ARLINGTON, Va. – Today, the U.S. Trade and Development Agency welcomed a delegation of 15 senior Panamanian government officials to share best practices on innovative, value-based tools that can improve public procurement outcomes in a fair, transparent manner. These efforts will help to level the playing field for U.S. businesses to compete.

The visit supports Panama’s efforts to integrate best-value determinations into public tenders and to promote the long-term professionalization of the procurement workforce. The delegation, led by Mr. Eduardo Corro from Panama’s Dirección General de Contrataciones Públicas (DGCP), will receive advanced training in life-cycle cost analysis, best value determinations and risk management from experts from the George Washington University’s Government Procurement Law Program, as well as transportation and energy procurement technical specialists.

“USTDA is pleased to partner with Panama on this important initiative,” said USTDA Acting Director Enoh T. Ebong, who greeted the delegation at the Agency’s headquarters. “This program demonstrates our mutual commitment to achieving greater value for money, improving project outcomes and obtaining the highest-quality goods and services for public funds.”

“It is important to reinforce the commercial relations between Panama and the United States”, said Director General Corro. “We welcome these types of initiatives that promote the education and training of the public procurement officials in Panama. This effort promotes competitive, fair and transparent procurements and as government actors we are committed to promoting a best value system in the Panamanian public procurement system.”

In addition to Arlington, VA, the delegates will visit Boston, MA; New York City, NY and Austin, TX to meet with state and local procurement officials and to view case studies in value-based procurement.  While in Boston, the delegation will visit Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Concrete Sustainability Hub to hear about unique life-cycle cost analysis models for public infrastructure projects.

This trip marks the second phase of USTDA’s partnership with Panama under the Global Procurement Initiative: Understanding Best Value (GPI), which was formalized in December 2016 through a Memorandum of Understanding and a training workshop attended by nearly 60 Panamanian procurement officials in Panama City.