By: Sayed Hassan Naqawi Procurement Policy Unit, Afghanistan Ministry of Finance www.ppu.gov.

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A post war country with totally ruined infrastructure by 2002 Development started in 2002 with the flow of international donations. Due to several factors, the development was slow and least effective

Conflict between different armed groups and government A democratic state

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May 2003 Holistic procurement review carried out and a number of serious constraints were identified
Limited procurement capacity at all levels Lack of ownership of procurement and obstacles to such ownership No consistency in the structures of the line ministries The need for adequate standards in procurement

Followed by an assessment of Public Procurement System carried out in 2005 by WB based on OECD-DAC indicators. The findings were incorporated in the report Afghanistan Managing Public Finances for Development. The main priority/recommendations were:
Establishment of Procurement Policy Unit as a regulatory body (PPU); Adoption of regulations and standard procurement documents to implement the new law; Implement a large-scale capacity building program for procurement officers of Govt. & Private Sector.

Procurement Law was enacted in October, 2005 which reflects the current international best practice and suitable to the local requirements Four main pillars of new law
Creation of a regulatory body Procurement function in all ministries and government departments Capacity building through formalised training and certification programs Development and introduction of a technology based procurement system

The law requires creation of units at National Level

Procurement Policy Unit (PPU)

Contract Management Office (CMO)

Special Procurement Commission (SPC).

Procurement Policy Unit was set up in August, 2006 within the Ministry of Finance in accordance the law, 2005 Special Procurement Commission (SPC) was established April, 2007 as Highest authority under the Law to grant approval for high valued procurement contracts CMO was established April, 2007, Serves as the office of the SPC Appeal and Review Mechanism: Administrative Review Committee composed of experts established for handling complains of bidders

Article 10: Introduces the Information Technology in Public Procurement Article 19: Development of Bidders Database Article 27: Publication of Announcement Article 63: Public Notice of a Contract Award Article 67: Procurement Website Article 81(i): monitor and supervise procurement proceedings to ascertain efficiency and compliance with the Law Article 81(ii): collection of data or reports and the review of procurement records and files Article 81(ix): to determine policy for and to facilitate the use of information technology in Procurement, including, [for example] establishing of websites and data bases related [to Procurement]

It is a Procurement Management Information System with automated functions for Procurement Information Processing, communication, and document management to facilitate and standardize the Procurement Procedures by using Information Technology tools.

PMIS also Publishes the Standard Procurement Documents including Public Procurement law, Standard Procurement, & Contract documents, and publication of bidding opportunities, publication of contract awards and appeal mechanism and etc.
PMIS Section works under the surveillance of Procurement Policy Unit (PPU) of MoFinance, Afghanistan.

 Ensure public accountability & external & internal transparency and openness Ensure satisfactory internal controls in procurement operations & deter frauds Facilitate efficiency & effectiveness of procurement operations & use of resources To facilitate compatibility of sharing information in local languages To create a web portal for dissemination of information on public procurement in Afghanistan. Learn continuously from the system implementation & make necessary mid course corrections to the system Enable users to develop monitoring & evaluation skills Track the effectiveness of the processes employed to ensure that the results meet the objectives Develop a system of communication between various stake holders on procurement information to ensure a two-way flow of information for the PPU to use to enhance service delivery and quality improvement Institute a mechanism of data analysis & information processing to fast track the implementation of the new procurement Law

Work on procurement MIS (PMIS) started in Mid 2007 by Charles Kendals and Partners, a consultancy firm providing technical assistance to PPU System analysis was performed and PMIS strategy was developed and approved by WB in 2008. Hardware, Software, and Licenses were procured at the same year. Development based on the strategy started. The System was designed in three main layers. First, for Line Ministries to enter their procurement Data and get some basic reports, Second, for PPU to generate the reports and perform monitoring Third, for public users as an information dissemination tool. Based on continues interactions with stockholders the first draft of the system was developed and piloted in three line ministries in 2009. Based on the feedbacks, PMIS was finalized and introduced officially to all line ministries in January 2010. PMIS Section moved from CKP to PPU for continues development, change, and maintenance. Implementation and PMIS expansion to Line Ministries started with providing trainings , technical assistance, and registering users in PMIS

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Public Web Portal: To provide the online facility of easy public access to standard procurement documents including:
Procurement Law Standard Bidding Documents Appeal and Review PPU Circulars Procurement Rules of Procedures

PPU PMIS Modules: To provide PPU with online services including:

Monitoring / Reporting of procurement activities within procurement entities. Preparing the list of Debarred Bidders. Adding new procurement entities. User Registration/Management News Management Document Management Training Registration Management

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PMIS Modules for Line Ministries: To provide electronic services for Procurement Entities including: Procurement Plan Submission
Entering the Procurement Monitoring Data Bidders Registration Contract Awards Bidding Opportunities

Public PMIS Modules: To provide a data dissemination facility by dynamic contents to public users including
List of Registered Bidders List of Debarred Suppliers Bidding Opportunities Contract Awards Registering for Training

To provide the appropriate security to prevent unauthorized access to the Systems Member Area

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System Analysis and Strategy 5- System Expansion to LMs

1Procurement of Hardware & Software

2- Application Designing

3- Piloting PMIS

4- Training

6- Real time Update Maintenance

7- Expansion to a Full e-GP

Installation & Configuration

Designing the Static Parts of the Application

Designing the Web Portal Structure Designing the Information Dissemination pages with Download Facility

Designing the Dynamic Modules

Troubleshooting,

Adding/Editing eServices

Designing the Databases Designing / Hard-coding the Membership & Security Designing / Hard-coding the Data Dissemination & Data Entry Modules Designing / Hard-coding the Monitoring & Reporting Modules

Final Revision to the Web Portal

Designing / Hard-coding the Capacity Building Modules

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Hardware Physical Servers + KVM Switching

Cisco Routing + VPN Firewall with IDP, Antivirus, Web Filtering, & Anti-Spam Library Storage Cisco Layer 3 Switching Power Storage & Management Logical Servers: Domain Controller, SQL Server, Veritas Backup & Antivirus, and Web Server

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Application Development Tools ASP.NET

C# Microsoft Visual Web Developer (IDE) Crystal Reports MS-SQL Server 2005

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Security Application Layer Security (Membership & User Authentication, Code Security)

SSL and Encryption

Network and Port Security (Firewall) OS Security (Antivirus and local Firewall)

Physical Security
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Low staff capacity in pubic entities

Lack of interest among civil servants to do their job via PMIS, lack of incentives Infrastructure constraints, mostly internet. No dedicated staff for PMIS data entry

Resistance to Change in general

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Strengthening the legal framework on usage of PMIS in Line Ministries Integration of some modules of PMIS with electronic Systems of Budget Department and Firm Registration authorities.
Change Management, resisting and believing on what we do, and accepting the fact of slow adoption of e-GP in Afghanistan public entities.
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Current Services - Procurement Information Dissemination in web portal - Procurement Plan Submission - Procurement Monitoring - Bid Advertisement - Contract Awards - Bidder Registration - Reporting Planned Services for Future toward a more functional e-GP - e-Bid Submission - e-Contract Management - e-Purchasing - More integrations with other national electronic systems - Multi-Hosting of PMIS at different locations in Afghanistan to extend the accessibility

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