Procurement core competence

3. 
   Pool of national trainers: Currently, CPTU has a national pool of certified trainers of about 60. Given the rapid trend of increased procurement activities, the pool is likely to be further expanded. Concurrently, the capacity/skill of the existing trainers will require updating and further re-validation for continuity of their tasks as national trainers. They will be further provided with professional TOT courses (national/international)
   

4. 
   Building a network with CPTU: The activities would include developing and establishing certification/accreditation program at ESCB. The certification/accreditation would be conducted on the basis of national policy adopted by CPTU. As part of the policy, CPTU in collaboration with ITC-ILO, Turin will develop and operationalize the hierarchy of the certifications in public procurement in consistent with the international practices. ITC-ILO or similar organization may assist ESCB on this. Concurrently, it will support CPTU to establish a network of procurement professionals who can assist procuring entities as and when required for specific procurement initiatives. The network can serve as mentors to procurement officers to assist in individual capacity development.
   

5. 
   Agency/Entity Reward Program: As part of the incentive/reward mechanism, to create procurement value addition, agency will be recognized based for their procurement performance annually. Similarly, from within the agency, a few entities will be recognized annually for better procurement performance. Other procurement value addition programs will also be explored.
   

1. 
   Availability of more data by publishing higher proportion of bid invitations and contract awards with provision of downloading soft copy of data from the e-GP portal;
   
2. 
   Connecting contract with resources by linking tenders and awards with ultimate aid or government funding source;
   

3. 
   Setting a basic standard by standardizing location information of each contract with where money goes, standardizing cost information to ensure that 100 percent of contract documents have budget figures, generating unique identifier numbers (project, contract, contractor) that will link tender notices with corresponding contract awards and the contractor;
   

4. 
   Completing a data mapping of procurement and related systems to the OCDS for ease of publishing and potential system integration;
   

5. 
   Adopting visualization tools to improve understanding and use of information by government, donors, civil society and the private sector;and
   

6. 
   Developing and implementing analytical tools and mythologies for problem driven data analysis in procurement results areas such as performance, quality, and outcomes.
   

30. Strategic features: The following features are expected to be included:

1. 
   Incorporating visualization features in the e-GP portal as an “official” public source of procurement data, allowing CPTU a user-friendly venue for sharing the public procurement information which becomes available during the expansion of the e-GP portal;
   

2. 
   Developing a tool to receive and respond to public comments, feedback, and complaints regarding public contracting. This may be similar to the “independent complaint redress mechanism” of CPTU but should remain open to public;
   

3. 
   Developing analytical tools and methodologies to provide regular performance profiles relating to the outcomes achieves, in order to identify strengths and weaknesses of current performance in areas critical to CPTU;
   

4. 
   Facilitating dialogue between CPTU/e-GP entity and implementing agencies to identify improvements to data quality and usefulness of the central system. CPTU may also encourage agencies to publish more data;
   

5. 
   Developing capacity to standardize and increase the coverage of procurement information and the use of contracting data for policy making. Experience shows that many government officers may not holistically consider past procurement data when planning new programs or making procurement decisions;
   

6. 
   Working with CPTU/e-GP entity and implementing agencies to (i) identify innovative solutions to improving contracting data collection and transparency at the local level; (ii) raise awareness among civil society and community stakeholders of the importance of public procurement and leverage non-state actors to monitor public contracting and contractor performance at the local level. This could be achieved through campaigns, action-planning workshops, and innovative community based monitoring tools;
   

7. 
   Advising CPTU/e-GP entity on incentive-structures to improve implementing agency performance with regard to transparency and accountability in procurement. Highlight value of information to illustrate a more competitive, fair and open procurement to demonstrate success of reforms to bidders to increase size of marketplace and competition; and
   

8. 
   Advising CPTU/e-GP entity on data, methods, and tools to improve agency under performance in specific sectors, procurement channels, and supplier diversity.
   

