Uzbekistan, World Bank Strengthen Ties on Public Procurement Reform

Sarvar Nazarov, Director of the Department of Public Procurement Policy under Uzbekistan’s Ministry of Economy and Finance, has held a bilateral meeting with Zhentu Liu, the newly appointed Head of the World Bank’s Public Procurement Group for Central Asia, to strengthen collaboration on public procurement modernization.

The two sides reviewed the progress of joint projects set to run through 2025 and outlined key priorities for new initiatives in 2025 and 2026, The Caspian Post reports via Kazakh media.

A consensus was reached to launch a series of strategic projects in several key areas, including:

Designing a targeted support program for manufacturing enterprises-including small businesses-to enhance their participation in public procurement, drawing on international best practices and expertise.

Conducting in-depth expert analyses to evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of Uzbekistan’s public procurement system.

Improving contract management by leveraging global experience and engaging international specialists to help shape future reforms.

A strong emphasis was placed on capacity building, with the World Bank expressing its commitment to support the establishment of a comprehensive training and professional development system at the Ministry’s Training Center. This includes introducing a certification-based qualification framework for procurement specialists.

The meeting also covered a broad range of related issues, such as:

Strengthening public procurement governance and oversight;

Enhancing monitoring tools and anti-corruption safeguards;

Advancing centralized procurement mechanisms;

Integrating artificial intelligence to automate procurement processes;

Promoting sustainable, eco-friendly ("green") procurement practices.

To ensure coordinated implementation, both sides agreed to develop a detailed strategic roadmap for the short and medium term and to intensify regular online consultations to monitor progress and adjust priorities as needed.