During 24th - 28th of October 2016 representatives of the Procurement Board attended a workshop on Procurement and Contract Management: Effective Tendering, Award of Contract and Managing your Provider, hosted by Public Administration International (PAI) in the London, United Kingdom.
The Director of the Governor’s Officer and Chairman of the Procurement Board, Mr. James Astwood along with the Procurement Officer and Secretary to the Procurement Board, Ms. Lurita Ewing were the two representatives from the Turks and Caicos Islands Government who took part in the five (5) day workshop. The aim and objective of the workshop was to gain knowledge in the following key areas in Procurement:
• Key documentation, tendering, evaluation and awarding of contracts; and
• Understand how to develop a robust contractor regime, ensuring quality, contract control and compliance and conducting post-procurement reviews.
The workshop included other participants from countries such as Ghana, Nigeria and Bulgaria. All of the participants are actively involved in the Procurement Process in their home country which enabled healthy discussions regarding the different policies and legislature managing each country’s procurement process.
“The workshop was well organized and the majority of the material presented was similar to the Procurement Process carried out in the Turks and Caicos Islands Government. Even though the countries represented were governed by different laws and policies the common principles found amongst each country regarding Procurement was to uphold Transparency and receive the best Value for Money,” Ms. Lurita Ewing stated.
Mr. Astwood stated; “The workshop was a very rewarding experience as it allowed us as participants to gain better knowledge and insight into the whole process of procurement as well as gained ideas and best practices from other countries on their procurement process. We must say a great thanks to the Deputy Governor’s Office for affording us this opportunity to attend this workshop through the Professional Development Fund.”
Deputy Governor, Anya Williams stated; “As the Turks and Caicos Islands Capital Program amounts to over $36.5m and is comprised of almost 100 individual capital projects, it is important that our contracts and procurement staff, that are charged with these responsibilities are equipped with the relevant skills that will allow them to carry out their jobs in a productive and efficient manner.
“Procurement and Contract Management is vital to a governments success and has a profound impact on local economies It is for this reason that this training program was seen as a high priority and I am pleased that it was able to be accommodated through our Professional Development Fund which has had a great impact throughout the year in providing much needed training and development programs to staff across government.”