PPADB benchmarks from South Korea

A delegation from the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Board attended a two-day benchmarking workshop in South Korea on Electronic Procurement.The two were PPADB executive chairperson Bridget John and Accountant General Emma Peloetletse, who is leading the development of the post award E-procurement modules in the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development. In an interview, John said the aim was to appreciate what other countries are doing and the change management strategies employed from paper tenders to E-bidding.

“We depend on government to roll our fast internet in its offices across the country, procure appropriate equipment for competent procurement personnel, and for the regulator to ensure that fast internet is affordable for businesses and the general public,” she said.

The aim, she stated, is to roll out E-bidding over three years starting with ministries this year where they will do away with paper tenders. She is confident that E-bidding will yield efficiency, enhance transparency and help counter corruption in tenders, among other benefits. She said that the Board needs to intensify the training of bidders, tender committees and procuring entities on the use of Integrated Procurement Management System.

“Parties to procurement should embrace this change wholeheartedly as it is the only way to go. Botswana should remain among the few leading in Africa as we are known for good governance,” she said. John however said that a lot must be done to change mindset of stakeholders to embrace the change, in addition to availing themselves for training. The Ministry of Finance and Economic Development is expected to develop other modules to complete the procurement cycle particularly relating to the post tender award stages administered by procuring entities such as contract management and performance monitoring.

Zambia, Rwanda, Tunisia, Kenya and Mauritius are among countries making waves in modernising procurement. The Korean E-Procurement system continues to draw more attention from abroad. It is renowned for its provision of a convenient one-stop service, enabling users to process all necessary operations for procurement-registration, bidding, contract and payment.

South Korea has signed multiple memoranda of understanding with 19 countries worldwide on e-procurement.