Contact: In Washington, D.C.: Benjamin Crow (202) 473-5105 E-mail: bcrow@worldbank.org Washington, DC, June 10, 2008—The World Bank today approved a US$1.5 million grant to the assist the Royal Government of Bhutan improve its national public procurement system. The Institutional Capacity Building Project for Procurement will create an up-to-date national procurement system recognized by international partners as standard and adequate for all procurement whether for the national budget or donor-financed projects. The positive outcomes produced through more efficient, effective, fair, and transparent procurement, such as increased accountability, value for money, and budgetary savings, are expected to have an impact on achieving other goals, including rapid economic growth, promoting private sector growth, and improving quality of life. “Procurement requires a variety of skills to enable procurement officers to use the framework of rules and regulations to make informed decisions and work to guarantee optimal results,” said Dimitri De Pues, task leader for the project. “This project will focus on building the capacity of national institutions in Bhutan responsible for training people on public procurement, thus making it sustainable and creating a professional procurement cadre of civil servants.” The main objective of the project is to establish the standards required for a body of procurement professionals and to establish a qualifications and training program to support the future development of these professionals. This will be achieved through the creation and implementation of a People Development Strategy. By mainstreaming this strategy in Bhutanese partner organizations, the project will be made sustainable. The project will also look to further develop knowledge and procurement practice throughout the country through the creation of networks, communities of practice, events, and conferences focusing on key procurement topics and studies. The Institutional Capacity Building Project for Procurement is consistent with the government’s Country Assistance Strategy, which is itself based on the government’s Ninth Five Year Plan, objective of strengthening the management of public resources by ensuring that the country has a proper legal framework in place for procurement which will, in turn, promote private sector development and employment. The US$1.5 million grant is from the International Development Association, the World Bank’s concessionary lending arm. For more information about World Bank activities inBhutan, please visit: http://www.worldbank.org/bt For more information about the Institutional Capacity Building Project for Procurement, please visit: http://web.worldbank.org/external/projects/main?pagePK=64283627&piPK=73230&theSitePK=306149&menuPK=306182&Projectid=P099126
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