1. 
   Public Private Stakeholder Committee (PPSC) Dialogue at the regional and national levels: The ongoing central framework of Public Private Stakeholders Committee (PPSC) for policy guidance and debates will continue to guide the citizen engagement exercise and provide suggestions for giving it an institutional shape. An updated Terms of Reference for the PPSC would be developed based on the following key activities:
   

1. 
   Evaluate annually the broad impact of the Public Procurement Act and Rules on country’s actual procurement practices, and put forward recommendations to the GoB for adjustments, if any;
   

2. 
   Provide policy inputs to promote most effective and efficient utilization of public spending for better delivery of public services;
   

3. 
   Review citizen engagement initiatives and other transparency and accountability mechanisms to ensure quality engagement of various stakeholders (both government and non-government) in the monitoring and tracking of procurement processes and outcomes;
   

4. 
   Hold semi-annual meetings with various stakeholders including media and civil society to obtain feedback regarding public procurement in the country;
   

5. 
   Facilitate free flow of relevant information about public procurement to citizens and recommending removal of any obstacles to the process;
   

6. 
   Publish in website periodically and disseminate the findings and recommendation of this committee to the GoB and general public;
   

7. 
   Provide suggestions and guidance to proper functioning of citizens’ portal and its linkages;
   

8. 
   Provide guidance in developing mechanism to address grievances of the citizens about the quality of public procurement; and
   

9. 
   Suggest ways to form PPSC sub-committees and local level committees.
   

2. 
   Government-Tenderers’ Forum: The existing Government-Tenderers’ Forum (GTF) at the district level for dialogue between public procuring entities and the bidding community will be strengthened and further consolidated for its sustainability with a set of Terms of Reference based on the outline below:
   

1. 
   Form an executive committee with all procuring entities at the district level and the bidders/contractors as its members;
   

2. 
   Prepare an annual action plan;
   

3. 
   Hold bi-monthly meetings and convene those through consultation between Convener, Co-Convener and Member-Secretary. Set agenda, time and venue for organizing the meetings;
   

4. 
   Member-Secretary as per decision will deliver invitations for meeting;
   

5. 
   Provide a platform for discussing any topic related to public procurement including issues regarding e-GP and relevant other matters. The forum will provide participants the opportunities to share views on specific issues, raise questions and address queries;
   

6. 
   Refer issues, if not resolved at GTF, to CPTU;
   

7. 
   Arrange, if possible, orientation on these issues by experts or trainers;
   

8. 
   Capture success stories on public procurement and share with CPTU for wider dissemination through various platforms such as the citizens’ portal, PPSC, and other channels such as the news media if appropriate;
   

9. 
   Prepare meeting minutes; capture photos and share with all members, post on website of Convener’s organization and Citizens’ Portal; and
   

10. 
    Suggest modifications and improvement in the structure of GTF, and its TOR if necessary.
    

3. 
   Site-Specific Citizen Monitoring (SSCM) at the local level: The project will scale up citizen monitoring of public procurement at the local level using a sustainable, low cost, and politically feasible strategy of citizen engagement. Based on the lessons learned from the two pilots implemented under the PPRPII, the SSCM approach will predominantly be used to monitor implementation of procurement contracts in government’s development projects by involving the beneficiaries directly using simple tools with the objective of ensuring quality and reducing opportunities for fraud and corruption at the decentralized level. For this, open source tools based on OCDS data will be made available to citizens groups, which, will allow for the identification of red flags in procurement processes. This CE strategy will be run using country systems and government structures, with support from local NGOs, in order to make it sustainable in the long run. In brief, the CE strategy will be focused on the following key elements facilitated by a local NGO:
   

1. 
   All SPSOs will voluntarily disclose information on procurement and contract including implementation as is allowed under the Right to Information Act;
   

2. 
   Citizens living near the site of a project will be informed of the characteristics of the project, and how to monitor implementation, timeliness and quality;
   

3. 
   Information will be provided by relevant government official(s) from the local implementing department (i.e., the LGED engineer) and a billboard will be erected at site with complete, clear, simplified, and relevant information; and
   

4. 
   Recognizing the Right to Information Act, citizens will monitor project implementation according to the specifications basics and time schedule established in the contract and will report their complaints to the contractor, engineer, and the NGO.
   

