The procurement phase of the FMIS project formally commenced in December 2006, with the public release of the first stage Bidding Document for the Financial Management Information System (FMIS) and followed an open invitation to bid, advertised on DGMarkets and in newspapers.  The procurement process follows the standard World Bank framework and uses standard Bank procurement structures for the procurement of Goods and Services.

More than 20 entities requested a copy of the Bidding Document and 9 formal Bids were received.  The evaluation process was based on Bidders satisfying eligibility to bid requirements specified in the Bidding Documents and for those Bidders being eligible, their bids were then assessed against 6 ‘Gateway’ Criteria all of which had to be passed before they were considered eligible for invitation to Stage 2.

Of the 9 bids received, 4 were assessed as being both eligible and offering a solution which passed the gateway criteria.  Those 4 Bidders were:

Each of these 4 Bidders has been invited to participate in the Second Stage Bidding process.  Each Bidder was also invited to present a short demonstration of their solution and attend a post-assessment briefing session with the IT Department in September 2008.  3 Bidders attended and provided a demonstration to the IT Department and many departmental Heads from across MEF and line Ministries.