Skip to main content

Contracts between public and private sectors operate with a ‘trust deficit’


ACCA’s global survey about public procurement reveals South Asia respondents want polices that give transparency to the public 

 

Governments around the world have faced challenges with public procurement due to the COVID-19 crisis, testing their ability and capacity to react quickly and efficiently to deliver life-saving goods and services to the public, asserts a new research report from ACCA (the Association of Chartered Accountants) New Models of Public Procurement: A Tool For Sustainable Recovery.

 

Surveying finance professionals from both the public and private sector in over 90 markets including South Asia, ACCA’s research identifies a trust deficit between public sector buyers and private sector suppliers. Globally, only 41 per cent of private sector respondents believe the public sector can be trusted to uphold its side of the deal, compared with 60 per cent of public sector respondents stating they trust their private sector counterparts.

 

According to the 136 respondents across South Asia, including Pakistan, the top three challenges faced are bribery and corruption (81 per cent); underdeveloped e-Procurement systems (45 per cent) and poor payment practices by government (41 per cent). Findings also reveal that just 22 per cent of South Asia respondents said the quality of public services was good, compared with 77 per cent in the Middle East and 65 per cent of respondents in North America and Europe.

 

When asked about policy objectives for evaluating public procurement, fair dealing with all bidders and suppliers was viewed as important (63 per cent), followed by transparency to the public (62 per cent) and promoting ethical practices (57 per cent).

 

And to cope with the post COVID-19 recovery, 62 per cent said that governments should introduce procurement strategies that increase transparency in the bid selection process, with 61 per cent saying better digital solutions are needed for the whole procurement cycle and 54 per cent want to see more innovative approaches to public service delivery. 

 

Sajjeed Aslam, head of ACCA Pakistan, says: ‘Our report calls for procurement modernisation, with audits commonplace in all public procurement procedures, beginning as early as possible in the bid process to reduce the likelihood of corruption, while ensuring that the auditors remain independent during the process. Due to COVID-19 turbulence, another key recommendation is to use public procurement as an opportunity to keep businesses – in particular, SMEs – afloat by publishing contracts early on centralised, open databases that are accessible to all.’

 

Rachel Bleetman, ACCA’s Public Sector Policy and Research Manager, and co-author of the report says: ‘There’s a growing need to ensure that public spending during and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic is not only made more efficient and cost-effective, but that it’s used as an opportunity to tackle some of the biggest challenges of our time - environmental catastrophe, rising social inequalities, ending corruption and meeting the needs for life-saving procurement.’

 

Alex Metcalfe, ACCA’s Head of Public Sector and report co-author adds: ‘Corruption costs the public sector significant sums of money every year and can create feelings of mistrust towards governments. So the role for finance professionals in helping to make, monitor and evaluate these changes is significant and, as this report demonstrates, the global finance profession is needed now more than ever to help transform how the public sector responds to the crisis.’

 

Rachel Bleetman concludes: ‘Across South Asia and on the global stage, there’s room for optimism here as the reforms we recommend around eliminating bribery and corruption, competition and the buyer–supplier relationship, modernisation and COVID-19 and the public procurement ‘need for speed’ will all make for stronger public procurement, which is an essential part of public sector spending that, until now, has received relatively little attention. Now’s the time for change, as history has long taught us that, out of crises, new opportunities can emerge.’

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

47% of Asia Pac businesses have no emissions plan in place despite the climate emergency, reveals new report from ACCA, IFAC and PwC

           As world leaders gather for COP 28, ACCA (the Association of Chartered Accountants), IFAC (the International Federation of Accountants) and professional services firm PwC released a new report:   The  role of the CFO and finance function in the climate transition: driving value and sustainability,  based on a survey of 1,000 senior finance professionals around the world.   The research reveals 47% of respondents in the Asia Pacific region have yet to produce a plan for reducing their carbon emissions. Alarmingly, 69% of those respondents without an emissions plan say they currently have no intention of developing one. This compares with global figures of 46% of respondents who have yet to prepare an emissions plan and 70% of those say they currently have no intention of developing one.   The report also says that that involving CFOs and finance teams in the emissions reduction planning is likely to accelerate progress.  They should embrace this because, although they may not
Post a Comment
Read more

Peshawar Zalmi Releases "Zalmi Raalal" Official Anthem Powered by TCL

             TCL, Pakistan's No.1 LED TV Brand, in collaboration with Peshawar Zalmi, has released their most awaited anthem for PSL 8, " Zalmi Raalal ". Directed by the maestro Hassan Dawar himself, "Zalmi Raalal" is a star-studded, power-packed amalgamation of music, fashion, and sports, the three foremost passion points of Peshawar Zalmi. Produced by Naughty Boy, who has worked in the global music industry with the likes of Beyoncé, Wiz Khalifa, and Sam Smith, the music video features cricket's biggest superstars Darren Sammy and Babar Azam, as well as Pakistan's biggest celebrities Mahira Khan and Hamza Ali Abbasi. Peshawar Zalmi's official anthem for 2023, "Zalmi Raalal", is an ode to passion, a story entailing the beauty and power of the KP region and its people. The anthem has crossed one million views on all online platforms since its release, and the number is increasing fast.   The star-studded and narrative-centric anthem feature
Post a Comment
Read more

Economic confidence among finance professionals edges higher globally despite big fall in North America

                                            The latest ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) and IMA ®  (Institute of Management Accountants)  Global Economic Conditions Survey (GECS) suggests that confidence among accountants and finance professionals edged slightly higher in Q2 2024 and is just above its historical average.  For chief financial officers (CFOs), all the key global indicators rose, with sharp gains evident in the New Orders and Capital Expenditure indices.   There were some notable regional differences . Western Europe-based accountants reported another decent increase in confidence as the euro area and UK economies continue to stage recoveries. Even Asia Pacific saw a small rise off the back of a huge gain previously, and the New Orders Index increased strongly. The region is benefitting from improvements in the global economy, including in the manufacturing sector and the upward moving technology cycle. However, North America’s financial professio
Post a Comment
Read more