Importance of procurement underestimatedÂ
In an interview with Aanbestedingscafe.nl, Matthijs Huizing and PPRC-researcher Willem Janssen point out that unsufficient weight is being attributed to the role of procurement even though it represents 60% of its total budget.
‘‘More problematically speaking, public procurement, in general, does not receive positive media attention. First, the bid rigging scandal in – the construction sector (‘‘bouwfraude’’), then the procurement of the Fyra-trains and now a few troubled ICT procurements. These cases highlight substantial room for improvement, but they do not take away that the majority of public tenders is successful. Stakeholders tend to forget that it has positive effects for the contracting parties and ultimately citizens as well’’, according to Janssen.
‘‘Colleagues might not like public procurement procedures, but they often do not realise that these procedures force contracting authorities to ask the right questions and stimulates them to truly consider what their needs are and how they could be met’, according to Huizing.