MANAMA: An independent body that oversees all government tenders and purchases witnessed strong growth in 2017, according to its latest report.
The Tender Board awarded 1,892 tenders in response to 5,208 bids worth BD3.75 billion in total value, that was 156 per cent more in value than 2016.
The annual report stated the total number of opened tenders reached 1,091 last year, up 9.2pc from the previous year.
The top five purchasing authorities with the highest value tenders last year were: Bahrain Petroleum Company (Bapco) (BD1.8bn), Gulf Air (BD1.2bn), Electricity and Water Authority (BD309 million), the Housing Ministry (BD82m) and Tatweer Petroleum (BD78m).
Among the mega projects were Bapco modernisation programme, the purchase of aircraft engines for Gulf Air’s new fleet as well as other airline expenses, the transmission of cable works for the Electricity and Water Authority and the construction and maintenance of housing units for the Housing Ministry.
“We had a strong 2017 and we are expecting continued growth over the next 12 months,” said Housing Minister and Tender Board chairman Bassem Al Hamer.
“Procurement laws are being updated to better suit current business needs and further improve an already highly transparent system.
“The Cabinet recently approved new streams of revenues that will allow us to hire qualified personnel for new specialised roles, add further value to our services, develop our capacities, and implement further strategic improvements.”
The number of local suppliers registered with the Tender Board jumped to 4,268 from 3,123 in the previous year.
The report, entitled Transparency for Sustainable National Development, also reveals a healthy 35pc increase in international engagement, with 2,948 regional and global companies registering with Tender Board last year, compared with 2,176 in 2016.
In addition, 2,568 companies took initiative to prequalify themselves for tenders last year, up by 18pc from 2016.
The Tender Board dealt with more than 90pc of incoming government requests in less than 14 days and plans to roll out this year a data-entry process through a full-fledged digital project.
A new customer service portal was also introduced with the aim of becoming even closer and efficient with the target audiences.
“We are very proud of what we have been able to achieve in the past 12 months and plan to continue on our path forward with more enhancements that tie directly back to our vision,” said Tender Board secretary general Hayam Al Awadhi.
“We plan to continue improving the transparency and efficiency of the kingdom’s government procurement practices in ways that are sure to encourage more suppliers and contractors to engage with Bahrain.”
Meanwhile, other points mentioned in the report state the Tender Board dealt with 296 “ grievances” last year compared with 205 in 2016.
sandy@gdn.com.bh
&uuid=(email))