Annual Progress Report: Fiscal Accountability and Sustainable Trade (FAST) - Effective Public Procurement for Kyrgyzstani Taxpayers

Agency for International Development (USAID)-assisted countries by enabling USAID to bring a systems approach to addressing public financial management, trade capacity building, macroeconomic planning and policies, and other economic governance issues. The task order aims to improve host-country capacity to mobilize revenue and provide public services, policy climate for investment, host-country ability to recover from and mitigate the impact of conflict, natural disasters, or fiscal crises, and host-country institutional capacity to identify, design, advocate, and implement better economic policies. The "Effective Public Procurement for Kyrgyzstani Taxpayers" project is a task under FAST that seeks to improve the self-reliance of the Kyrgyz Republic by improving public procurement systems. The project has two objectives: to increase efficiency and transparency of public procurement, and to enable civic engagement and oversight over public procurement. The project aims to reform public procurement systems and processes to increase efficiency and transparency, reduce corruption, and enable civic engagement in the conduct of public procurement operations. During FY2021, the project made significant progress in implementing several activities in support of improving efficiency of public procurement systems in the Kyrgyz Republic and enabling civil society organizations (CSOs) monitoring of public procurement. FAST conducted a detailed assessment of the public procurement system of the Kyrgyz Republic, which included mapping the Public Procurement Law (PPL) against the UNCITRAL Model Law on Public Procurement, conducting an assessment using the Transparent Public Procurement Rating (TPPR), and developing a comprehensive assessment of the public procurement system. The project also conducted a study and developed a Report on International Good Practice in Centralized and Cooperative Procurement. FAST provided technical assistance in conducting a review of the consistency between the regulations and the Public Procurement Law (PPL), drafting various regulations, developing "standard bidding documents," and supporting other legal amendments. The team provided support in drafting a Regulation on Standard Qualification Requirements and Technical Specifications, which is going through an internal approval within the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MoEF). As part of the Kyrgyz Republic's intended accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) Government Procurement Agreement (GPA), FAST provided technical assistance and developed a comprehensive package of the Kyrgyz Republic's accession. This included reviewing the PPL for non-compliance clauses, drafting legal clauses, analyzing the regulatory impact of accession, and developing an analysis of the risks to local producers and mitigation measures. In order to improve the functionality of the electronic procurement portal (e-portal), FAST developed consensus on the need to develop an e-contract management module through consultations and workshops with several stakeholders, including representatives from the Department of Public Procurement (DPP), the supplier community, and donors. FAST also assisted in the development of business process maps needed for the successful roll-out of the e-contract module, as well as several other modules, and developed a detailed e-procurement technical assistance roadmap draft. FAST developed a training plan detailing the methodology for conducting several trainings. These trainings will be conducted to build capacity of staff from the DPP and procuring entities. FAST delivered trainings on strengthening public procurement systems and procurement cycle management to build capacity of staff from the DPP and procuring entities. FAST also initiated broad outreach to civil society organizations (CSOs), who are now in permanent communication, which allowed them to organize and raise their voices for improving efficiency and transparency. The project's activity implementation between October 2020 and September 2021 has made significant progress in improving efficiency and transparency of public procurement systems in the Kyrgyz Republic and enabling civil society organizations (CSOs) monitoring of public procurement. The project's interventions have been implemented in accordance with the approved work plan, and the task's activity monitoring, evaluation, and learning (AMEL) plan implementation has been ongoing throughout the reporting period.