Gender and Albania’s accession take centre stage at Government Procurement Committee
Jun 12, 2024
Ms. Tembo called on parties to the GPA 2012 and observers to the Committee, comprising both governments and international organizations, to support the ITC–UN Women Global Campaign on Gender-Responsive Public Procurement launched in March 2024. “Currently, only 1 per cent of public contracts globally are going to women-led businesses,” she said.
The campaign aims to help women overcome barriers when bidding for government contracts, including complex procedures, financing constraints, and a lack of information and networks. Ms. Tembo emphasized that “gender-responsive public procurement can and does lead to concrete change that benefits people’s lives,” urging GPA parties and observers to support these changes in their jurisdictions.
The ITC is among the international organizations observing the Committee. Ms. Tembo described the GPA 2012 as “historic,” noting its role in opening up public procurement markets while ensuring fair, transparent, and open tendering procedures. She highlighted its innovative focus on good governance.
The ITC-UN Women initiative aligns with global efforts to achieve the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goal 5 on gender equality.
WTO Deputy Director-General Johanna Hill underscored the engagement of the ITC and WTO in empowering women and small businesses. Referring to earlier WTO support for the initiative, she stated: “Combining gender-responsive procurement policies with trade liberalization provides women-led small businesses with opportunities to win public contracts abroad and allows them to benefit from open markets at home.” She noted that agreements like GPA 2012 can enhance women's integration into government supplier bases.
The meeting also discussed Albania's initial market access offer, a key document submitted prior to the meeting aimed at advancing its accession process. Ms. Reida Kashta, Director General of Albania's Public Procurement Agency, affirmed: “Albania is fully engaged in the process of acceding to the GPA 2012 as confirmed by the circulation of our ambitious initial market access offer.” GPA parties praised Albania's proactive engagement.
Additionally, discussions covered GPA accessions of China, Costa Rica, and Kyrgyz Republic. The Committee addressed various matters related to implementing the Agreement and made substantial progress on Work Programmes concerning green procurement, socially sustainable procurement, economically sustainable procurement, and participation of micro-, small-, and medium-sized enterprises in government procurement.
The GPA 2012 has 22 parties covering 49 WTO members (including the European Union as one party). While open to all WTO members, this plurilateral agreement binds only those who have joined it.
Background
The GPA aims to open government procurement markets reciprocally among parties while promoting transparency and good governance. Reciprocal market opening helps GPA parties purchase goods and services offering best value for money. The Agreement provides legal guarantees against discrimination for goods, services, and suppliers from GPA parties in covered procurements worth an estimated USD 1.7 trillion annually—government procurement typically accounts for about 15% of GDP in developed and developing economies.
Next Meeting
The next meeting of the Committee on Government Procurement is scheduled for early October.