33. In order to share and disseminate the views and feedback of the SSCM, Citizen Monitoring Forum (CMF) will be organized at the regional levels with due care of gender balance incorporating the recent experience of pilots in textbook delivery, rural roads, and school construction carried out in two districts under the PPRPII project. It is expected that CMF will play a pivotal role as a public forum at the local level using simplified tools and techniques that are adaptable to the operating contexts, for example, brick quality, cement-sand ratio, rod size, including social media, mobile Apps, and site visits.

1. 
   Evaluating Citizen Monitoring: Impact evaluation will be conducted by applying appropriate research technique such as randomized control trial to analyze the impact of the SSCM interventions. Additionally, qualitative research will consist of case studies using rigorous ethnographic methods to capture political and social aspects, which are critical to the strategy’s success and but not fully captured using quantitative methods. The qualitative evaluation research will be conducted during the first year in order to inform the following phases of the intervention, based on the lessons learned.
   

2. 
   Public communication and capacity building: communication strategy and the capacity building programs as described under the other sub-components will be coordinated to provide required training, knowledge sharing, public awareness and consultation support in the design and implementation of Citizen Engagement activities.
   

1. 
   Monitoring Tools and Techniques: The project will examine other monitoring and evaluation tools and techniques available to see how they may apply to some of the projects in Bangladesh. Currently, IMED is examining a range of projects across different sectors, each with their own project requirements. Knowledge of different tools and how they may have been applied in other countries with similar projects will help strengthen the capacity of IMED. Also, it will be explored to have modern airborne monitoring techniques to look at provisioning equipment for photo with geo tagging for project monitoring in the same manner as using cell phones. It may also be viable to have some project sites setup with IP based security camera to allow live remote monitoring as needed. Also, possible areas of e-filing and mobile Apps will be explored.
   

2. 
   Monitoring and Guidelines: The project will support to develop new guidelines for different type projects and develop expert panels to supporting the monitoring and evaluation task and to re-engineer their approaches to project monitoring and evaluation to make it more efficient and effective.
   

3. 
   Data Analytics and Reporting: Through enhanced digitization of the monitoring and evaluation processes, IMED would enhance public awareness of projects through communication strategy. A transparent awareness process would allow IMED to be proactive in project monitoring and evaluation versus reactive after issues are discovered. The expanded system will generate a wealth of data. IMED will need to consider monitoring and analyzing new data arising from the new system features of e-GP and of its own. Proper data analytics will help identify options for different strategies that may require system changes or revised regulations. In order to obtain full value from the digital information system, the new on-line reporting mechanisms will need to be developed for various target users, for example, ministries/agencies, sectoral audits/management, and common public/citizens. Sector-based reporting is likely to be considered. Such reporting will include, among others, financial, physical, geo-tagging, satellite imaging for contract implementation.
   

4. 
   Capacity Development Needs: This will include all physical/infrastructural as well as software needs and effective training for skill development after review/mapping of IMED’s current structure and human resources profile. An extensive skill development plan will be put in place. Necessary additional expertise will be made available in particular reference to IT, procurement, M&E, and quality checking. Office environment refurbishing, logistics/equipment will be provided.
   

1. 
   List of Selected Newly Public Sector Organizations (NSPSO)
   

2. 
   List of Previously Selected Public Sector Organizations (PSPSO)
   

1. Overall Project Implementation: As part of continuity of the reform activities over the last decade, IMED/CPTU will be responsible for overall implementation of the project. The Director General (DG), CPTU will manage all project activities as the Project Director, assisted by 4 Component Directors (one for each component). IMED/CPTU will carry out this task in collaboration with 32 SPSOs who are the actual procuring organizations (4 PSPSOs and 28 NSPSOs- list in attachment to Annex 1). In case of CPTU the relevant three Directors will be designated as the Component Directors. For IMED part (Component 4), the Director responsible for coordinating overall activities including MIS will preferably be the Component Director. In consideration of the geographical spreading of most local government institutions across the country and previous proven experience of implementing e-GP, LGED, through a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the CPTU, will implement expansion of the scope of e-GP to these institutions.

1. 
   Main capacity development/professionalization consultant A competitively selected international training institute/organization, under coordination with CPTU, will implement large part of the capacity development program including professionalization using a twinning arrangement with a designated local institute, Engineering Staff College Bangladesh- ESCB. Possible higher education program leading to Masters will also be included in it. International organizations may include: International Training Center of the ILO, Turin, Italy (ITC-ILO) and/or Nottingham University/UK and/or University of Tor Vegata, Rome or similar other organization.
   

