A guide is being finalized (Noureddine Bensouda) – Mafrique

The general treasurer of the kingdom, Noureddine Bensouda, announced, Monday in Rabat, that a guide to green public procurement is being finalized.

This document aims to provide methodological tools to integrate environmental considerations throughout the market life cycle, said Bensouda during the conference « Climate Smart Public Procurement » For countries in the Arab world and the MENA region (Middle East and North Africa / Middle East and North Africa).

“Morocco, with the support of its partners, has initiated several initiatives to support the implementation of sustainable public procurement. It is first of all the integration of environmental criteria in standard documents »recalled the general treasurer of the kingdom.

Indeed, many public buyers are always faced with the difficulty of defining what a product or service is “Responding to environmental and sustainable development concerns” And to be able to assess it, noted Mr. Bensouda, indicating that the development of these documents will standardize practices and create a common language around ecological purchase.

Mr. Bensouda also revealed that the implementation at the level of the Public Procurement Portal is planned, a system for signaling tenders with sustainable development clauses.

The aim of this system is to identify green practices at the level of public procurement and to ensure regular monitoring, he said, adding that a report on green purchases will be prepared by the Moroccan public order observatory, in order to produce encrypted data on the level of integration of the green dimension in public procurement and to feed strategic reflection on a national level.

And to emphasize that “This dynamic will be accompanied by the launch of training and awareness cycles on a national scale, intended for public buyers, to guarantee the rise in competence and the effective appropriation of good practices”.

Mr. Bensouda returned, at the same time, to the challenges raised by the greening of public procurement in both international and national context. For him, these challenges are structural, common and deeply revealing the transformations that companies should operate.

For his part, Mr. Ahmed Ag Aboubacrine, Hub Manager at Isdb (Islamic Development Bank / Islamic Development Bank – BID) in Morocco, presented the strategy of its institution in sustainability in public procurement. “The BID has adopted an integrated approach that places environmental considerations at the heart of its project approval processes and procurement”he said.

The representative of the BID stopped on the environmental criteria now taken into account in the evaluation of the projects funded by the bank. “We have established specific guidelines that require the integration of mitigation and adaptation measures to climate change in specifications. This includes energy efficiency, responsible management of water resources and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, “he said.

He also highlighted the importance of strengthening local capacities, adding that beyond direct funding, the BID undertakes to support member countries in the development of technical and institutional skills for the implementation of sustainable public contracts.

“Our hub in Morocco plays a pivotal role in the transfer of knowledge and the promotion of best practices through the region”he said.

For her part, Valérie Robert, Director associated with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (BERD), estimated that public demand has become a real political commitment to sustainable development, environmental preservation and social concepts.

In this wake, she recalled that the BERD has developed a dematerialization platform for public acquisitions, operational for eight years and effective for five years, resulting in the reduction of costs and duration in terms of acquisition and operations financed by the bank.

Note that the opening of this conference was also marked by the participation of the Minister Delegate in charge of the Budget, Fouzi Lekjaa, of Ahmadou Moustapha Ndiaye, Director of Division of the World Bank in Morocco, and Quoterie Pincent, Director of the French Development Agency (AFD) in Morocco, as well as the regional prosperity director at the World Bank for the Mena region, Nadir Mohamed, and Anand Kumar Srivastava, Chief Procurement (Operations) at NDB (New Development Bank).

(With map)