PHNOM PENH: The "Draft Law on Public Procurement" was fully approved at the Council of Ministers Plenary Meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Hun Sen, on Friday, 31 March 2023.

Government Spokesperson, Phay Siphan, said this law aims to ensure reliability, transparency, efficiency, competitiveness and savings, in line with international practice, by turning the Ministry of Economy and Finance into a regulator and procurement auditor. Meanwhile, other ministries and institutions will also be given authority and responsibility with full accountability to carry out procurement.

Public procurement the purchase by governments and state-owned enterprises of goods, services and works.

Cambodia's first public procurement law was established in accordance with Article 50 of the 1993 Law on the Financial System, which states that “expenditures on construction or purchase of materials in the general state budget and in special accounts of the National Treasury shall be subject to public bidding”.