Published: 06 November 2013 г.
Organised by EBRD UNCITRAL Initiative and WTO GPA Secretariat
Public procurement markets are an often neglected, but important part of international trade, amounting to the equivalent of 10 to 15 per cent of some country’s GDP. Modern procurement is about ensuring efficient and transparent processes and to promote this a workshop was held in Bishkek on 5-6 November.
Organised by the EBRD UNCITRAL Initiative in cooperation with the WTO GPA Secretariat the seminar was specifically tailored to review and discuss new draft procurement legislation by the Kyrgyz Ministry of Finance in the context of potential negotiations about the Kyrgyz Republic’s accession to the WTO Government Procurement Agreement (GPA).
The GPA is the main guide in modern procurement and WTO members are expected to follow the rules of the recently revised document, while new member states have to open negotiations upon joining the organisation.
An efficient way to fulfil the GPA requirements is to update public procurement legislation according to the Model Law on Public Procurement of the United Nations Commission on Commerce and International Trade Law (UNCITRAL). UNCITRAL updated its previous standards recently with the 2011 Model Law, which can provide a template for governments seeking to upgrade their legislation.
To promote modernising procurement policies, the EBRD UNCITRAL Initiative teamed up with international partners, including the World Bank and the Asia Development Bank to help CIS countries and Mongolia to enhance their procurement systems. The workshop was one example of this support.
“If the new public procurement law based on the 2011 UNCITRAL standards is adopted in the Kyrgyz Republic, it will open the door to GPA accession”, confirmed experts from UNCITRAL and the WTO GPA Secretariat.
All partner organisations of the EBRD UNCITRAL Initiative support the Kyrgyz government in its ambitious public procurement reform project. This includes the development of the primary law, establishment of efficient eProcurement platforms and introduction of training contracting agencies.
The EBRD, owned by 64 countries and two intergovernmental institutions, is supporting the development of market economies and democracies in countries from central Europe to central Asia.
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