On 30 June 2023, the Public Procurement (National Electronic Procurement) Regulations were published. They are aimed at providing a guide on the use of electronic procurement processes. They do so by establishing the National eProcurement System (“the NePS”), amongst other things.
The NePS is intended to be used by procuring entities and bidders to enhance efficiency and transparency in public procurement processes. It will allow procurement documents to be uploaded onto it and allow procuring entities and/or bidders to withdraw and/or amend the documents they have uploaded.
The NePS will also allow stakeholders to have access to, amongst other things, issued tenders, procurement notices, quotation submissions and requests, contract management and e-payment, with detailed descriptions of the relevant tenders. The NePS will also allow a tender to be awarded and the relevant contract signed (whether manually or electronically) through it.
To ensure the security and integrity of the NePS, procuring entities will have to be validated. They will also be required to maintain confidentiality. The NePS itself will provide an end-to-end audit trail which shows the activity of a specific procurement process.