PERSPECTIVES FROM THE OECD

ROLF ALTERDIRECTOR FOR PUBLIC GOVERNANCE AND TERRITORIAL DEVELOPMENTOECD

Key Challenges in Public Procurement

3rd Annual Conference on Public Procurement 

Athens, June 20, 2014

The context: trust in government is low and has been decreasing

Source: Gallup World Poll

Public Procurement is an important economic activity

% %

Denmark

AustraliaAustriaBelgiumCanada

Czech Republic

Korea

EstoniaFinlandFrance

GermanyGreeceHungary

United States

PolandPortugal

Slovak RepublicSlovenia

SpainSweden

General government procurement as share of GDP (2011) General government procurement as share of total general government expenditures (2011)

SwitzerlandTurkey

United Kingdom

LuxembourgMexico

NetherlandsNew Zealand

NorwayOECD

IcelandIrelandIsraelItaly

Japan

18.9%

0 10 20 30 40 50

9.8%

0510152025

Source: OECD Government at a Glance 2013

Public Procurement is an important economic activity

55%

24%

45%

76%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Sub-central government Central government

Source: OECD Government at a Glance 2013

Procurement is the government’s activity with the highest perceived corruption risk

Challenges to ensure that public procurement promotes value for money with integrity:

1. Promoting transparency, integrity and value for money throughout the whole procurement cycle

2. Professionalising procurement

3. Introducing systematic performance monitoring of public procurement systems

• Providing international instruments, standards

• Undertaking hands-on peer reviews to assess procurement systems, either national or sectorial, and tailored proposals to address implementation gaps in specific context

• Bringing together a community of practice on procurement to shape directions for future reforms

• Policy dialogue with government & private sector, for example in the framework of the G20

• Building evidence on the performance of procurement operations & their impact

OECD promotes strategic approach to Public Procurement

• Greece has undertaken a dynamic public procurement reform.

• The EU is helping Greece in implementing reforms through, in particular, Task Force Greece.

• The OECD provides technical assistance to Greece through hands-on workshops and guidance on international best practices.

Example of Greece: OECD supports implementation of public procurement reform

• Public procurement is a key component of the strategic state

• Procurement systems must focus firmly on evidence and performance

• Careful balancing of public procurement priorities is required

Addressing Public Procurement Challenges

• Updating the 2008 OECD Recommendation on Enhancing Integrity in Public Procurement

• Lessons from new EU Directives on Public Procurement

• Consulting with stakeholders to ensure that the revised OECD Recommendation is relevant and inclusive

Next Steps

For more information on OECD work on public integrity

www.oecd.org/gov/ethics

Thank you