ASSESSING DOMESTIC PREFERENCE IN SRI LANKA'S HEALTH SECTOR PROCUREMENT: DRIVING LOCAL GROWTH VIA EU INNOVATIVE PROCUREMENT PRACTICE

Abstract

In Sri Lanka, all government institutions must adhere to established public procurement guidelines for the acquisition of goods, works, or services. The objective of public procurement is to ensure value for money, transparency, and accountability. The latest public procurement guideline in Sri Lanka for 2024 still does not define sustainable public procurement; however, the Ministry of Environment has introduced the National Policy on Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP), which includes provisions for public procurement and the health sector. Under this policy, the Ministry of Health aims to reform healthcare consumption practices into environmentally friendly work environments by 2030. Adopting green and sustainable public procurement (GSP) is expected to optimise public spending, minimise environmental impacts, and generate economic and social benefits for the health sector. Domestic preference policies play a strategic role in supporting local industries, fostering economic growth, and enhancing the resilience of the health system. Such policies prioritise local bidders in evaluations, helping retain public funds and build national capacity. European Union (EU) member states utilise Information and Communication Technology (ICT)-based tools to streamline procurement evaluations and enhance public procurement practices, thereby fostering local economic growth. The design-based research (DBR) method was employed in this study, utilising multiple interventions. During the first intervention, it was found that there is a significant correlation between the adoption of innovative procurement methods in the health sector and the applicability of domestic preference policies in public procurement. Hence, the EU concept of innovative procurement was identified as a factor for verification and validation during the second intervention. Findings reveal that innovative procurement is a significant factor that can be adopted for the sustainable and green public procurement (SGPP) framework. The developed framework was disseminated to the National Procurement Commission (NPC) for practical policy implementation and further refinement or research.