Concept Paper Summary

Asia/Pacific Procurement Forum Technical Assistance Concept Paper Summary 1. Project Description: Procurement is at the heart of the effective and efficient delivery of public services. It also involves the management of large amounts of money and is the largest single cause for allegations of corruption and government inefficiency. Weak procurement policies and practices constrain development and waste scarce public funds. Through the Paris Declaration (declaration of the Second High Level Forum on Aide Effectiveness, or HLF 2) ADB member countries committed to develop reliable procurement systems (indicator 2b). This was affirmed in September 2008 at HLF 3. At the same time, procurement has been identified in GACAP II as a governance thematic priority which must be assessed at country and sector level to inform preparation of the CPS. Procurement risks identified in ADB priority sectors should inform design of ADB programs and projects in those sectors. A review of current ROBPs and RCSPs does not reveal direct links to public procurement, Abut a review of CSPs does. The Philippines CSP, for example, identifies (i) weak institutional capacity to deliver public goods and services and prone to corruption; (ii) fiscal imbalance related to public expenditure management (of which procurement is a key component); and (iii) strengthening the civil service through improved public procurement. The RETA seeks to further ADB’s commitments under HLF2 (affirmed by HLF3) and GACAP II, and to address the development constraints posed by weak procurement as identified in CSPs. By networking procurement policy officials in a minimum of 20 DMCs, it will facilitate sharing of experiences and develop common agendas to move the public procurement systems of member countries toward international best practice. The objective is for one third of ADB DMCs to improve their procurement systems by a minimum of one point on four-point OECD/DAC scale by 2014 (ie, from A to B, or B to C, etc.). Over the 3.5 year implementation period the TA will fund (i) 4 regional conferences; (ii) 8 subregional meetings; (iii) the development of a functioning web site providing resource materials and forum facilities; and (iv) the production of a bi-monthly newsletter. Currently there is no forum that brings together DMC procurement policy officials to share experiences, identify common issues and seek coordinated solutions. Establishment of one will help raise the level of participating countries' procurement systems toward international best practice. Moreover, as public procurement is closely linked to trade, a coordinated procurement policy environment will contribute to regional economic integration and growth. 2. Consulting inputs: The TA will recruit two individual national consultants in HQ on part-time basis for the duration of the TA to assist with organizing conferences and meetings, to prepare the newsletter and to manage the web site content. The consultants will be engaged by ADB in accordance with the Guidelines on the Use of Consultants (2007, as amended from time to time). 3. Nature/extent of government/beneficiary involvement in identifying or conceptualizing the assistance: COSO surveyed 16 officials from 8 DMCs and found strong support for the initiative. A report on the survey is available from COSO. ADB donor partners (AusAID, DFID, JBIC, UNDP, World Bank) have been consulted and all support the initiative. 4. Timetable for processing and implementation: • Concept Clearance: 13 March 09 • Fact-finding (consultation with stakeholders: DMCs, donors, civil cosiaty organizations): 24-25 August 09 • Staff Review Committee: October 09 • Approval: November 09 • Commencement (consultant recruited):December 09 5. Cost Estimates: The total cost of the TA is estimated at $1,500,000 equivalent. It is proposed that the ADB provide $1,400,000 equivalent on a grant basis from TASF-IV and other trust fund. Participating Governments and donor partners will finance the remaining $100,000 equivalent through in-kind through a cooperation agreement (not included in the TA financing plan) to support and provision of resources, and funding of conferences and meetings. 6. For Inquiries on the concept paper: • Robert Rothery Local Number: (63) 2 632 5598 Email Address: [email protected] • Omar Tiwana Local Number: (63) 2 632 4410 Email Address: [email protected] • Mart Khaltarpurev, Local Number: (63) 2 632 6326 Email Address: [email protected]

PRELIMINARY DESIGN AND MONITORING FRAMEWORK Design Summary Impact Significant number of participating ADB DMCs will move procurement systems towards international best practice Outcome Strengthened capacity of public procurement policy bodies, primarily through cross-country sharing of knowledge of effective procurement systems

Outputs 1. Regional conference 2. Subregional meeting 3. Web site 4. Newsletter

Performance Targets/Indicators One third of ADB DMCs will improve procurement systems by minimum of one point on four-point OECD/DAC scale by 2014 (ie, from A to B, or B to C, etc) An established and effective network of procurement policy officials from a minimum of 20 ADB DMC’s who meet regularly and have established mechanisms so as to share experiences and jointly develop programs to move their procurement systems toward international best practice • 4 regional conferences • 8 subregional meetings

Data Sources/Reporting Mechanisms OECD/DAC Baseline Indicator (BLI) assessments

Assumptions and Risks BLI assessments will be conducted and validated in sufficient number of countries (note that 8 ADB DMCs have conducted baseline studies and therefore have starting-point data)

ADB survey, procurement risk assessments of CSPs, web sites of country procurement agencies

Participation and political commitment by DMC officials

ADB report

DMC officials can be identified and will willingly participate and contribute.

• Functioning web site providing resource materials and forum facilities • Bi-monthly newsletter, assessed as useful by its recipients

Successful delivery of program by ADB

(note: COSO survey has identified officials from 16 member countries who support the concept)

Activities with Milestones

Inputs

• Conduct 4 regional conferences with minimum 20 participating DMCs by 2012 • Conduct 8 subregional meetings, each with minimum 8 participating DMCs plus other

• ADB $1,400,000 to fund

by 2012. • Establish functioning web site by 2010 and continue to develop over course of TA

• Initiate bi-monthly newsletter by 2010 and continue to develop over course of TA

conferences and meetings, develop web site, and produce newsletter, including consulting services to assist with these activities • Governments: in-kind support when hosting conferences and meetings • Cofinancing: none identified as of writing of concept paper. Based on past work, in-kind support expected through cooperation agreement from World Bank, JBIC, DFID, UNDP, and AusAID to participate with conferences, meetings, newsletter, and web site • Others: initial discussions with UNDP indicates willingness to host web site on its Procurement Capacity Development web site