Dissemination Workshop on Public Procurement Laws and Policies
22 Feb 2021
The Procurement Policy Office in collaboration with the Economic Development Board organised a one-day dissemination workshop on ‘Public procurement Laws and Policies’ on Wednesday 17 February 2021 at Le Meridien Ile Maurice.
The workshop was attended by more than 200 participants comprising private sector operators, public officials, policymakers. Presentations were delivered by the Procurement Policy Office, the Central Procurement Board, the Independent Review Panel, the Competition Commission of Mauritius, the Road Development Authority ,the Building and Civil Engineering Contractors Association, and the Economic Development Board. The objectives of the workshop were inter-alia to disseminate the latest legislative amendments brought to the public procurement framework in Mauritius, the various processes and institutional set-ups in place and addressed the concerns and suggestions of private sector operators.
In line with its policy advocacy mandate, the Economic Development Board is gearing further efforts to enhance the business climate and acknowledges the interconnectedness between public procurement and economic development. It should be underlined that according to the World Bank, public procurement represents on average 15% of GDP worldwide and Governments cumulatively spend USD 10 trillion on public contracts each year.
It is to be noted that the World Bank is working on introducing ‘Contracting with Government’ as an 11th indicator in its methodology to measure the ease of doing business score and ranking of respective countries in its flagship publication, the Doing Business Report.
In his speech, Mr. Ken Poonoosamy, the Ag. CEO of EDB underlined that an effective procurement system plays a strategic role in economic development. He also pointed out that since the responsibility of ensuring a conducive business environment rests with the EDB under the provisions of the Economic Development Board Act 2017, the institution has been working closely with the PPO, with the support of subject matter experts, to advocate reforms in the system.
On the other hand, Mr. Rambhojun, Director of the Procurement Policy Office emphasised that the traditional public procurement exercise has been phased out and it is henceforth mandatory for all public bodies to undertake procurement activities on the e-Procurement system. It should be highlighted that the e-Procurement System is grounded on the overarching principles of good governance, transparency, and accountability in the use of public funds in procurement.
