USTDA Launches Best-Value Procurement Training in Ethiopia
Today, the U.S. Trade and Development Agency kicked off the first phase of its Procurement Assistance Program in Ethiopia under the Agency's Global Procurement Initiative: Understanding Best Value (GPI). USTDA is providing 50 Ethiopian government officials with access to world class procurement experts, including leaders from the George Washington University's Government Procurement Law Program and technical specialists in life-cycle cost analysis, through a three-day workshop on Obtaining Value in Public Procurement.
"We strongly believe that increasing the efficiency, fairness, and transparency of the expenditure of public resources is critical to sustainable development and the reduction of poverty. Efficient public procurement systems are essential to the achievement of the development objectives of the Government of Ethiopia," Director General Tsegaye Abebe of Ethiopia's Public Procurement and Property Administration Agency (FPPA) stated at the workshop's opening ceremony. "I would like to applaud USTDA for initiating this partnership arrangement with the Government of Ethiopia in the area of public procurement, which has become increasingly important for the country's development endeavor."
In July, USTDA Director Leocadia I. Zak signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the FPPAto formalize cooperation under the GPI. The partnership, which was announced during President Obama's visit to Ethiopia, signals the importance the U.S. and Ethiopian governments place on promoting transparent, outcomes-focused public procurement processes.
A second phase of assistance is planned for the spring of 2016, when USTDA will sponsor a group of senior Ethiopian procurement officials for follow-on training in the United States. The visit will provide the officials with the opportunity to learn how U.S. federal, state and municipal officials incorporate best value and life-cycle cost analysis into their procurements. The goal of the GPI is to provide partner countries like Ethiopia with the access, opportunity and support they need to structure sound infrastructure tenders that can foster sustainable economic growth.