E-Government Procurement: Enabling Business through Efficient Systems

Abstract

E-procurement offers the government major cost-savings, higher value for money and better fiscal management. By making procurement more efficient, cost-effective, and competitive, e-procurement can create a stronger procurement marketplace and better investment of government resources. There are at least three ways in which E-GP can enhance the transparency, fairness and efficiency of public procurement in Sri Lanka. First, E-GP offers major cost-savings for both government agencies and suppliers. Second, E-GP can enhance competitiveness by making tender opportunities accessible to a greater number of suppliers. Furthermore, E-GP systems can help minimise corruption by strengthening the transparency of procurement actions and reducing opportunities for discretionary actions that could bias award outcomes. Third, E-GP systems are more efficient than the existing manual procurement process. E-GP simplifies and automates various stages of the procurement process, including tender publication, bid processing, document transfers and communication, thus making the procurement process less cumbersome and less prone to errors. This report is presented in five sections. The first provides an overview of public procurement in Sri Lanka, including the existing institutional framework governing procurement and the public procurement marketplace. The second explains E-GP and its advantages, while the third identifies key practical considerations relevant to E-GP implementation in Sri Lanka. The fourth section discusses comparative experiences of E-GP. The final section provides recommendations on the use of E-GP as a means of improving public procurement in Sri Lanka.