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Anticorruption and Good Governance in Tunisia - Public procurement

Public procurement projects in Tunisia

> ANTICORRUPTION AND GOOD GOVERNANCE IN TUNISIA

The OECD is implementing the project “Good Governance and Anticorruption in Tunisia” in coordination with the Tunisian government and with financial support from the United Kingdom's Foreign and Commonwealth Office. The overarching goal of this project is to contribute to improving the governance of public funds, stability, prosperity and the confidence of citizens in Tunisia. Under the project component ‘creating prosperity’, public procurement contributes to enhancing public service delivery, generating business opportunities for local economic operators, including vulnerable ones, as well as more delivering efficiency and transparency of procurement operations.

The three-year project focused on the following thematic areas:

* SME access to public procurement

* Risk management in public procurement procedures

* Improving Tunisia’s E-procurement environment

> SUPPORTING VULNERABLE GROUPS IN THE CONTINUITY OF LOCAL DN CRITICAL SERVICES DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

In coordination with the Tunisian government and with financial support from the United Kingdom's Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the OECD implemented the project "Supporting vulnerable groups and the continuity of local and critical services during the COVID 19 pandemic". The project has a particular focus on ensuring the resilience and efficiency of the Tunisian public procurement system, particularly in the context of the COVID-19 crisis and related delivery of critical goods and services (e.g. essential supplies, health services). Among others, the project’s activities include an analysis of emergency purchases, support to pilot entities, training in public procurement, cooperation with civil society on the quality of public services, as well development of e-learning modules.

Fast Facts

©Marvdrock/Nounproject 

Country: Tunisia

©Adrien Coquet/The noun project

Timeframe: 

  • Anticorruption and Good Governance in Tunisia: April 2017- March 2020
  • Supporting vulnerable groups in the continuity of local and critical services during the COVID-19 pandemic: August 2020-March 2021
©Shashank Singh/ The Noun project

Counterparts:

  • Haute Instance de la Commande Publique (HAICOP)
  • MENA-OECD Governance Programme
  • UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office
  • 6 municipalities: Sidi Ali Ben Aoun, Cebalet Ouled Asker, Enfidha, Sidi El Heni, BirLahmer and Ghomrassen
©The Icon Hero/Noun Project

Areas of focus:

Content of the project

SME access to public procurement

In Tunisia, SMEs face various constraints when accessing public markets despite the existence of a clear strategy to enhance their access to procurement opportunities.

This OECD reviewed the legal framework and the various initiatives implemented in Tunisia to recommend key measures to improve the legal and regulatory framework, as well as the practices to facilitate SMEs' access to markets public.

Risk management

Tunisia is one of the first countries to have developed a risk management strategy in public procurement. In fact, public procurement is a high-risk area requiring particular attention to risk

management. Representing nearly 14% of GDP in Tunisia, public procurement is one of the most vulnerable government activities to various.

The OECD support HAICOP in the following activities:

- Developing of a strategy for risk management in public procurement

- Creating a guide on the management of risks in public procurement

- Conducting seven pilots on the implementation of the strategy for risk management in public procurement

E-procurement and vulnerable groups

E-procurement is a powerful lever to increase the efficiency of procurement operations and can be a valuable tool in creating economic opportunities for vulnerable groups, such as SMEs, women-owned businesses as well as young entrepreneurs. To this end, the OECD team provided technical assistance aimed at strengthening the capacity of different users of the e-procurement system in Tunisia.

The following activities were conducted:

- Strengthening capacity of public entities through a train-the-trainer programme

- Enhancing vulnerable groups’ uptake of TUNEPS through dedicated supplier training

- Consultations with stakeholders to improve the e-procurement environment

- Report on ‘Improving the E-Procurement Environment in Tunisia’

Vulnerable groups in the continuity of local and critical services during the COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 crisis has exposed weaknesses in the public procurement system, which in turn affects the delivery of key public services to citizens, such as health and education. Indeed, during the health crisis, public buyers were not only required to a source with extreme urgency, but also under great uncertainty and in a rapidly changing environment. To address some of these challenges, the project's actions included:

- A rapid assessment of emergency purchases during COVID-19 in Tunisia

- Assistance to two pilot entities in their procurement strategies

- Creation of e-learning modules on the use of the e-procurement platform TUNEPS

- Training on public procurement principles for local authorities and CSOs

- The development of a price dashboard of essential goods and services

- The creation of a cooperation mechanism with civil society to ensure the quality of public services.

Timeline

Anticorruption and Good Governance in Tunisia

  • 2017-2018 - Facilitating SME access to public procurement
  • 2018-2021– Risk management
  • 2019-2020 – E-procurement and vulnerable groups
  • 2020-2021 - Supporting vulnerable groups in the continuity of local and critical services during the COVID-19 pandemic

Outputs and resources

Cover - Accès PME au marchés publics en Tunisie

Améliorer l’accès des PME aux marchés publics en Tunisie: la voie à suivre

   
Cover - Strategie de Management des Risques dans le Marchés publics en Tunisie

Stratégie de management des risques dans les marchés publics

   
Cover - Management des risques marchés publics en Tunisie

Guide de Management des Risques dans les Marchés Publics en Tunisie

   
 Cover - Ameliorer Environment de la Passation Electronique en Tunisie

Improving the E-Procurement Environment in Tunisia: Supporting Vulnerable Groups in gaining better Access to TUNEPS

   
 Cover - Evaluation achats urgence COVID en Tunisie

Évaluation des achats d’urgence liés à la pandémie COVID 19 en Tunisie