Local Experts Explore ‘Value For Public Money’ At Procurement Governance Lab
Dozens of local purchasing officers, lawyers, and procurement experts gathered at the Hyatt Regency hotel on Wednesday to delve into their roles, rights and responsibilities.
Speaking at the second instalment of the Procurement Governance Lab hosted by the Law Association of Trinidad and Tobago and the T&T Contractors Association, Attorney Dr. Margaret Rose shared a definition for procurement in the State sector.
« Public procurement is the exchange of money for value, and therefore we need to think about what is value for money. What is value for money, and I say let’s get even more precise: what is value for public money. »
Dr. Rose’s presentation on Governing Procurement: Philosophy, Policy and Practice also spoke about the global narrative around open competition in public procurement.
« External forces promote this around the world that open competitive procurement is good procurement. That is why, but the United States of America has never engaged in open competitive procurement. »
Dr. Rose noted that the American Revolution was based on colonists refusing to be told which tea to purchase, and their federal « buy America » laws have been amended and enhanced over the last two centuries.
In addition, Dr. Rose said the procurement sector can help the country to earn foreign exchange.
« Do we see that there are two suppliers in this industry locally who, if we support them a little bit, could build their capacity to be a leading player locally and then export. How do—we’re talking about forex and we don’t have forex. Nobody is understanding the criticality of public procurement and these conversations. You want forex, you need to build your local suppliers so that they can export. »
