Procurement in the World Bank

1
Procurement in the World Bank

• Practices and
• Current Issues
• Pamela Bigart
• 16 March 2007

2
BRIEF INFORMATION ON THE World Bank

• What kind of institution
• Development lending organization formed in 1945,
  now has 184 members
• How much lending per year
• 20-25 Billion
• What type of projects do we finance
• all types - classified as investment or
  development policy
• Sectors
• key sectors include transportation, agriculture,
  reforms, education, health
• Information available at www.worldbank.org/procur
  ement

3
KEY PRINCIPLES THAT GUIDE PROCUREMENT UNDER WORLD
BANK FINANCED PROJECTS

• Economy and efficiency in implementation of the
  project
• Providing all eligible bidders equal opportunity
  to compete
• Encouraging development of domestic capacity in
  borrowing countries
• Increasing transparency in the procurement
  process
• Commitment to competition as most appropriate
  method to implement principles

4
IMPORTANT CHARACTERISTICS OF WORLD BANK FINANCED
PROCUREMENT

• ?When international competition is sought, all
  qualified bidders from all countries are eligible
  to participate. International competitive
  bidding is used for approximately 20 by volume
  of contracts for goods, works and non-consulting
  services and 70 by value (figures vary
  annually).
• ?Borrowing country implementing agencies are
  responsible for carrying out procurement under
  Bank-financed projects in accordance with the
  GUIDELINESthe World Bank oversees this process

5
Characteristics continued

• ?Borrowing countries use Bank provided Standard
  Bidding Documents when seeking international
  competition many are harmonized with all MDBs
• ?Complaints regarding issues under Bank-financed
  procurement will be monitored by the Bank to make
  sure they are addressed

6
SELECTION OF CONSULTANTS

• Advertisement required if value estimated to be
  over 200,000
• Short listing procedure - based on qualifications
  and expressions of interest
• Quality and Cost Based Selection is predominant
  (80/20 ratio between quality and cost)
• Quality based selection for highly complex
  assignments

7
GOODS and WORKS

• Award to lowest evaluated responsive bidder
• Some use of pre-qualification for complex
  requirements
• Public bid opening
• Wide publication of opportunities and of awards
• SBDs provide standard provisions that reflect
  industry standards

8
Some additional practices

• Bank use of prior review provides oversight on
  implementation of procurement by borrowers
• Bank use of post review provides opportunity to
  take corrective action
• Bank remedies are available to deal with issues
  under Bank-financed procurement

9
SOME ISSUES

• Fraud and Corruption
• Payments
• Increased reliance on country systems
• National Competitive Bidding
• Building national capacity and better performing
  procurement systems
• Monitoring performance and quality