The Hellenic Single Public Procurement Authority participated in the annual International Conference "2019 Public Procurement Week" organized by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in Paris, from Tuesday 22 to Friday 25 October 2019.

A high-level forum and workshop were held as part of the conference. The main focus of the conference was to effectively address environmental, social and technological challenges in the field of public procurement, while during the meeting of the Public Procurement Experts Group the issues of professionalization, the importance of innovation and of information-communication technologies (ICT) in the field of public procurement were analyzed (see program at http://www.oecd.org/gov/public-procurement/public-procurement-week-2019.htm).

The Authority was represented by President Mr. George Katapodis, accompanied by the Member Mr. Maria Stylianidi and senior staff members. The President presented the strategy and methodology for monitoring the public procurement system in Greece, which are one of the most important pillars of the economy and development.

In particular, Mr Katapodis presented the model introduced by the European Guidelines for the systematic monitoring of public procurement, through periodic reports submitted to identify the pathogens and problems in the functioning of the existing public procurement system in the Member States of the European Union. He emphasized the importance and benefits of their systematic monitoring, in the context of the principles of good governance which should also apply to the area of public procurement.

Further, referring to the range of requirements and concerns created by changing technological developments in the public sector, he highlighted the relevance of the digital transformation of public procurement to the quality of monitoring reports, as well as the general importance of collecting and processing data. In view of future challenges, he explained why it was necessary for HSPPA to work with the OECD to improve the Public Procurement System in Greece, with the support of the EU Structural Reform Support Office. (SRSS).

Following the Conference, a bilateral meeting was held with senior officials of the French Ministry of Finance, during which views were exchanged on good practice in particular public procurement issues, such as centralizing markets in the health sector (health supplies, hospital equipment etc).