2. 
   Core competence program: As continuity of the existing program, the courses for international procurement accreditation program will be conducted by the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply (CIPS), UK jointly with the recognized study center of CIPS in Bangladesh, specifically with BRAC Institute of Governance and Development (BIGD) under the BRAC University, and ESCB affiliated with The Institution of Engineers Bangladesh (IEB). Also, other possibilities will be explored. This course will offer Member of CIPS (MCIPS).
   

8. Implementation of e-GP M&O: In light of the unique nature of the e-GP system that has been specifically developed for Bangladesh and taking into account the need for initial sustainability of such a high-tech system with possible enhanced features within the country operating environment, IMED/CPTU will maintain the existing arrangement with the consultant for future management and operation of the system until there is any change in its existing operating structure or any corporate is formed.

12. Following Bank’s operational policies and guidance, the financial management capacity assessment of CPTU has been carried out. The assessment included current financial management practices followed by the development projects in Bangladesh with the aim to evaluate risks and its mitigation measures. Based on the assessment, overall financial management risk is assessed to be “Substantial” mainly because of inadequate accounting and financial reporting capacity of CPTU that requires strengthening. In the absence of core financial management specialist in CPTU, for ongoing PPRPII CPTU hired FM consultants to assist the project for day to day financial management. Also, in order to implement certain e-GP related activities of the project for local government institutions under LGD, LGED will be engaged for financial operations at decentralized level. In addition to internal audit, in the proposed project, the Bank in consultation with CPTU will explore possible implementation of an ERP system to automate most part of the financial management function. However, the financial management performance of PPRPII has been moderately satisfactory and a gradual improvement was noted in the financial management operation of the project. As of now, there is no pending audit report.

1. 
   Filing and Record-Keeping: In accordance with the Bangladesh Government financial rules and regulations, implementing agencies of development projects must preserve financial records for further verifications. CPTU has been well preserving all the financial records so far relating to PPRPII and it was agreed that CPTU will continue to preserve all procurement records and financial records/documents in accordance with the provisions of the PPA 2006. These records need to be made readily available on request for audit/investigation/review by the Government and the Bank. All project-related documents need to be filed separately to facilitate internal and external audits, as well as reviews by the Bank.
   

2. 
   Financial Management System: Currently, CPTU is maintaining manual book keeping system which is may be subject to errors and mistakes. Unlike system generated financial reports, the manual preparation of financial report is clumsy and time consuming, leading to possible delays especially considering the growing operation of CPTU in the future. However, cash basis accounting system has been followed by CPTU although several advance payments was also seen in the financial records, which means a modified cash basis of accounting is followed. This modified system of accounting and reporting requires a robust automated system, such as an ERP. It was discussed and agreed with the CPTU that initiative will be taken under this project to build this capacity within CPTU so that the financial reports can be prepared accurately and on a timely manner.
   

3. 
   Internal Audit: The purpose of the internal audit is to ascertain the effectiveness of expenditure, ensure adherence to the Government/Implementing agencies rules and regulations in the payment process, and management of assets and funds of the project. Since there is limited internal audit capacity in the implementing agency, a professional accounting/auditing firm will be hired to conduct internal audit of the project at least twice in the life time of the project. Going beyond the financial aspects, the internal audit would also look into the effectiveness and efficient use of project resources, and conduct an independent appraisal of CPTU and other partners in the implementing arrangements. The key internal audit function will be: (i) ascertaining whether the system of internal checks and controls for preventing errors, fraud and corruption within the organization, is effective in its design as well as operation; (ii) ensuring reliability of accounts and other records, as well as ensuring that accounting methods provide the necessary information for the preparation of correct financial statements; (iii) determining the extent to which the project entity’s assets are safeguarded from any unauthorized uses or losses; (iv) undertaking physical verification of assets/goods; and (v) establishing whether administrative and financial regulations of the Government and instructions issued by the Treasury as well as donors’ legal requirements are complied with.
   

