International Practice in Public Procurement - Prospects for Application in Uzbekistan

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- The ‘International Practice in Public Procurement – Prospects for Application in Uzbekistan’ seminar was held at the ‘Poytaht’ Business Centre in Tashkent, Uzbekistan on 1 November 2013. Organised by the Treasury at the Ministry of Finance of Uzbekistan, and by the joint ministry and UNDP project ‘Budget System Reform in Uzbekistan’, the seminar reviews current approaches to public procurement in Uzbekistan, and how they can be enhanced through best international practices.

Public procurement is the acquisition of goods and services for public use, through a nation’s state budget. Success in public procurement means ensuring that the public sector can provide necessary goods and services at a high quality, in the right quantities, and at the right prices.

Today’s event focused on a number of key topics related to effective public procurement, including a review of the current state of public procurement and objectives for improvement in Uzbekistan, an overview of international practice in reforming systems of public procurement, the procurement practices used by the United Nations Development Programme, and the best public procurement practices recommended by the World Bank.

The seminar was attended by experts from Uzbekistan’s public procurement sector. These included representatives from the Ministry of Economy, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Foreign Economic Relations, Investments and Trade, the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of Education, the State Committee on Privatisation, De-Monopolisation and Competition, UZEX, and other relevant ministries and agencies.

Akmal Madaminov, expert of the development fund of children’s sport of Uzbekistan, highlighted the importance of seminar. “The seminar on public procurement is of great interest to us, as today virtually all sectors of the economy are linked to public procurement,” he said. “I would be interested to learn more about international experience in this field, particular that of the United Nations Development Programme, and to compare this with our own procurement procedures in the public sector. At the seminar it was interesting to exchange views with colleagues from different ministries and offices.”

The presentations conducted at the seminar not only describe international experience in public procurement, but also detailed individual procurement procedures, their positive and negative factors, and the potential benefits of their use in Uzbekistan. The workshop participants also obtained the theoretical knowledge and practical skills needed to carry out public procurement procedures.

Public procurement currently represents 11 per cent of Uzbekistan’s GDP, or one third of the nation’s consolidated budget, while it provides the public sector with necessary goods and services, and ensures Uzbekistan’s continued social and economic development. Improving public procurement efficiency should consequently be a national priority, to be achieved through interrelated activities including the improvement of related legislation and the creation of a modern system of governance, infrastructure and appeal processes.

A special session was held be at the seminar, which was devoted to discussing options and methods for improving Uzbekistan’s public procurement system based on the government’s objectives and priorities, and also to the study of best international experience.

Today’s seminar was the first of a series of workshops planned to enhance the capacities of professionals involved in this sector. Within the field of public procurement, the joint Ministry of Finance of Uzbekistan and UNDP project ‘Budget System Reform in Uzbekistan’ focuses on the development of the draft law of the Republic of Uzbekistan ‘On Public Procurement’, the regulations of major procurement procedures, and the preparation of teaching materials regarding procurement procedures.