• Goods: telecommunications equipment (computers, telephones, etc.), office furniture and stationery, motor vehicles, uniforms, medicines, food and beverages, fuel and lubricants, fertilizers, etc. 

• Private organizations: this category comprises a wide range of international and domestic companies, from big corporations to small and medium enterprises. Private institutions use their own internal procurement rules and regulations, which are not public, but you may be able to obtain them by contacting the company. Sometimes, private companies use bidding processes that are similar to the processes used by public institutions. 

• Public organizations: this category comprises the organizations financed and/or operated by the government. It may vary by country, but usually public institutions include national public authorities, such as the Ministries (Education, Agriculture, Health, Public Works, etc.), local public authorities (e.g. City Councils), and public and state-owned companies or institutions (public hospitals, public schools, public port authorities, public water and sewage company, etc.). The procurement processes of public institutions and related bodies are public and regulated by law in each country.

• International organizations and programs: this category includes multilateral and bilateral organizations such as the World Bank Group, the African Development Bank, the United Nations Agencies, the World Food Program, the European Commission, etc. These institutions use their own procurement rules and regulations, which are public, and you can find them on each organization’s webpage. 

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3. Where can you find procurement opportunities?

• Private organizations: Procurement opportunities from private organizations may be difficult to detect, unless they are advertised on the company’s website or major media. You should look at your potential clients’ webpages to find out if a procurement portal or request for solicitations space exists. If no information exists (or the entity does not have a webpage), you should get in touch with the procurement department and ask for further information about where invitation for bids are published and what the procurement procedures are.

• Public organizations: Usually, national procurement laws in each country state where public tenders need to be advertised, including those from state-owned companies and public funded organizations. In general, bids get advertised by law in the official state gazette, journal or bulletin and in the webpages of the procuring authorities. Some public institutions may publish their bids in local major newspapers, and other major media, such as TV or radio. 

• International organizations and programs: Generally, international organizations publish their bid notices on their webpages or in a procurement portal created specifically for it. For example, the United Nations publishes its bids in the United Nations Global Marketplace. The World Bank has developed a new Application for companies to be able to monitor projects and related business opportunities financed by the Bank. The African Development Bank has its own Procurement Portal.

There is a variety of national and international organizations that offer tender services advertisements. For example, the Development Galway through the DG Market webpage or the International Trade Center through the Procurement Map. Also, many procuring organizations have an internal database of qualified or potential suppliers to whom they usually send the invitations for bids. It is important that you find out if such a database exists for each of your potential clients of interest. 

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4. Are procurement contracts only accessible to big companies?

Also, procurement authorities often award small contracts to pre-identified suppliers, without advertising or opening a competitive process (also called sole-sourcing or direct sourcing). These contracts, small in nature, are usually accessible to SMEs. In order to gain access to them, it is imperative that you to establish a trusting relationship with the procuring entity.  

Finally, specialized SMEs can participate as members of a consortium formed by companies of different sizes and different areas of expertise. SMEs may also want to consider their participation as subcontractors of a prime or main contractor. This can be an effective way for you to gain experience with public procurement or procurement from large corporations. The work references that you obtain as a subcontractor will be useful in the future when you apply for contracts directly.

If you want to learn how to write a Partnership Agreement have a look at the following article.

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The most commonly used procurement methods include:

• Open competitive bidding (national or international). Any potential supplier can participate in the procurement process. It consists of an invitation to any potential supplier to bid, followed by an evaluation process and a contract award. In some cases, there is an invitation to express interest (or a pre-qualification process) prior to the invitation to bid. 

• Restricted bidding. Only invited firms are allowed to bid. It consists of an invitation to bid to a pre-identified list of firms, followed by an evaluation process and a contract award. 

• Request for quotations. It can be public or restricted to a pre-identified list of firms (usually a minimum of three). In this case, the most important element is the price.

• Sole-sourcing [direct sourcing]. This is a non-competitive bidding process. The buyer solicit and negotiate with only one supplier, because there is a reason that justifies it (for example, if there is only one provider in the market that can supply the requested goods and services, in an emergency situation, when the use of this method represents a clear advantage over the use of a competitive method, or when the procurement is within the thresholds). 

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6. What are the most common bid evaluation methods?

Procurement entities use different evaluation criteria, depending on what they are procuring. The method used should be clearly explained in the bidding documents. 

There are four main evaluation methods:

• Quality- and Cost-Based Selection. This method takes into account both quality and cost as a percentage weight of each. For example, 70% quality and 30% cost. The proposal that offers the highest score based on the weights is selected. In most cases, technical and financial proposals must be sent in separate sealed envelopes. First, technical proposals are opened, evaluated and scored. Only the firms that achieve the minimum technical marks will have their financial proposal opened and evaluated. 

• Quality Based Selection (QBS). The offer is selected on the basis of technical quality. The proposal with the highest technical score is selected. This method is normally used for very complex and highly important assignments for the organization (e.g. legal services). Once the technical proposal is selected, the buying authority negotiates the price and the terms of the contract with the supplier.

• Fixed budget selection.  The offer with the highest technical score that meets the pre-established budget is selected. 

• Least cost selection. This method selects the lowest-priced proposal that achieves the required technical quality established by the contracting authority. It is normally used for the procurement of standardized goods (e.g. stationary material).

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7. What information do you need to provide when answering a request for a bid?