From September 26 to 28, 2022, the Heads of Procurement (HoP) of the Multilateral Development Banks held its annual meeting, the first in-person meeting since the pandemic erupted, kindly hosted by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) in the city of Rome.
After taking stock of procurement's instrumental role in facilitating and coordinating vaccine purchasing in the last two years, the HoP productively discussed issues of common concern, such as sustainable and green procurement, application of social criteria, supply chain and trade bottlenecks, e-procurement platforms, and training initiatives for the professionalization of the procurement function.
Celebrating its solid achievements in harmonising policies and practices in the twenty years of its existence, the HoP reaffirmed its continued support for fit-for-purpose and value-for-money procurement solutions to promote international development cooperation in an increasingly challenging and complex global environment.
The HOP have been meeting annually for the past 20 years to harmonize, to the extent possible, their institutions' procurement policies and practices to enhance economy, efficiency, effectiveness, and fairness in all MDB financed operations.
The Heads of Procurement from the African Development Bank (AfDB), Asian Development Bank (ADB), Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), Black Sea Trade and Development Bank (BSTDB), Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), Central American Bank for European Integration (CABEI), Council of Europe Bank (CEB), Eurasian Fund for Stabilization and Development (EFSD), European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), European Investment Bank (EIB), Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) and the World Bank (WB) attended the three-day meeting along with their delegations.
The next meeting of the HOP will be hosted by the Asian Development Bank in Manila.