MANAMA, 4 October 2007 -- The Tender Board Bahrain (BTB), which had won many international accolades as the most transparent body in the public sector, announced the launch of e-tendering project to integrate all the ministries and business community by utilizing a single e-tendering system. The completion of the project is expected within months.
The company said in a statement on Tuesday that the move toward a central e-tendering system is fostered by the Board's mandate to strengthen the transparency and fair competition that the tender board advocates. The adoption of e-tendering by the tender board is an important element of the planned introduction of e-government by the Kingdom of Bahrain.
Minister Abdul Hussein Mirza, who is also chairman, Bahrain Tender Board said: "Bahrain Tender Board has decided to implement the VARStreet solution (which was done through a tender) to provide a centralized online system to streamline the tendering process, provide greater transparency, better procurement practices and higher levels of service to various ministries in their tendering process."
The system will provide a single interface to the government purchasing authorities, suppliers and the tender board and automate activities performed by the parties by integrating them on a single electronic network.
Among the key benefits the system will bring to BTB is a reduction in the administrative cost and improved accuracy of orders.
He added: "Tender Board's objective for the e-tendering system is to manage all tenders and government purchases online. The system will help in announcing bids, receiving documents, opening bids, and announcing tender awards.
The use of e-tendering in other parts of the world has already illustrated its ability to reduce administrative costs and processing time, as well as increasing the quality and transparency of decision making and reducing the number of complaints.
Upon completion of this project, the e-tendering system will eliminate unnecessary overheads and further speed up the tendering process.
Tender Board has extended bridges of cooperation between the Board and the government purchasing authorities on one hand, and the local and external contractors and suppliers on the other hand.
The aim is to ensure that government purchases are obtained at fair and competitive prices. After the e-tendering system goes live, the board will encourage all government purchasing authorities to use the system online as well as contractors and suppliers through a comprehensive training schedule."
Al-Nadeem Information Technology, a leading IT firm providing professional IT solutions and services, along with the US-based VARStreet -- the e-tendering solution vendor's and Mastek, a global systems integrator, will create the online system to manage all tenders and government purchases, as well as improved communication with contractors and suppliers. "We are excited to assist Bahrain Tender Board in meeting its business objectives with our world class solution and we look forward to working with the ministries and suppliers in utilizing the solution both in Bahrain and elsewhere across the Middle East region," said Ubaydli Ubaydli, CEO of Al-Nadeem Information Technology.
© Arab News 2007
