A discussion on the procurement system was held with the representatives of the Union of Advanced Technology Enterprises (UATE) NGO at the RA Ministry of Finance. The parties touched upon the procurement of information technologies and military industry, state policy on the development of information technology standards, technical specifications of tenders and other issues. In the course of the meeting, the proposals submitted by the UATE NGO regarding the procurement system, in particular, the procurement of information technologies and military industry were discussed.
First Deputy Minister of Finance Karen Brutyan welcomed and thanked the NGO representatives for responding to the proposal of the Ministry to reveal the gaps in the procurement sphere and for presenting detailed and valuable proposals on the field. He noted that the state as a buyer solves a specific problem - value in return for money: “In other words, the state, acting as a buyer, should receive equivalent products, activities, and services as a result of the transactions”. According to Brutyan, Armenia is a member of the WTO Government Procurement Agreement, which, in theory, means that the current regulations are in line with the international best practice. “It’s good, but not enough. In order to ensure that compliance is not nominal, we must ensure the efficiency, efficiency, and economy of procurement transactions in reality”, - stressed Brutyan.
According to the First Deputy Minister, to solve the problem, the system should always be up-to-date, responding to the requirements of time and reality, so it is necessary to periodically identify existing problems and give them adequate solutions. In this process, cooperation with the public sector, in particular, with the specialized units and the use of their professional skills are significant.
According to Karen Vardanyan, executive director of the UATE NGO, the proposals are based on the study of the problems existing in recent years. “We are concerned not only by the procurement process but also by ensuring the security of biometric data of Armenian citizens during electronic purchases and national security issues in general. We especially attach importance to electronic procurement. Our meeting and cooperation can be effective, especially given our experience with the example of cooperation with state bodies - the activity of the joint working group with the Union and customs and tax authorities since 2009”, - said K. Vardanyan.
As a result of the discussion, it was decided to:
1. present the proposals of the UATE NGO regarding procurement system to other relevant bodies, revise the existing regulations,
2. continue the cooperation, and, if necessary, have meetings and discuss issues, especially on those relating to the procurement of information technologies and military procurement.