This courses aims at upgrading national capacity in the management of the public procurement functions at the legislative, institutional and operational levels. It is designed to explain the significance of public procurement to national development, its founding principles (with reference to UNCITRAL Model Law, European Union procurement directives, World Bank procurement regulations and WTO/GPA) and typical models for the design of its institutional and managerial frameworks.

You will be faced with the OECD Assessment Tool for national public procurement systems in order to be able to scrutinise the current status of your own national systems and measure the extent to which it conforms with internationally-recognised standards. In addition, the course provides you with essential practical business skills indispensable for successful implementation of the public procurement process for goods, construction works and services.

You will be provided with the practical skills necessary to enhance economy, efficiency and transparency in the management of public procurement operations.

On completion of this course you will be able to conduct the procurement process for goods, works and services in accordance with internationally accepted standards through:

• Better understanding of the role of competition, non-discrimination and transparency in achieving “value for money” in public procurement operations;
• Effective planning, risk assessment, execution and monitoring of public procurement operations;
• Appropriate selection of prescribed procurement methods;
• Preparation of well-balanced procurement documents based on standard models of proven validity and the ability to customise these to suit their national context and regulatory frameworks;
• Increased awareness of the importance of “bid challenge” procedures and related remedies for the proper functioning of a public procurement system;
• Upgraded ability to conduct bid evaluation, contract award and contract administration procedures;
• Proficient use of international commercial trade terms - INCOTERMS;
• Development of an action plan for improvement of national procedures for execution of public procurement in conformity with the existing national legislation;
• Enhanced capacity to put in place systems for upholding integrity in public procurement operations: safeguards for prevention and detection of fraud and corruption with reference to a specifically-developed OECD checklist.

At the end of the course, you will receive a Certificate of Participation issued by ITCILO.

Course delivery methodology is a combination of presentations by subject-matter specialists, panel discussions on key issues, individual and group exercises, role play and analysis of case studies dealing with typical problems in public procurement.

You will be provided with prescribed course training modules and reference materials. You are encouraged to bring along copies of selected national procurement documents e.g. national public procurement law or regulations and standard bidding documents that are in use in your country.