Enhancing Procurement and Inventory Management in Jordan
PMCG has developed a strategic action plan for the transition from a paper-based procurement process to e-procurement via the JONEPS system in Jordan that has seen its utilization soar from 47% to 100%.
The Government of Jordan (GoJ) has long experienced shortcomings in its institutional and administrative infrastructure, and lacked the human, financial, and technological capacity to handle the public procurement process.
To address this challenge, in 2021, USAID started the five-year Public Financial Management and Administration (PFMA) Activity, in which PMCG is engaged as a subcontractor of DAI Global. The Activity aims to strengthen fiscal sustainability in Jordan, to reduce obstacles to economic growth, to build the capacity of the GoJ to improve the revenue administration’s performance, and to ensure transparent budget management and public procurement processes.
The focus of our work is on optimizing public expenditure management, and last year we developed a strategic action plan for the rapid uptake of e-procurement (JONEPS) in Jordan, and delivered on-the-job trainings for central purchasing bodies on the use of JONEPS and the new procurement by-law. Through this technical assistance, in the Government Tenders Department (GTD), utilization of the e-procurement system (JONEPS) soared from a mere 47% to 100% by the end of 2022. Ultimately, this development will support the creation of procurement-related data and statistics, and will enable the GoJ to make public expenditure more efficient and transparent. At the same time, we are working on assessing the GoJ’s inventory management framework and developing an action plan accordingly.
Eng. Hadeel Al Farah, Head of International Relations at the GTD noted that
“the onsite training for GTD staff and engineering firms was extremely useful as it helped change their mindsets towards accepting the e-procurement system and embracing it as a more effective and efficient means of dealing with all the complexities of the procurement cycle; for example, they realized how this e-system improves transparency of information and promotes fair and equitable treatment for potential suppliers,” adding that “transitioning to 100% e-procurement by January 2023 would have been impossible without the support of the USAID PFMA.”
“Our support in the form of capacity-building and training activities for public and private sector representatives advances the quality of both decentralized and centralized procurement processes,”
said Mr. Alexandre Chkhikvishvili, Senior Consultant in Public Procurement at PMCG.
The USAID PFMA will continue to help the GTD to maintain universal use of JONEPS by providing more training for contractors and other key stakeholders to ensure a level playing field for potential suppliers, which directly impacts public expenditure control and therefore taxpayers’ resources.
