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Following is a question by the Hon Choy So-yuk and a written reply by the Secretary for Security (in the absence of Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury), Mr Ambrose S K Lee, in the Legislative Council today (April 25):
Question:
A company has relayed to me that the Government currently sends, to the companies concerned by fax, tender invitations for government works projects together with the tender specifications which contain tens of pages. Such an arrangement is a waste of paper for those companies which do not intend to participate in the tender exercise and is also not environmentally-friendly. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether:
(a) it will consider issuing guidelines to change the above tender arrangement (e.g. only the tender invitation will be faxed, and the entire tender specifications will be issued only when the recipient companies have indicated interest in participating in the tender exercise); if it will, of the details of the relevant guidelines; if not, the reasons for that; and
(b) it will explore using other means (such as by e-mail, etc.) to invite private companies to participate in tender exercises for government works projects?
Reply:
Madam President,
(a) Departments are required to follow the normal tendering procedures as laid down in the Stores and Procurement Regulations for procurement of goods and non-works services of a contract value exceeding $1,300,000 and for works services with a contract value exceeding $3,000,000. Under the established procedures, procuring departments are required to publish the notice for the invitation of tender in the Government Gazette and, where necessary, in the local press. The tender notice contains the address where the tender documents can be obtained by interested tenderers. Under normal circumstances, the procuring departments will not send out tender documents to the tenderers unless upon request.
For procurement below the financial limits mentioned above, in view of its relatively low value, procuring departments are not required to adopt the normal tendering procedures. However, according to the Stores and Procurement Regulations, for procurement with a value not exceeding $50,000, procuring departments should normally invite more than one supplier for quotations. For procurement with a value exceeding $50,000, no less than 5 suppliers should be invited for written quotations. The invitation can be in the form of a letter or by fax. In respect of goods and non-works services, as the requirements of the procurement are generally simple, the quotation documents usually consist of a few pages. As regards works services, given the details of the technical specifications involved, the quotation documents can be relatively bulky. For the purpose of paper saving, we have advised all bureaux and departments that they should refrain from sending or faxing bulky quotation documents to the potential suppliers unless upon their request.
(b) To enhance the use of IT in government procurement and for the purpose of paper saving, the Government Logistics Department has launched an Electronic Tendering System to allow subscribers to download tender documents from and to submit tender offers through the Internet for all types of tenders issued by the Government Logistics Department. The Environment, Transport and Works Bureau has also been pursuing electronic tendering for works projects. At present electronic version of tender documents, as an alternative option to paper version, is available for collection by tenderers. Except the Form of Tender, tenderers may opt to submit tender bids in electronic files format. The Office of the Chief Government Information Officer is embarking on a pilot e-procurement programme, involving three departments viz., Immigration Department, Office of the Government Chief Information Officer and Environmental Protection Department, to deal with low value non-works purchases not exceeding $1,300,000 with a view to, among other benefits, improving efficiency and effectiveness and reducing paper consumption and storage space. Under this programme, pilot departments will be able to invite quotations electronically and suppliers will be able to download the details and submit their response online. A review will be conducted in 2010 and the findings will form the basis for the Government to consider the way forward for extending the e-Procurement initiative to other bureaux/departments.
Ends/Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Issued at HKT 11:53
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