INTRODUCTION

The procurement process is basically the approach adopted by the government for implementation of an infrastructure project. The adopted approach for procurement of infrastructure project should satisfy the development objectives of the government and/or operational needs with respect to the provision of constructed facilities over the project lifecycle. This section discusses the objectives that the procurement process should fulfill and the procedure on how the project is procured through PPP route.

OBJECTIVES

The governments need to ensure that the process put in place for procurement of infrastructure projects fulfills the following objectives:

• Satisfy the country's development goals: The design of the procurement system should be to ensure that each project in accordance with the country's development plans. This requires that the project selection criteria are tailored to the government's particular economic and social objectives.
  
  
• Ensure that the procurement process is fair and transparent: This will not only make the project attractive to private investors but will also strengthen the public confidence in PPP approach to infrastructure development. Lenders also perceive that a fair and transparent procurement process most likely result in cost-effective projects with least risk of abuse and default.
  
  
• Procurement process should be designed to promote competition: In order to encourage competition, the procurement process should incorporate mechanisms such as public announcement of the project, procurement laws and regulations that are accessible to public, solicitation documents that provide common basis for preparing and evaluating proposal, and objective, non-discriminatory evaluation criteria made known to the private sector in advance.
  
  
• Encourage private sector to be innovative: Efficiency gain is one of the reasons for adopting PPP route in infrastructure development. The procurement process should be structured in such a way that it promotes private sector to innovate and creative in design, technology, management, and financing.
  
  
• Ensure that the procurement process results in an early award of the project: This could greatly improve the chances for firm proposals and smooth conclusion of the many contractual arrangements needed to finalize BOT project.
  
  
• Minimize the time of developing BOT projects: Lengthy procurement process could result in increase of development cost. This will in turn make it unattractive for private investors thereby limiting the number of qualified bidders, thus reducing the competition and efficiency.