Implement E-procurement to Fight Corruption: Asian Regulators

SINGAPORE, May 14, 2011 (Press-News.org) The e-procurement leader in Asia is without a doubt South Korea, which has successfully implemented e-procurement since 1991. Since its implementation, E-Procurement has led to a five-fold increase in public procurement productivity according to James Kang, a Director at the Korean Public Procurement Service. He added, "E-procurement systems have contributed to the drastic reduction of illegal practices, due to the elimination of face-to-face contact between officials and suppliers, and automation of work."

Indonesia is also looking into E-procurement as a solution to corruption. The country which is ranked 110 in Transparency International's corruption index, is looking to complete their implementation of E-procurement by 2012, according to Danis Sumadilaga, a senior official at the Ministry of Public Works-Indonesia. "E procurement", according to Danis, "will have a higher level of transparency and accountability." He added, "Greater transparency will lead to economic growth in all sectors in Indonesia and would enhance the partnership between private sector and government."

Even India is looking into E-procurement for public procurement, according to Sunil Kohli, Joint Secretary & Financial Advisor at India's National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), who asserted that "e-procurement will bring in a high-level of transparency in the whole procurement cycle, and will strengthens the accountability mechanism."

But e-procurement is not without its challenges, and wily suppliers can fool the system according to James Kang, "One of the problems we've been experiencing is collusion among bidders, even under the highly transparent e-procurement system." Putting in place a system of checks and balances however, is easier said than done, especially in countries like India, where corruption is deeply rooted according to Sunil Kohli. He said, "Handling middle-men, corrupt officials and warding off the vested interests of the officials in the government procurement process remains a major challenge in India."

James, Danis and Sunil are all part of the expert panel speaking at the Procurement Strategies for the Public Sector conference from 12-13 July 2011 in Singapore. This major regional conference will see policy makers, and procurement practitioners converge to brainstorm solutions to the key challenges to public procurement across Asia.

The complete transcripts of the interviews, along with case studies and reports on public procurement are available for complimentary download at the Procurement Strategies for the Public Sector conference website, at http://www.publicprocurementasia.com.

Registration for the Procurement Strategies for the Public Sector conference is still open. Those seeking more information can email enquiry@iqpc.com.sg or call +65 6722 9388 to request for an information pack or registration forms.

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