Summary Of Proceedings

Asia Pacific Procurement Forum 1st CONSULTATIVE MEETING Asian Development Bank, Manila, Philippines August 24 to 25, 2009

SUMMARY OF PROCEEDINGS Introduction Procurement Forum Initiative - The Asian Development Bank (ADB) conducted a consultative meeting to gather inputs from procurement officials and donor partners across Asia and the Pacific region to establish a “Procurement Forum”. Further details are available in the Technical Assistance Concept Paper Summary. Objectives – To address the development constraints posed by weak procurement as identified in CSPs, and by networking procurement policy officials in a minimum of 20 DMCs, it is hoped that the Forum will facilitate a sharing of experiences and develop common agenda to move the public procurement systems of member countries toward international best practice. Strategy/Action Plan – Over a 3-5 year implementation period, the initiative targets (i) regional conferences; (ii) subregional meetings; (iii) the development and maintenance of a functioning Forum website providing resource materials and a common platform for continuous dialogue and information exchange; and (iv) the production of a periodic newsletter. Members of the Forum A total of 24 countries/economies of the Asia Pacific region enumerated below whose representative(s) attended the Consultative Meeting have agreed, through a Questionnaire, to the establishment of an Asia Pacific Procurement Forum, and have contributed to its design in the course of the Consultative Meeting. Bangladesh Cambodia PRC Pakistan PNG Bhutan Indonesia Mongolia Uzbekistan Solomon Islands India Lao PDR Azerbaijan Maldives Malaysia Georgia Nepal Philippines Kazakstan Sri Lanka Thailand Kyrgyz Rep. Vietnam Tajikistan Setting the Stage for “Informed Brainstorming” Formally opening the Consultative Meeting were ADB Operations Group 2 Vice President Mr. C.L. Greenwood, Jr. who gave the opening address. This was followed by introductory remarks from ADB-COSO Principal Director Hamid Sharif.

Lead Professional Bob Rothery and Principal Procurement Specialist Omar Tiwana, both from ADB-COSO, jointly presented the program/agenda and overall format of the 2-day consultations particularly the procurement topics to be tackled at the breakout sessions, and chaired the meeting. Presentations Three presentations were made in the morning of Day 1, providing the most current thinking of donors and development partners on 'aid effectiveness' and assessment, including upgrading and using 'country systems' as a way to promote better practice in procurement. Presentations on Day 2 included a brief discussion on ADB’s Anti-Corruption Initiative, and two presentations on networking options: 1) a first cut on the proposed Asia Pacific Procurement Forum website, and 2) the Asia-Link project. Breakouts, Summary Findings, and Conclusions In the afternoon of Day 1, the participants separated into breakout groupings to tackle specific procurement topics and draw from them a prioritization of the issues/challenges, possible responses/solutions, and potential Forum intervention to these challenges. A summary of these discussions and prioritization have been recorded, and hopefully will help streamline the structure and operation of the Forum. At the end of Day 2, ADB-COSO Principal Director Hamid Sharif summed up the conclusions of the 2-day consultations. Also available now are the Summary Findings from the Questionnaire. Next Steps The Asia Pacific Procurement Forum website will be developed, and the funding proposal will be pursued. Please stay tuned. Ad hoc Forum Contacts Butch D. de la Cruz Consultant Central Operations Services Office (COSO) Asian Development Bank Tel: +63 2 632 4444 ext-70879 [email protected]

Clarisse M. Santos Consultant Central Operations Services Office (COSO) Asian Development Bank Tel: +63 2 632 4444 ext-70736 [email protected]