Local businesses urged to take part in UN tenders

Local businesses urged to take part in UN tenders

Urip Hudiono, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The government is urging more local enterprises to participate
in procurement tenders held by international organizations under
the United Nations (UN), to help further promote Indonesia's
economy and its role in the global community.

"We hope Indonesian businesses do not miss out on such
potential opportunities, and can make the most out of them," said
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' director general for
multilateral economic, financial and development affairs, Susanto
Sutoyo, during a preparatory seminar on Friday for the upcoming
Inter-Agency Procurement Working Group (IAPWG) meeting.

IAPWG is an assembly of procurement division heads from 35
international organizations under the UN, who are in charge of
managing the supply of goods and services for the organizations.

The group will hold its annual meeting in Yogyakarta from May
31 to June 4. Concurrently, there will be an exhibition of
Indonesian products and one-on-one meetings between IAPWG
officials and local enterprises about prospective tenders.

The deputy chief for economic affairs of the Indonesian
representatives to the UN, Sigit Wardono, said UN organizations
annually spent US$4.6 billion on goods and services -- obtained
through open tenders -- for their worldwide operations.

The UN, he said, had recently issued a resolution encouraging
the organizations to prioritize enterprises from developing
countries when they held the tenders.

Sigit said Indonesian enterprises had taken part in such
tenders, such as the procurement of goods and services worth $6
million in 2000 from the United Nations Transitional
Administration in East Timor.

But Indonesia's participation was minuscule, as data from the
United Nations Development Program (UNDP) shows that Indonesian
enterprises acquired only $19.02 million, or only 0.41 percent,
of the total UN tenders in 2002.

Sigit also reminded interested Indonesian enterprises that the
UN and its organizations were particularly concerned with
humanitarian and environmental issues.

"Products whose production involves child labor or forest
destruction will certainly raise some eyebrows," he said.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs previously held similar
preparatory seminars in Medan and Surabaya. Interested
enterprises can visit IAPWG's website at http://www.ungm.org for
further information.

The chairman of the Jakarta chapter of the Indonesian Chamber
of Commerce and Industry, Pungky Bambang Purwadi, suggested that
the enterprises maintain their professionalism in participating
in the tenders.

"But the main point for them is participating in the tenders
first, to gain experience in global competition," he said,
expressing his hope that all 150 enterprises present at the
seminar would also attend IAPWG's upcoming meeting.

Asian Development Bank (ADB) portfolio management head Jean-
Marie Lacombe, meanwhile, said the Indonesian enterprises should
also thoroughly understand the procedures for the tenders, mainly
how to submit bids and provide warranties for the goods and
services they were offering through the tenders.

Although it is not a UN organization, the ADB is the main
executing agent of UN tenders for Asia and the Pacific.
Information on the ADB and the tenders it is currently offering
can be obtained through its website at http://www.adb.org.