USTDA Launches Best-Value Procurement Training in Ethiopia
October 13, 2015
(USTDA)
ADDIS ABABA, 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 FPPA to 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.
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