29 May First Public Procurement Forum – „Fostering Professionalization and Competition in Public Procurement“
Belgrade, 23 – 24 May 2018. – In cooperation with the PPO the Project organized a two-day regional forum on the topic “Fostering Professionalisation and Competition in Public Procurement” at Metropol Hotel.
The Forum has brought together the representatives of the bodies responsible for the development of the Public Procurement System from Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Macedonia and Albania, enabling the exchange of experience and good practice throughout the region, as well as continuing good cooperation between regional Public Procurement institutions.
Local and foreign experts shared their experience on the Forum, and during the two days, besides the speakers from Serbia, the participants had the opportunity to hear the experiences from Hungary, Austria, Croatia, the Netherlands and Canada.
The methods for improvement of Public Procurement practices were discussed jointly by practitioners – representatives of the Contracting Authorities, representatives of the academic community, the Chamber of Commerce, as well as representatives of the Delegation of the European Commission, embassies, international organizations UNDP, OECD, OSCE and GIZ, World Bank.
The Forum was opened by PPO Director Mr. Predrag Jovanovic, Ms. Steliana Nedera, UNDP Representative, Mr. Miloje Obradovic, President of the Commission for the Protection of Competition, Ms. Teja Kolar, Team Leader, Ms. Erika Bozzay, SIGMA and Mr. Sidy Diop, Representative of the World Bank.
The results of research and recommendations for improving of the motivation of Public Procurement officers, the decision-making process and the implementation of public procurement procedures were presented on the first day of the Forum. This type of research was done for the first time in Serbia, and the participants had the opportunity to get acquainted with the good practice of the Netherlands, which has extensive experience in this field. Key issues of developing professionalisation in Public Procurement were also discussed on the basis of experience and good practice of Canada and Croatia.
On the second day of the Regional Forum, factors that restrict competition in the Public Procurement market in Serbia were presented, as well as the experience of EU countries in terms of increasing the number of bids per procedure, in particular through the growth of the participation of small and medium-sized enterprises and using specific instruments from the EU Directives which strengthen the participation of small and medium enterprises in Public Procurement. Also discussed were the indicators by which the Clients can discover “bid rigging” and measures to prevent this phenomenon that have proven effective in EU countries, such as Hungary.
The representatives of the Commission for the Protection of Competition presented their experiences in suppressing the restriction of competition in public procurement procedures.
For the general development of the Public Procurement System, good and quality communication and information exchange between all stakeholders is necessary. All the necessary information on current practice and suggestions on how to improve it may be collected only in this way. Therefore, this Forum represents one of the most important activities within the project, since it has enabled exchange of experiences and opinions of a wider circle of participants and created additional space for finding the best solutions for the Public Procurement System in Serbia.
The Forum gathered around 60 participants on both days. Presentations of the speakers at the Forum may be sent by e-mail. Photos, agenda and biographies of speakers can be downloaded below:
Forum in media (Serbian language only):
http://www.nirapress.com/podsticanje-profesionalizacije-u-javnim-nabavkama/