In a “Solomonic” decision, the Ministry of Finance (Ministerio de Hacienda) has decided to settle the dispute between CompraRed and Merlink, ordering the development of a new platform, giving the moribund state telecom company RACSA something to do.
With the introduction of the yet to be developed Integrated Public Procurement System (SICOP by its initials in Spanish), an end could be given to the bitter struggle between different groups of state officials and private providers over “their” respective public procurement systems.
In the end what matters is that once and for all the Costa Rican government as a whole, makes its purchases of goods and services using a single platform, which we hope will be fully digital. In this way they will save many millions of dollars through greater efficiency in public procurement and make decision making by managers of state funds more transparent, benefiting most of the suppliers and the economy in general.
From a statement issued by the Ministry of Finance of Costa Rica:
An Integrated Public Procurement System (SICOP) has been presented as a new platform by which the institutions of central government must make their purchases of goods and services.
The creation of SICOP is established in a decree signed by the heads of the Treasury and the MICITT, and through which it is reaffirmed that the Ministry of Finance will be the rector on public purchases of central government, responsible for defining technical requirements which must be observed by the purchasing platform; the MICITT will be rector of policy of digital government and the ICE as the service provider through RACSA.
Sourcce: Centralamericandata.com