4. 
   Assets and Payments: All project payments will be made by the PD using the banking system (except for small petty cash expenses). The project will maintain assets tracking system for ensuring annual physical verification and reporting on assets procured under the project. An annual verification of all project assets shall be carried out and a summarized report shall be shared with the Bank by August 30, each year.
   

1. 
   External Audit: The project will also continue to be audited by Foreign Aided Project Audit Directorate under C&AG. The annual audit reports will be submitted to the Bank within six months from the end of each financial year and this will be monitored in the Bank system (PRIMA). The audited financial statements will be made available for public disclosure. If there are any audit objections, it will be the responsibility of the Project Director to follow up and take remedial actions, with the assistance from the Financial Management Specialist and the program implementing sections relevant to the audit objections.
   

2. 
   Audit Observation Resolution Committee: An audit observation resolution committee will be established at the PMU level in order to follow up all audit issues on a regular and systematic manner. This committee will be comprised of the individuals who are not engaged with any procurement or financial management function of the project, preferably, outside from the project management. This committee will have at least two meetings per financial year to review the audit reports and follow up on audit recommendations.
   

1. 
   Staffing: The Director General, CPTU will be responsible for the overall financial management of the project and will also provide overall guidance/directions on a day to day basis to the Financial Management Consultants of the project. CPTU will hire two FM Consultants/Specialists within three months from the date of signature of the financing agreement. Senior Financial Management specialist will be engaged in financial reporting and payments, and on the other hand, the Junior Specialist will be responsible for ensuring appropriate documentation and book keeping. CPTU will share with the Bank the terms of reference of these Specialists for its review and concurrence.
   

2. 
   Accounting and Reporting: CPTU will maintain a satisfactory financial management system, including keeping all the mandatory books of accounts, preparing quarterly and yearly financial statements. CPTU will submit quarterly IUFRs to the Bank within 45 days from the end of each quarter. CPTU will prepare the financial information directly produced by the accounting software. As it may take time to establish an ERP, in order to aid the book keeping and financial reporting, CPTU will procurement and install an off-the-shelf financial management software for the project within three month from the date of signature of the financing agreement.
   

17. Basis of Disbursement and Flow of Funds from Designated Account (DA): The project will continue to use Interim Unaudited Financial Reports (IUFRs) as a basis for disbursements. The Bank will disburse fund to CPTU through a Designated Account (DA) in the form of Convertible Taka Special Account [CONTASA] to be established in a branch of a commercial bank acceptable to the Bank. The commercial bank need to have adequate experience, manpower, network and authority to process transactions on a fast track basis. CPTU will follow the approved government procedures governing the establishments of DA and be responsible for their own DA. An operational account will also be opened in a commercial bank, acceptable to the Association, to manage the funds to be transferred to LGED from the DA in order to perform part of activities relating to LGED and other local government institutions under project component 2. No fund transfer to other agencies is expected. The operational account will be reconciled on a timely basis and refunded [un-used] on or before the actual closing date of the project. The transfers to the operational account will be considered as advance to LGED and such advances will be adjusted upon satisfactory documentation and reporting. LGED will be liable to maintain satisfactory financial management system including, a separate book of accounts and financial reports and will also provide all necessary evidences, for auditing purposes. One FM consultant will assist LGED in these functions. The project will have provision of retroactive financing of about US$5 million to cover expenditures related to some capacity development actions and management and operation of the e-GP system that are expected to be incurred before effectiveness of the credit (preceding 12 months).

1. 
   
   Directory: curated
   curated -> Concept stage
   curated -> Concept stage
   curated -> Republic of Côte d'Ivoire Urbanization Review
   curated -> Report No: aus11011 Central America
   curated -> Report No. 94474-pk fiscal Disaster Risk Assessment Options for Consideration
   curated -> Environmental and Social Management Framework for the Costa Rica Telecommunications Sector Modernization Project
   curated -> Environment Impact Assessment For Jiangxi Shangrao Sanqingshan Airport Beijing Guohuantiandi Environmental Technology Development Center. Ltd. Oct. 2012 Content
   curated -> Growth through Innovation An Industrial Strategy for Shanghai By Shahid Yusuf Kaoru Nabeshima April 22nd, 2009
   curated -> Report No: 70178. People's Republic of China
   
   
   
   Download 0.83 Mb.
   
   Share with your friends: