‘Tender’ product launched in Lankan market

For the first time in Sri Lanka, government and private tenders could be accessed online through Sri Lanka's first tender portal under a joint venture between E-Procurement Technologies Pvt. Ltd and Wijeya Newspapers Limited (WNL).

The online tender portal launched this week offers three services to its users. Contractors and suppliers can subscribe to it, tenders could be hosted online on this site and also, end-to-end e-procurement solutions are provided by the website from publishing of tender documents right down to the bidding and awarding.

The aim of this project is to make tender information more accessible to the world so that the government can get more competitive bids, said Vishal Dhori, Chief Manager of E-Procurement Technologies Pvt. Ltd. Suppliers and buyers can publish tenders on the site, sell tender documents and publish results online.

Dhori explained that they can also access the Online National Supplier Registry, invite bids and award bids online and trade projects online.

This new method of publishing tenders will mean that no tenders will be missed by potential buyers, as it is accessible any time of the day from any part of the world. It will also ensure transparency and efficiency while ensuring maximum confidentiality, Dhoru said. The site is updated daily whilest an archive of all tenders published on the site is also available.

Bidders can choose the mode in which they bid, masked or unmasked. If they choose the masked option, they will not be able to view the other bidders for the same tenders but if they prefer to go for an unmasked bid, they can do so. That will enable them to view the other bidders, but not the amounts.

Buyers can either use their own sites or publish their tenders or use the tender portal. If the buyers decide to use their own sites, any visitors to that site will be directed to the information on the tender portal. The look and feel of the web-site can be customized to be in line with that of the buyer’s web site.

Also present at the event was Prof. Tissa Vitharana, Minister of Science and Technology, who said that the E-transactions Act which was passed in Parliament and the Computer Crimes Bill have been brought about to minimize abuse of these facilities. “People can use these (facilities) knowing that safe guards are in place” he said.

The website is www.lanka.onetender.com