Professor Kalyuzhnova presents paper at Public Procurement for Innovation workshop

Professor Yelena Kalyuzhnova, Director of the Centre for Euro Asian Studies (CEAS), presented a paper titled 'Public Policy Instruments for Procurement: an Empirical Analysis' on 17 February 2022. The presentation was part of the Public Procurement for Innovation Workshop, hosted online by the Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI), Public Procurement Service of the Republic of Korea (PPS) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

Professor Kalyuzhnova presented alongside Dr Dina Azhgaliyeva, who co-authored the paper and is a member of the CEAS and a Research Fellow at the ADBI. Using Kazakhstan as a case study, the presentation highlighted the conflicts that public procurement policy can run into, such as environmental concerns versus economic growth. It also explored the local content requirements that set a minimum share of local goods, works and services.

In Kazakhstan these local content requirements started with the oil and gas industry and then spread to other sectors. They have become widespread in governmental policy, particularly in resource-rich countries. Yet Professor Kalyuzhnova noted they did not always have the desired consequences, sometimes reducing local procurement and fluctuating in effectiveness due to other factors, such as the number of small and medium-sized enterprises in the area.

The presentation Professor Kalyuzhnova delivered was one of several. Public procurement is commonly used by governments in developed countries to promote innovation and socio-economic policy objectives, including SME development and green growth. Therefore, the workshop had three main aims: to explore how public procurement can be used strategically to promote innovation and growth, to develop strategies and best practices on building and improving public procurement systems for innovation and to support innovative and green recovery through the strategic use of public procurement.

The workshop was chaired by Tetsushi Sonobe, Dean and CEO of the ADBI, and featured guest speakers from think tanks, universities and international organisations across the world, including Portugal, New Zealand and South Korea.

Watch the full recording of the Public Procurement for Innovation workshop online.