On Monday, 03/04/2023, a
Closing Conference titled
"Strengthening the Public Procurement
System in Malta" was held at the Mediterranean
Conference Centre.
The conference had a number of local and foreign notable
speakers, in the fields of Procurement, Innovation and Reform.
The opening remarks were carried out by Mr Paul
Zahra, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Finance and Employment; Mr Anthony
Cachia, Director General, Department of Contracts; Mr Daniele Dotto, Deputy
Director, Directorate B - Support to Member States reforms and Head of Unit B2 - Governance and Public Administration, DG REFORM and Mr Paulo Magina, Deputy
Head of the Infrastructure and Public Procurement Division, OECD.
The key achievements attained by the project were
discussed and explained by Mr John Degiorgio, Director, Sectoral Procurement Directorate,
Department of Contracts; Mr Paulo Magina and Ms Kenza Khachani, Policy Analyst,
Infrastructure and Public Procurement Division, OECD.
After the break, a discussion was held on the
topic “Towards a risk management approach in public procurement in Malta” with
the panel comprising Mr Anthony Cachia; Ms Kenza Khachani; Dr Karina Di Maggio,
Legal Advisor - Contracts & Legal, Finance and Contracts Department, MITA;
Mr William Peplow, Senior Manager, National Audit Office and Mr Alexei De Bono,
Chief Operating Officer, IDEA with Ms Lorraine Mangion Duca, Director Procurement
Policy and Quality Assurance acting as the moderator.
Another topic that was discussed was the “Promoting
innovation procurement in Malta” with the participants being Ms Samira
Boussetta, Policy Officer Innovation / Sustainability and Procurement, DG GROW,
European Commission; Ms Jacqueline Gili, Director Operations, Department of
Contracts; Mr Louis Cordina, Director Corporate Services and Projects, The Malta Council for Science and Technology; Ing Karl Farrugia, Chief Executive Officer, Central Procurement and Supplies Unit; Mr Mauro Draoli, Head of Unit
Procurement Strategies and Market Innovation, Agency for Digital (AGID), Italy
and Mr Luis Ferreira, Director of the Competence Centre on IPP – Procure+, the
National Innovation Agency, Portugal with the moderator being Ms Athina Manta,
Policy Officer, Unit B2 – Governance & Public Administration, DG REFORM, European Commission.
The conference was brought to a close with the
concluding remarks being delivered by Ms Athina Manta, Mr Paulo Magina and Mr
Anthony Cachia.
The conference was organised with the
collaboration of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the
Department of Contracts and other Government entities.