Regional : Strengthening the Asia Pacific Public Electronic Procurement Network

Multisector / ADB's corporate management, policy and strategy development

The proposed regional knowledge and support technical assistance (KSTA) will support the strengthening of electronic government procurement (e-GP) systems across ADB developing member countries (DMCs). Strengthening governance and institutional capacity is an operational priority under Strategy 2030. Aligned to the strategy ADB will continue to adhere to standards for procurement and contribute to maintaining and raising standards in the international development community. ADB will assist DMCs in undertaking reforms and building country systems including the use of e-GP in these areas. ADB will also continue to help executing and implementing agencies strengthen their capacity to plan, design, finance, and implement ADB projects, including the application of advanced technology for robust e-GP systems.

The TA will fulfill ADB's role as a facilitator, generator, and enabler of e-GP in its DMCs. The TA will help to implement the vision of widespread use of e-GP and build upon past and ongoing e-GP initiatives in Asia and the Pacific. The KSTA is a follow-up on regional technical assistance (RETA) 8520 Asia Pacific Public Electronic Procurement Network and would build on its outputs, lessons learned, and identified new trends. Besides continuing regional cooperation among ADB DMCs and with other Regional Procurement Networks (Inter-American Network on Government Procurement), the proposed TA will expand e-GP implementation support, including, but not limited to assessments of e-GP systems, security audits, procurement and contract management, including budget execution and monitoring.

Electronic procurement is gaining widespread traction across ADB DMCs, as evidenced by ADB surveys in 2011, 2014 and 2017. In 2011, only a third of the DMCs had started implementation of e-GP and by 2017 more than two-thirds had made the shift. Initial e-GP installations started with publication of bid opportunities and contract awards, then progressing to new functional modules such as e-tendering, use of e-reverse auctions, and electronic catalogues. External information technology (IT) systems, including budgets, business registration, customs, tax started integrating with e-GP in 2014 and the results of openness, transparency, efficiency are emerging. Some countries, which did not possess the range of in-house skills required to develop and run a system, turned to commercial applications, fueled by public-private partnerships (PPP) and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS).

The new ADB Procurement Policy framework approved in 2017 directs ADB to leverage the use of e-GP to create opportunities to innovate and streamline public procurement for greater efficiency and economy. Primarily, e-GP is a factor in improving governance, particularly when aligned to initiatives in budgeting, taxation, and audit. ADB has promoted e-GP as a key component of procurement reforms in developing member countries (DMCs). ADB's involvement in promoting e-GP strengthens its role to as a broker in enhancing procurement transparency and providing wider access to information and markets.

ADB and other multilateral development banks (MDBs) assessed multiple e-GP installations throughout the region and endorsed their use on International Financial Institutions (IFIs)-funded procurement transactions. The digitization era is helping to accelerate its deployment. RETA 8520 funded 4 annual conferences in Manila (2015), Seoul (2016), Tbilisi (2017) and Washington (2018). The 4th annual conference was a follow-up event to the Global Public Procurement Conference held jointly with the Inter-American Network on Government Procurement and Inter-American Development Bank in Washington, DC together with 8 other development partners, providing a unique opportunity for APPePN members to learn from and connect with public procurement professionals from around the world . It is important for ADB to foster greater regional cooperation and knowledge sharing through the proposed TA.

While significant progress has been achieved, areas for further development, especially in areas of cross-border and global trade and cooperation and seamless integration with other parts of e-government and banking applications remain untapped. ADB in its capacity as a trusted regional development partner can play a key role in leveraging its current digitization programs to benefit public procurement outcomes.

ADB Procurement Policy; Majority of ADB DMCs will use e-GP applications suitable for domestic and international use (by 2025)

Capacity of public procurement agencies to implement e-GP solutions based on international best practices strengthened

e-GP mainstreamed

Skills sets on e-GP strengthened

Knowledge products on emerging issues of digitized procurement prepared