ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) with an aim to strengthen public procurement and combat anti-competitive practices.

The PPRA is responsible for improving the governance, management, transparency, accountability and quality of public procurements of goods, services and works. All public sector entities, including regulatory bodies, are bound to follow the procurement procedures laid down by the PPRA.

The CCP is mandated to enforce powers under the Competition Act of 2010 to prohibit collusive bidding.

The MoU was signed by CCP chairwoman Vadiyya Khalil and PPRA Managing Director Khizar Hayat Khan in a ceremony held at CCP’s head office.

The MoU has been signed to forge a strategic partnership between the CCP and PPRA for sharing information on matters relating to their respective statutory mandates, including the possible cases of anti-competitive practices.

Both will undertake collaborated efforts to strengthen their own capacities in detecting anti-competitive practices in public procurement as well as to build the capacity of public procurement agencies to identify and report instances of bid rigging.

As part of such efforts, the PPRA will regularly provide training to CCP officials on matters relating to public procurement processes while CCP will provide training to PPRA officials on matters relating to anti-competitive practices.

In addition, they will also take steps to develop linkages and partnerships with international organisations that can assist in the capacity building of their staff. Moreover, the two institutions will assist each other in developing guidelines for the public procurement agencies and potential bidders regarding anti-competitive practices.

Published in Dawn, February 16th, 2017