e-GP to modernise public procurement: Ravi K

The proposed Electronic Government Procurement system will assist the Government to clean up public procumbent to make it more efficient and transparent, Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake said yesterday. 

“Electronic Government Procurement makes public procurement more strategic and serves as an effective innovation to institute procurement reforms. It will also boost performance in terms of efficiency, transparency, competition and fairness. It will bring value for money as well,” the Minister said.

The Minister was addressing the inaugural session of a four-day conference titled ‘Electronic Government Procurement (e-GP) in South Asia: Achievements, Opportunities and Challenges,’ held under the patronage of President Maithripala Sirisena.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and several top level local and foreign speakers are scheduled to address the conference.

This annual learning, knowledge and experience sharing event is organised under the auspices of the South Asia Region Public Procurement Network which comprises senior public procurement officials from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

Speaking further, Minister Karunanayake said that this conference was being hosted at the right time as the World Bank had indicated its support to introduce an electronic-Government Procurement system (e-GP) in the public sector. He also said the WB, USAID, ADB, EU, JICA and several other development partners had agreed to help Sri Lanka in number of public sector finance management reforms.

He said that the discussion to be held in this conference and the subsequent recommendations would help tremendously for all participants’ countries in implementing better public procurement system thereby facing existing challenges and improving efficiency and transparency in the system.

Finance Ministry Secretary Dr. R.H.S. Samaratunga, Public Finance Department Director General P. Algama, WB Country Director for Sri Lanka and the Maldives Idah Pswarayi-Riddihough, ADB Country Director Sri Widowati and several others participated.