Selangor to implement open tender system soon

(Bernama) – Selangor Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim said the state government’s purchasing and procurement system through open tender would be implemented soon.

“Through the open tender system, the state government hopes to get the best value for money for purchases and procurements made in the interest of the state and people.”

Khalid said this at the state assembly sitting today in reply to Dr Mohd Nasir Hashim (PSM-Kota Damansara) who asked about the latest on the open tender system which Penang had also introduced.

He said the state executive council had decided since March to implement the open tender system.

However, the state government and the local authorities were still tied down to the Finance Ministry’s procedures which required Bumiputera and Class F contractors to be registered with the State Economic Planning Unit, he added.

Meanwhile, state Investment, Trade and Industry Committee chairman Teresa Kok said it was difficult to ascertain whether an investment inflow into the state was due to efforts made by the Pakatan Rakyat state government or the Barisan Nasional state government previously.

She said most of the investors who invested in Selangor dealt with the Malaysian Industrial Development Authority, a federal government agency.

Kok was replying to Subahan Kamal (BN-Taman Templer) who asked about the amount of investments pulled in by the BN state government before PR took over the state, for 182 new projects received by Selangor in 2009.

“It’s difficult for Mida to determine whether an investment is due to the effort of BN or Pakatan, because investment inflows into Malaysia including Selangor depend on the world economic climate, and governmment policies and incentives. They (investors) don’t care who is helming the state government,” she said.

For the period of April 2008 to December 2009, 244 new projects with investments worth RM10.14 billion were approved in Selangor. Out of this amount, RM2.55 billion came from local investors.