The Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) and the
Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) signed a Memorandum of
Understanding for strengthening public procurement and combating
anti-competitive practices.
The MoU was signed by Vadiyya Khalil, Chairperson CCP
and Khizar Hayat Khan, Managing Director (MD), PPRA in a ceremony held at CCP
Head Office. The ceremony was attended by Mr. Ikram Ul Haque Qureshi, CCP’s
Member (Cartel & Trade Abuse and Legal) and senior officers of PPRA and CCP.
PPRA under the PPRA Ordinance, 2002 is responsible to
take measures for improving the governance, management, transparency,
accountability and quality of public procurement of goods, services and works in
the public sector while CCP has the enforcement powers under the Competition
Act, 2010 to prohibit collusive bidding.
The MoU has been signed to forge a strategic
partnership between the CCP and PPRA for sharing of information on matters
relating to their respective statutory mandates, including the possible cases of
anti-competitive practices. CCP and PPRA 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 the public procurement
agencies to identify and report the instances of bid rigging.
As part of such efforts, 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 public procurement. In addition, they will also
take steps to develop linkages and partnerships with other organizations 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.
The Chairperson CCP and MD PPRA while speaking on the
occasion expressed the resolve to effectively implement the MoU in letter and
spirit for the greater benefit of the stakeholders and the public exchequer.