THE Government of Jamaica announced, yesterday, the launch of the country’s first electronic procurement platform, which will improve the efficiency and quality of public procurement.The system was funded jointly by the Government of Jamaica and an Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) technical assistance programme ‘Implementation of Electronic Government Procurement’.
It will provide an electronic system for government procuring and tendering agencies and suppliers, and automating activities performed by these parties, by integrating them on a single portal.

A statement from the IDB said the new system will result in significant savings on annual public expenditures for goods, works and services in Jamaica. It will also contribute to decreased administrative costs through the streamlining of processes, increased competition through greater publicity of contracts and standardisation of practices, improved effectiveness of public spending, maximising and leveraging the potential of limited public resources and finally it will also increase transparency and give citizens the opportunity to access and control information about how public money is spent.

“The launching of this eTendering platform will ensure a more transparent and efficient process on government procurement in Jamaica. Suppliers will receive notifications about procurement opportunities, and will be able to complete all stages of the tendering process electronically. I am certain that all stakeholders will be thrilled about this innovative approach,” said Cecile Maragh, Senior Director of Procurement and Asset Policy Unit.

The newly launched platform will include features such as online access to procurement legislation and regulations for all agencies and stakeholders; online advertising of bids; downloading of bid documents; contract award publication; electronic bid submission; e-mail notification of new bids to suppliers and; and an electronic procurement management information system that facilitates audit, as well as the extraction of data for statistical purposes.