U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker today delivered remarks at the launch of the Global Procurement Initiative (GPI) in Bogota, Colombia. Secretary Pritzker is making her first official visit to Colombia, during which she will meet with government and business leaders on the importance of U.S.-Colombia commercial ties.

During today's remarks, Secretary Pritzker highlighted the benefits of creating a competitive and transparent public procurement process as well as the importance of the U.S.-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement. Secretary Pritzker reaffirmed that working together to promote open markets, create jobs, and encourage investment is in the long-term best interest of both the U.S. and Colombia.

Run by the U.S. Trade and Development Agency, the Global Procurement Initiative helps public procurement officials all over the world establish practices and policies that integrate life-cycle cost analysis and best-value determination in a fair, transparent manner.

Remarks as Prepared for Delivery

Good afternoon! I am pleased to be here for your first day of training under the Global Procurement Initiative.

I first want to thank Director Maria Margarita Zuleta of Colombia Compra Eficiente for all the work she has done to improve transparency, fight corruption, and bring world-class public procurement practices to Colombia. I also want to acknowledge my colleague Lee Zak, Director of the U.S. Trade and Development Agency, for helping to bring this important program to Colombia.

This week’s workshop is an opportunity for our teams to work directly with you – our Colombian counterparts – on an issue absolutely critical to strengthening the investment climate here: creating a competitive, transparent public procurement process.

A competitive, transparent public procurement process supports an efficient public sector and will help attract needed investment to Colombia. According to the OECD, government procurement constitutes as much as 20 percent of most countries’ GDP – so it is no exaggeration to say that the work you do through this program can have a major impact on your nation’s economy. 

By integrating the concepts of transparency and fairness into the procurement system, your government will get the best value for its money, build public confidence, and generate real savings for both your government and your taxpayers. We have seen this succeed elsewhere. For example, in Slovakia, greater transparency in government procurement processes helped increase the average number of bids per contract by over 50 percent. This increase in competition will give you more choices and allow you – as government leaders – to pick products that best meet your needs for both quality and price.

Stronger procurement practices will not only help ensure that Colombia receives a stronger return on its investment from government spending. Better practices will also promote more trade between our two countries and advance the progress already made on public procurement through the U.S.-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement, or CTPA. The CTPA allows companies from both countries to compete for public procurement tenders on a level playing field – increasing choice and resulting in suppliers submitting more competitive bids in procurements. 

Over the past four years, the free trade agreement between our two countries has diversified our bilateral trade, allowed more small- and medium-sized companies to join the global marketplace, and opened up more mutually beneficial trade and investment opportunities than ever before. Now, your government still has work to do to implement a number of important commitments under the trade agreement, particularly in the areas of intellectual property rights protection and enforcement, and trade facilitation.

But our free trade agreement is and will remain the cornerstone of our bilateral commercial relationship. The United States is committed to fully developing the potential of this agreement.

Both President Obama and President Santos understand that promoting open markets, creating jobs, and encouraging investment is in the long-term best interest of all our citizens.

Looking to the future, I know that all of us are eager to embark on the next chapter of the U.S.-Colombia economic relationship. Where our free trade agreement is fully implemented, Colombia realizes the benefits of a completed and sustainable peace agreement and where we continue our work together as partners to create more economic opportunity and prosperity for all of our people.

I look forward to seeing great results from this program. Thank you.