Event Details
Please access the 25 March 2025 EBRD GPA seminar recording below (please click on the image)
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), in collaboration with the World Trade Organization (WTO) Secretariat, is organizing a hybrid capacity-building seminar on the occasion of the plenary meeting of the WTO Committee on Government Procurement (CGP) scheduled for 26 March 2025. The seminar, "eProcurement for domestic and cross-border trade: experience of GPA Parties from transition economies" will take place on 25 March 2025 and will bring together representatives of the GPA Parties and Members with commitments to start negotiations to accede to the Agreement. The seminar is aimed at enhancing the understanding of GPA provisions related to use of electronic procurement tools with the view of achieving efficiency in domestic and cross-border procurement procedures.
The WTO's Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA) 2012 provides a framework for reciprocal market access while setting policy and governance standards for public procurement markets. For transition economies, engagement with the GPA 2012 โeither as observers or through accession negotiationsโcreates opportunities to modernize national public procurement systems, enhance transparency, and integrate domestic procurement markets into global trade networks.
In 2012, the EBRD initiated a collaborative technical cooperation program with the WTO Secretariat, the EBRD GPA Technical Cooperation Facility, to enhance private sector competitiveness and facilitate cross-border trade in transition economies. Recognizing the benefits of the GPA 2012 membership for transition economies โsuch as improved governance, enhanced trade opportunities, and stronger economic integrationโthe EBRD GPA Technical Cooperation Facility is actively supporting governments with interest or commitment to open negotiations.
Through targeted technical assistance provided by the EBRD, five transition economies successfully acceded to the GPA 2012: Armenia, Montenegro, Moldova, Ukraine, and most recently, in 2023 North Macedonia. Albania is currently advancing its GPA 2012 negotiations with EBRD support. Other EBRD countries of operations, including Azerbaijan, Georgia, Jordan, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Mongolia, Tajikistan, and Tรผrkiye, have benefited from capacity building initiatives. With the EBRD expanding its banking operations in Africa, in 2024 the EBRD GPA TC Facility became open to interested Members from Sub-Saharan economies.
Russian interpretation will be available.