By Judith Ugwumadu | 04 November 2013

The Inter-American Development Bank has approved public procurement systems used in eight Latin American and Caribbean countries.

The governments of Argentina, Bolivia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Jamaica, Panama, Paraguay, and Peru asked the bank to review their procurement systems to check that they complied with internationally recognised standards of good practice.

Following approval from the IDB, the systems can now be used for bank-financed projects.

IDB said: ‘This approval reflects the countries’ efforts to improve their public procurement systems, which represent an $800bn market in the region.’

It added that public sector market access in the region had improved significantly with 70% of all public procurement opportunities now accessible through electronic means.

IDB followed set standards listed in the Guide for acceptance of the use of country procurement systems, which it approved in 2010, based on Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development best practices indicators.