Accounting for 15-20% of global GDP, public procurement represents a substantial portion of an EU economy. These figures reaffirm the importance of public tenders having transparent and clear criteria and specifications.” This was stated by Minister for Finance Edward Scicluna while addressing ‘The EU Network of First Instance Public Procurement Review Bodies Conference’, hosted by the Chairman of the Malta’s Public Contracts Review Board (PCRB) Dr Anthony Cassar at the Dolmen Hotel, St Paul’s Bay.

Minister Scicluna was pleased to announce that the Malta PCRB has managed to reduce the average time it takes to decide an appeal from six to only three weeks. He also stated that the Government is aiming to promote mediation to decrease litigation. Furthermore, Government is now in the process of restructuring the contracts department as a response to new exigencies. He explained that possibly a new agency would be set up to strengthen the regulatory function and the overall procurement and appeals process.​

left to right: Mr. Alvydas Stančikas, Internal Market and Services Directorate-General of the European Commission, Prof. Edward Scicluna, Minister for Finance of Malta and Dr. Anthony Cassar, Chairperson PCRB Malta.

Friday May 4th 2018