Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Dang Huy Dong. Photo: Le Tien (Public Procurement Review)
The Ministry of Planning and Investment and the Secretariat of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) jointly held a seminar entitled, “Government Procurement Agreement within WTO” (GPA) in Hanoi on May 10.
Addressing the event, Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment, Dang Huy Dong, said that the event offers Vietnam a chance to gain an understanding of GPA and its effects on developing countries, as well as paving the way for Vietnam’s accession to the agreement.
Robert Anderson, WTO Counsellor and Head of the Government Procurement and Competitive Policy Unit said that GPA member countries would benefit from approaching guaranteed procurement markets to avoid the effects of protectionism, and also increase the value of spending money in each country’s procurement system and attract more foreign direct investment.
At the event, delegates discussed the increasingly important role of government procurement and GPA in the global economy, the changing characteristics of GPA over time and the expansion of its application scope to provide greater benefits for member countries.
GPA’s main contents focus on transparent regulations on public procurement, benefits to all member countries as well as procedures and bidding processes for public procurement./.