Even before the change of government following the general elections that took place on May 9, C4 Center has been a strong advocate for the implementation of a more transparent public procurement policy at the state level. Given the fact that Pakatan Harapan has won federal power, we feel the time could not be more right to push for a comprehensive implementation of a transparent public procurement policy at the federal level.
In light of C4 Center’s unwavering commitment to good governance, we have taken the initiative to conduct research towards a baseline policy paper on public procurement policy in Malaysia. This policy paper embodies an analysis of Malaysia’s current public procurement policy, its gaps and problems, and recommendations for improvement based on existing good practices. The recommendations, if duly implemented, will be key in ensuring that the government administration, procurement in particular would function with high standards of integrity, openness, and transparency.
The paper, among others, highlights the following:
“Despite having procurement policies and procedures in place, public procurement of Malaysia continues to be marred by incidents of overpriced purchase, extravagance spending, wastage, cost overruns, delays of completion of projects and shoddy and low quality in their deliverables. Former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim estimated that the country suffered about RM20 billion in losses every year through monetary leakages via corruption, wastage and money laundering.[1] It is estimated that procurement in Malaysia causes losses of up to RM10 billion a year.[2] This would account for about 6% of the total value of Malaysia’s public procurement.”
“…the key weaknesses of the existing design and implementation of the procurement system of Malaysia can be divided into 2 parts, namely the weaknesses in internal control system and the weaknesses in external oversight mechanism.”
“The improvement of procurement system and policy of Malaysia will be a futile effort if the question of enforcement is not addressed. This points to the dire need for an independent mechanism and closer cooperation with other institutions such as MACC to ensure effective enforcement of public procurement policy.”
Given the Pakatan Harapan government’s strong commitment to upholding the good governance agenda in this Malaysia Baru, we would like to invite the public to the C4 Center Seminar and Report Launch: Policy Paper on Public Procurement on 28 August 2018. The launch of the policy paper will be followed by discussion featuring key stakeholders on pertinent issues surrounding public procurement. Special Officer to the Minister of Finance MP Tony Pua will be delivering the opening speech and Minister of Works MP Baru Bian will be delivering the closing speech.
Your participation will undeniably add richness to our initiative. This event is free for the public to attend. Advised dress code is business formal attire.
Date: Tuesday, 28 August 2018
Time:10.00am – 2.00pm
Place:Ballroom B, Aloft Kuala Lumpur Sentral.
No. 5 Jalan Stesen Sentral, Kuala Lumpur, 50470 Malaysia
Register here on our eventbrite page or email us at c4center [at] gmail [dot] com for more details.
Download the full position paper HERE (48 pages, 4.7mb).
Download the author Yap Swee Seng’s presentation slides here (28 slides, 0.6mb).
