The business community will soon be sensitised about the new procurement legislation which will be taken to Parliament early in 2021.
The Ministry of Finance, Economic Affairs and Investment, in association with the Barbados Private Sector Association, will be hosting a virtual meeting tomorrow, Tuesday, December 8, beginning at 9:30 a.m.
During the half-day seminar, business people will be informed about the new procurement rules, regulations and procedures, and learn about the procurement opportunities.
Former Director of Finance and Economic Affairs, Martin Cox, who was instrumental in developing the legislation, will be the main presenter.
Those business people who are interested may join the Zoom meeting by clicking this link, or the Meeting ID: 886 1326 2454 and Passcode: 918907.
The draft Public Procurement Bill is seen as extremely necessary if Barbados is to maximise the use of public resources, and promote greater efficiency and transparency in its procurement process.
The legislation will provide a single set of rules for all sectors, and will apply to government ministries/departments and state-owned enterprises, which use public funds to finance procurement activities.
This new legislation has been prepared under the modernisation of the Barbados National Procurement System (BNPS), which is in keeping with Government’s policy to allow small and medium-sized enterprises to access its procurement opportunities.
The BNPS is divided into four components – Strengthening of Public Procurement Legal Framework; Improving Procurement Operations and Marketplace; Strengthening Procurement Institutional Capacity and Modernising and Updating Technologies Infrastructure.