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Public contracting in latin america
Transparency International
Transparency International
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Abstract
"States allocate approximately 70%1 of their national budgets to some form of contracting or procurement. The existence of corruption in such processes results in the public resources needed to promote the economic development of the country, combat poverty and ensure that citizens have access to basic rights such as education and health ending up in the pockets of certain government officials. Citizens are not the only ones to bear the brunt. The private sector also is greatly affected by it since the companies that participate in competitive bidding processes walk into a culture of unhealthy competition, which can undermine market processes. In addition to the national laws and regulations that govern procurement and public contracting procedures, countries are subject to the international framework that they have voluntarily undertaken such as the Inter-American Convention against Corruption (IACAC) and the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC). These conventions require the countries to comply with certain requirements intended to ensure that the countries use transparent, equitable, effective and efficient public contracting systems. All Latin American countries have acceded to the IACAC and some to the UNCAC. Citing the provisions on public contracting and procurement in the conventions as a point of reference, the Transparency International Americas Department and the Public Contracting Global Programme at TI decided to conduct a study that would provide a general overview of the status of public contracting in Latin America. The purpose of the study was to answer the following questions: • To what extent has each Latin American country upheld its commitment in terms of public contracting? • How transparent are the public contracting systems in each Latin American country? • To what corruption risks are they exposed? What measures must be put into practice to prevent these risks?"
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Preprint
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2006-10
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With permission of the license/copyright holder