Procurement Issues in Donor-Funded International Development Projects

This study investigates the critical procurement challenges faced by international development (ID) projects in Bangladesh. Initially, a framework of challenges is developed via literature review. We then rank the importance of these challenges and categorize them based on interview data and analytical hierarchy processing analysis. Interviews were conducted with procurement experts from three major ID project stakeholder groups: donor organizations, host country government policymakers, and project implementation units. The most important categories of challenges were those related to project management capacity/capability, and ethics. More specifically, the challenges deemed most important were those related to improper project planning, undue practices in procurement implementation, government bureaucracy and interference in procurement, and inexperienced procurement staff. This study contributes to the ID project procurement literature by identifying the critical challenges to procurement, which differ from those of other project-related areas. The findings may assist the multi-billion dollar ID project procurement industry in Bangladesh by highlighting the major issues that require effective management by all stakeholders. Ultimately, this may improve procurement outcomes and overall project performance.