Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic – Today, the U.S. Trade and Development Agency signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Dirección General de Contrataciones Públicas (DGCP) of the Government of the Dominican Republic, formalizing their partnership under the Global Procurement Initiative: Understanding Best Value (GPI). Under the agreement, USTDA will support the DGCP’s ongoing efforts to reform the Dominican Republic’s National System of Public Procurement by providing training and technical support to government officials on how to obtain the best value for public funds.

As the first activity under the partnership, USTDA and the DGCP launched today a three-day procurement training workshop for 80 Dominican government procurement officials representing institutions that manage public funds. Through the workshop, participants will receive training on international best practices, including the use of life-cycle cost analyses and best value determination. The training will be led by world-class procurement experts from the George Washington University Government Procurement Law Program (GW) and GPI energy and transportation procurement technical specialists.

“USTDA is pleased to partner with the DGCP to advance their efforts to promote sustainable and efficient government procurement,” said Director for Global Programs Andrea Lupo, who signed the MOU on behalf of USTDA. “I look forward to developing our partnership over the coming years to support the DGCP’s goals of making efficient, long-term infrastructure investments, while promoting transparency, competition for tenders, and the professionalization of the procurement workforce.”

On behalf the DGCP, Director Yokasta Guzmán S. said, “I value the signing of the MOU with USTDA because it supports the efforts made by the Dominican government to make public procurement an indispensable tool for compliance with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and the indicators included in the National Strategy of Development (NDT). These frameworks were developed to advance social and economic development. Having access to the expertise and knowledge of the United States, the largest buyer in the world, can make a difference in developing innovative solutions to development challenges.”

Following this week’s workshop, USTDA will host a group of Dominican procurement officials for a value-based procurement study tour to the United States later this year. The Dominican Republic is the 11th country to partner with the GPI, joining regional partners Mexico, Colombia, Panama, and Brazil.