Procurement Integration Project To Be Implemented

The Public Procurement Commission (PPC) is to implement a Micro, Small Medium Enterprise (MSME) Procurement Integration project, to enable the Set Asides Order of 2019.

Executive Director of the Public Procurement Commission (PPC), Nadia Morris, made the announcement at the Small Business Association of Jamaica (SBAJ) Public Meeting on Thursday (March 26) at the EXIM Bank’s Old Hope Road offices in Kingston.

“This project aims to simplify our systems and remove the administrative barriers to our small businesses,” Mrs. Morris said.

The Public Procurement (Set Asides) Order 2019, enacted under the Public Procurement Act, mandates reserving 20 per cent of designated government contracts for qualifying MSMEs.

The Executive Director said the PPC will also be establishing and maintaining a verified database of MSME suppliers. This, she said, will facilitate easy identification of MSMEs that are participating in the Set Aside provisions.

“Part of that [includes] targeted training and outreach. We are seeking to equip MSMEs with knowledge and tools to compete for government contracts,” she explained.

Mrs. Morris also mentioned that the PPC will integrate a monitoring and evaluation compliance facility in the Set Asides framework.

Meanwhile, despite the negative impact on businesses due to Hurricane Melissa, the Executive Director said there has been a buoyancy in the PPC supply registration for the 2025/26 financial year.

“We have registered up to January alone, just under 100 suppliers of goods and services to do business in government. For this financial year as we close out, we are expected to register over 1,000 businesses as well,” she said.

Mrs. Morris said the volume of applications jumped from 880 in 2023/24 to 959 in 2024/25 and is now set to surpass the 1,000 mark.

In addition, the PPC Executive Director said the Commission has embarked on a reform of the supply registration system, which is aimed at automating and simplifying the system.

“That process is now at the Cabinet stage. The concept paper was approved by the Ministry of Finance, and we are now on the way to Cabinet to have these changes effected in legislation as well,” she said.

Mrs. Morris said it is stipulated in section five of the Public Procurement Act, 2015, that the PPC should encourage participation in the economy by enabling the involvement of small and medium-sized enterprises in public procurement.

Persons are encouraged to access the PPC supply registration system, which is accessible through the Government of Jamaica Electronic Procurement (GOJEP) platform.

“We have to encourage and nurture the MSMEs to get more au fait with accessing public procurement procedures and practices. That is one of the goals of the PPC for the upcoming financial year, as well and one of the objectives of partnering with the SBAJ. We are telling you to get future-ready. Sustainable procurement is a way of life. We need to not only get ready for public procurement opportunities but also be future-ready MSMEs,” she said.

MSMEs comprise 97.6 per cent of all registered tax-paying businesses in Jamaica.