Quarterly 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 (PFM), 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 prevent 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 under FAST 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 has been operating almost entirely remotely since its implementation began in July 2020 due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The project team, consisting of DevTech's home office staff, international consultants, local consultants, and local staff members, continues to collaborate using innovative solutions to implement work plan activities. During the reporting period, the project made progress on implementation and is continuing to support the Department of Public Procurement (DPP) of the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic in improving public procurement systems. The project's embedded local consultants provided technical assistance in support of drafting legal, regulatory, technical, and policy reforms. A detailed assessment of the public procurement system relative to international best practices was conducted. The assessment included a comparison of the Kyrgyz Republic's Public Procurement Law (PPL) with the UNCITRAL Model Law on Public Procurement, an update of the Transparent Public Procurement Rating (TPPR), and an assessment using the Methodology for Assessing Procurement Systems (MAPS). The three separate reports outlined gaps in the legal and regulatory framework and assessed the public procurement system against international best practices. The team worked closely with the counterpart and received feedback on the draft UNCITRAL and TPPR reports to validate the reports' findings. The feedback was incorporated, and both reports were updated. The team also worked on the MAPS report, which is an international standard and universal tool to assess public procurement systems in their entirety. The report has 55 sub-indicators, each with multiple elements, structured into four pillars: Pillar 1 – Legal, Regulatory, and Policy Framework; Pillar 2 – Institutional Framework and Management Capacity; Pillar 3 – Procurement Operations and Market Practices; and Pillar 4 – Accountability, Integrity, and Transparency of the Public Procurement System. The team received feedback from USAID on the draft report and translated it into Russian. The report was submitted to DPP for review and feedback. The project expects to complete the report and submit it for Contracting Officer Representative (COR) approval in August. The project also provided technical assistance in drafting an Analysis Report on the current legal and regulatory framework and several regulations and methodological instructions together with their compliance with the PPL. The report was submitted to DPP, and based on the report findings, the project provided technical assistance in drafting recommendations to improve the legal and regulatory framework in line with international good practice. The project's progress on implementation and technical assistance has been significant, and the project continues to support the DPP in improving public procurement systems. The project's efforts aim to increase efficiency and transparency of public procurement and enable civic engagement and oversight over public procurement. The project's work is critical in improving the self-reliance of the Kyrgyz Republic and promoting rapid, sustainable, and equitable economic growth.