Cambodia - Leveraging e-GP Strategy for Sustainable Public Procurement Implementation

Sustainable Public Procurement (SPP) allows public sector organizations to procure goods and services while maximizing value for money, benefiting society and the economy, and minimizing environmental damage. Cambodia's 2023 Environmental and Natural Resources (ENR) Code emphasizes SPP and mandates stakeholder accountability. Article 56 of the Public Procurement Law 2023 enforces sustainable procurement, prioritizing environmental protection and socioeconomic impact. While Cambodia currently lacks a Type 1 Ecolabel framework, the Ministry of Environment, supported by GIZ, is working on developing a national ecolabel guided by a draft Sub-Decree. The government of Cambodia has initiated the transition of Government businesses through IT and enabled services. As part of that vision, an e-GP readiness assessment was undertaken by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for the Government in 2023. Through the GovTech trust fund, the World Bank supported this effort further by conducting a stakeholder consultation workshop and developing a recommended e-GP strategy for the Government of Cambodia in 2024. As the digitization of procurement through an e-GP system aims to incorporate sustainability concerns, improve accountability, and align with the objectives of the ENR Code and Public Procurement Law, the World Bank has further developed this report analyzing means and options for integrating SPP concerns at different stages of developing and implementing e-GP in Cambodia