PPA New IT Software on Track to Revolutionize Bidding System
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Free downloads of bidding documents
Already available
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Software will comply with legal requirements,
Meet EU standards for ‘e-procurement’
JULY 6, 2007 -- A new way of doing business with the Public Procurement Agency (PPA) will take another step forward this week. This involves the final internal tests of a new software system which will make ‘corruption’ if not a thing of the past, at least much more difficult, according to Klodiana Cankja, PPA Director.
“Our counterparts at the Millennium Challenge Albania Threshold Agreement project and Alpha XP reported to us that they had achieved another test milestone this week,” Ms. Cankja said. “At the moment, we are at the test stage of assuring that the e-procurement system conforms to all legal requirements. Following this certification, we will begin testing the system with several major contracting authorities prior to a launch of the new system sometime in October. For now, we are on schedule.”
Millennium Challenge Albania Threshold Agreement project, administered by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) has been working with PPA for nearly a year to develop the new system.
Ms. Cankja said that, in time, the new PPA website will incorporate a digital certification function which means that bidders can use the site as their official channel to submit procurement bids. According to Ms. Cankja, this will make the e-procurement system in full compliance with EU standards.
“The beauty of the new system when fully operational is that bidders can download, directly and without charge, all documents related to public procurement, and then submit their official proposals,” Ms. Cankja said.
The system will conform to all legal requirements and guarantee ‘tamper proof’ safeguards to protect the integrity of both the bidding process and those who use the system.
“I think you can imagine how this opens up the process to all while eliminating the ‘corruption’ which has plagued public procurement throughout our history and reducing business costs to improve Albanian firms’ competitiveness,” she added. “These are huge developments for us and for businesses in Albania who seek a ‘level playing field when it comes to fair bidding,” she added.
“We will continue to offer tender documents and make aware announcements through usual means, too,” Ms. Cankja said. “But even these will necessarily be ‘open’ since these, when available through and published on the PPA website, cannot be limited or screened from public view as has been the case in the past.”
She added that for those bidders who prefer to obtain hard copies of documents, already contracting authorities offer these for a nominal copying charge usually between EUR 5-to-8 depending upon the length of the document.
According to the agency, in the first quarter of 2007, bidders on procurements offered by the agency downloaded more than 20,000 tender documents in one month alone, all for free.
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