Sri Lanka welcomed the Heads of Public Procurement Agencies or Authorities of eight South Asian countries to the Fourth South Asia Region Public Procurement Conference. The conference was inaugurated by President Maithripala Sirisena on Tuesday.
The theme of the conference, ‘E-GP in South Asia – Achievements, Opportunities and Challenges’, throws the spotlight on how E-Government Procurement can support countries in boosting the efficiency, transparency and competitiveness of their public procurement systems.
While South Asian countries find themselves at different stages in the introduction and operationalizing of E-GP systems, it is seen as a tool that not only enables strategic public procurement, but can provide a wealth of data that feeds back into the steady improvement and increasing effectiveness of E-GP services.
World Bank Country Director for Sri Lanka, Idah Pswarayi-Riddihough said, “At the World Bank, we are committed to procurement reforms with a view to improving market efficiency and better service delivery.”
The Conference is an important feature of the evolving South Asia Region Public Procurement Network (SARPPN).
The Conference was hosted by the Department of Public Finance, Ministry of Finance, Government of Sri Lanka, and co-sponsored by the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, and Islamic Development Bank.
The final output of the Conference took the form of an action plan to track progress in this specific area.