USAID/OTI BOLIVIA HOT TOPICS
July 2005
DEMAND FAIRS: Transparency in Public Procurement
The USAID Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI) Bolivia program promotes peaceful participation in El Alto and other marginalized communities and increases access to balanced information on issues of national importance. OTI also expands economic opportunity by supporting short-term, community-based activities in distressed areas, such as El Alto and the altiplano, which are designed to increase self-reliance. Issues affecting youth and indigenous groups are cross-cutting themes in all of OTI/Bolivia's work. In response to Bolivia's ongoing political crisis, OTI is working closely with the transitional government to meet critical needs and help the country prepare for elections. OTI's implementing partner is Casals & Associates. The budget in fiscal year 2004 was $6.3 million and in fiscal year 2005 is $5.5 million.
Commerce between the public sector and small private enterprises in Bolivia is a source of tension in Bolivia. Many of the country's citizens have long maintained the perception that their government's processes for procuring goods and services are exclusionary, driven by favoritism and lack transparency. Seeking to challenge this perception, the Mesa administration issued the "Buy Bolivian" decree in January 2004, legislation designed to stimulate national production and promote transparency in public acquisitions, in theory opening up municipal procurement processes to small and micro enterprises. Noting the opportunity to further its work providing economic opportunities for marginalized groups, the USAID/Bolivia Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI) last year funded a national media campaign that made information about the Buy Bolivian norms more accessible to local businessmen and women throughout the country.
Responding to a request by the Bolivian Ministry of Economic Development and representatives of Bolivian industry, USAID/Bolivia is taking its support of transparency in public commerce a step further. Through the OTI program, USAID is now providing technical assistance and funding for regional demand fairs (ferias a la inversa), which have become the primary instrument for promoting and the Buy Bolivia legislation, and putting its norms into practice. An important anti-corruption initiative, the fairs are expected to generate more than $200 million in new business opportunities for small and medium enterprises throughout the country.
Working through implementing partner PROCAL, a Bolivian business association dedicated to economic development and job creation, the grant funds training for public functionaries and business sector representatives on how to organize the demand fairs. USAID/OTI is providing computers and other materials, and the grant covers synthesis and publication of results from these large public sector fairs as well.
During September, USAID/OTI funded a second feria a la inversa, or "demand fair," in the town of San Benito in Cochabamba, marking the first time a fair has been held in a rural area. The municipality made 65%, or about $110,000, of its annual operating budget for public projects and procurements available for competitive bidding to 1,000 micro- and small-entrepreneurs from Cochabamba, La Paz and Oruro. At a fair held recently in the capital of the department of Oruro, representatives from dozens of local businesses attended the opening day of the fair, taking advantage of the opportunity to register on grant-funded computers, which maintain a database of local businesses to streamline the process. After this first step, attendees walked around the center to review stands erected by the four departmental participants - the local branch of the Casa de la Salud, or National Health Bureau, and the Technical University, Prefecture and Municipality of Oruro. At each stand, the four participants posted lists of solicited needs for a variety of public works and materials, anything from spices and uniforms to construction on public buildings and systems. Business representatives selected relevant goods and services and submit bids to the four organizations for consideration in an open and transparent process. At the USAID/OTI-funded fair held in Sucre, the local municipality issued successful solicitations for more than 75% of its budget, receiving twice the number of bids for goods and services than usual. Four additional fairs are scheduled for future dates around the country.
Previous USAID/OTI support for the "Buy Bolivian" law through partner PROCAL, including a grant to provide seed capital for a rotating fund to finance tools, equipment and training to increase the capacity of local businesses to execute already-won municipal contracts, have resulted in thousands of signed contracts. Since the successful execution of the fairs, the national government has adopted the demand fairs the critical mechanism for promoting development and government transparency.
For further information, please contact:
In Washington, D.C: Amy Frumin, LAC Program Manager, 202-712-4231, afrumin@usaid.gov
|
