KATHMANDU, Jan 19: Transparent public procurement will encourage its use among key stakeholders for increasing fairness, integrity and effectiveness of the procurement system in the country, according to experts.
Bibhusan Bista, CEO of Young Innovations, presenting his paper at a workshop on Procurement Transparency in Nepal through Open Data Management, organized by Public Procurement Monitoring Office (PPMO), in Kathmandu on Tuesday, explained what open contracting and its standards are and how maximum disclosure of procurement data is beneficial for government entities, civil society organizations, media as well as contractors.
The PPMO in collaboration with the Open Contracting Partnership is implementing a project entitled 'Public Procurement Transparency Initiative in Nepal' (PPTIN) that aims at facilitating strategic disclosure of public procurement data and to encourage its use among key stakeholders in Nepal.
Speaking at the program, Ramesh Kumar Sharma, secretary of the PPMO, said that his office was committed toward publicly disclosing public procurement information to a maximum level so as to ensure fairness in procurement activities through the use of information and communication technology (ICT). Sharma explained about the recent amendments to the Public Procurement Rules that has enabled PPMO to largely organize procurement behaviors of public entities.
In the inaugural session, Krishnahari Baskota, Chief Information Commissioner of National Information Commission, said that the current initiative of PPMO to open government data is a fresh start among all the government agencies to adopt Open Government Data.
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