stakeholders including the involvement of resource
Deliverables persons, academics and professionals in the various meetings.

b) An Advisory Group of donors/IFIs/CSOs/NGOs coordinates and mobilizes the

professional and financial support to the Forum utilizing the existing or available
regional/sectoral arrangements/resources of procurement assistance.

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Discussion Challenges/Issues Responses/Possible Solutions Forum Intervention/Actions
Topics
2. The forum should have realistic a) The Forum defines a Forum Agenda, a common platform for public
objectives and deliverables with procurement policy makers and professionals, sets out the goals and standards
efficient reporting mechanism to review for sustainable public procurement systems, and agrees on a set of Forum
the progress activities and an implementation mechanism to achieve such standards.

b) The Forum will run a dynamic interactive website for providing newsletters
and advisory notes/policy recommendations, for networking and sharing
knowledge and experiences in country procurement reforms and
collecting/disseminating information on Forum management and implementation
issues.

c) The policy dialogue, experience sharing and research/pilot activities to be

explored by the thematic area of interest corresponding to the 6 procurement
topics/core challenges will be organized based on the member countries need
and partnership on country-specific relevance to such topics.

d) Regional and sub-regional conferences to be organized will capture such

technical discussions while also agreeing on the achievements and new
activities of the Forum Agenda

e) A reporting mechanism established through simple on-line surveys or

questionnaires will start with a self-assessment on the procurement reform and
the achievements/lessons learned over a given year.

3. The forum should be sustainable, a) Forum funding will come from the ADB RETA and from other
flexible and responsive donor/development partners (by exploring linkages with existing regional
groupings committed to the development reforms in Asia.

b) Forum will utilize the existing efforts in the area of public procurement and
create a joint work with more partnership toward a practical impact on member
countries procurement systems.

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