Session on Sustainable Public Procurement (SPP)

Sonam Tshering, Senior Lecturer, led a session on Sustainable Public Procurement (SPP) with other experts from Europe and Asia. His session focused on Bhutan’s experiences in public procurement and sustainability. He explained the foundations of sustainability in Bhutan from the constitutional mandate to public policies including Green Public Procurement to various public procurement rules and regulations. He also talked on the bid process, bidding criteria and sustainable procurement in Bhutan. 

He presented Local Bricks Manufacturing as one of the examples of sustainable public procurement through domestic preferential provisions in the Public Procurement Rules and Regulations (PRR), 2019 and simplified PRR 2021 and how this industry contributes to environmental protection, job creation, and reduced brick imports. He also spoke about other small and cottage industries and their role in public procurement, as well as their opportunities and challenges.

The training is being organized by the International Training Center (ITC) of the International Labour Organization (ILO) for World Bank officials working in Southeast Asia as part of their training in Sustainable Public Procurement.