Tamkeen-BAPCO sign MoU to flag off phase II of e-procurement project

A committee was formed from the different stakeholders to manage the e-procurement project. The committee, lead by BAPCO, established a unified set of requirements for an e-marketplace and electronic purchasing cards and recommended conducting a feasibility study for the project.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed on Thursday, September 3, between Tamkeen and Bapco, our strategic partner in the project, in which both Tamkeen and Bapco agree to co-finance the cost of the second phase of the e-procurement project. This phase will focus on conducting the feasibility study to verify the potential benefits of the e-marketplace for the private sector suppliers and participating companies alike, in addition to evaluating the different potential e-procurement platforms that may best suite the Bahraini market.

Tamkeen hopes that through the e-procurement market place, the private sector, and in particular the SMEs, will have better opportunities to trade with the founding companies and those public purchasing authorities or private companies who may subsequently join.

"Bahrain has made great headway in transforming business processes to cope with best practices through the electronic medium which in turn provides better business opportunities to all stakeholders and in particular the SMEs. A key tool in this process is the evaluation of the establishment of e-procurement marketplace which will support local SMEs. This MoU with Bapco to co-finance a feasibility study will help us to collect valuable data on e-procurement in Bahrain and map our future strategies."

said Tamkeen's Chief Executive Abdulelah Al Qassimi.

He added, "The support of Bapco, in the e-procurement project, is vital because it represents the commitment of a corporate partner which generates business for the private sector, to engage at every level of the community through the e-procurement process".

Bapco Acting Chief Executive Faisal Al-Mahroos expressed his commitment to the project, saying that Bapco is aware of its commitment to the local economy and fully appreciates SMEs role in the future development and prosperity of the Kingdom. The BAPCO e-procurement strategy includes the development of a local marketplace and support for SMEs, and the opportunity to align with Tamkeen and other participating companies, will ensure this is successful.

"Bapco has a long and rich history of commitment to Bahrain's progress and this project sees us playing an important role in a process that will see a complete modernizing of the way business is conducted in Bahrain," Mr. Al-Mahroos said. He also thanked both the Minister of Oil & Gas Affairs and chairman of Bapco's Board Committee H.E. Dr. Abdul-Hussain bin Ali Mirza, and the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and Tamkeen chairman, Dr. Nazar Sadeq Al-Baharna, for their support in promoting e-Procurement in Bahrain.

The e-procurement project is vital as it reflects the cooperation between the Private sector, represented by the big companies, and the public sector, represented by Tamkeen, to promote a shared social responsibility towards the economy of Bahrain.