Buying complex goods and services by governments in the developing world is a big business that is about to get a lot more scrutiny and is in for some serious change. The changes will cost billions and when implemented will have impacts on literally trillions of dollars in purchases of infrastructure, goods and services. U.S. businesses have a large stake in the outcome of this process. Public procurement can represent up to 25-30% of GDP in many developing countries. The private sector has paid significant attention to how it sources goods and services for itself for decades and has made very large efforts to link those activities to corporate strategy. Now developing country national and sub-national governments, as they get wealthier and as technologies change, are increasingly buying more complex infrastructure, technologies and services.
In 2012, the World Bank began its first ever comprehensive review of its operational procurement policy that it uses and promotes among its client countries. The revision, due in summer of 2015, will be something that many governments will use not only for the purchases of goods and services provided by World Bank loans but will be adopted as a government standard for procurement over time. Therefore, the process the World Bank is going through will have vast repercussions throughout the developing world.
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