Heavy qualification requirements set by development partners in procurement bidding are making it difficult for local practitioners in the Pacific to secure major infrastructure contracts.
While Pacific companies say they often submit stronger technical proposals and more competitive pricing, many are losing out due to strict “tick-box” qualification criteria.
In some cases, turnover requirements of close to $100 million are being applied, which smaller regional firms say is unrealistic and restricts their ability to compete for large-scale projects.
Hatanga Ltd, a civil engineering and construction company in the Solomon Islands, says it is frequently unable to bid for donor-funded projects despite having the capacity to deliver.
Managing Director Jay Bartlett says it has experienced situations where its bid, methodology, and pricing were assessed as stronger, but it still lost contracts.
“I’ve met the clients, and they’ve told us, your bid was better, your strategy and methodology was better, your price was better, but we can’t give you this job, purely because of the qualification criteria. Just on paper, we lose the job.”
Bartlett expressed that this reflects how rigid criteria can override technical merit in procurement decisions.
The company adds that high personnel and experience requirements also disadvantage local firms, as they often do not have access to large international workforces required under some tenders.
In some tenders, international competitive bidding requirements set turnover benchmarks so high that many island-based companies are automatically excluded.
Companies are now calling on development partners to review and relax some of these criteria to allow greater participation from local firms.
