On June 28th, the opening ceremony of the Knowledge Sharing, Capacity Building and Supporting Service Programme on Sustainable Procurement of UN/International Organizations was held in Shanghai. The Training Center of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) has been approved as the core partner of the Project, and will advance Chinese enterprises to participate in UN procurement.
The the Knowledge Sharing, Capacity Building and Supporting Service Programme on Sustainable Procurement of UN/International Organizations aims to serve international organizations and enterprises, procurement agencies of the United Nations included, and to help reduce procurement costs.
As an important part of international public procurement, UN agencies have been engaged in substantial procurement of goods and services. In recent years, the total volume of their purchases has continued to rise and become more diversified, reaching US $19.9 billion in 2019. According to UN statistics, products “Made in China” accounted for 28% of the world’s total manufacturing output in 2018, while direct procurement by the UN system in China totaled US $246 million, only accounting for 1.24% of the total. More than one third of the goods purchased by the UN every year are “made in China”, and they are mainly re-exported through third parties. Given that China is a major manufacturing country and trading service provider, the amount of UN direct procurement in China is far from enough, and there is still much potential and room to be expanded.
The direct procurement of products “Made in China” by the United Nations system should be promoted, more standardized competitive methods that comply with international market rules should be adopted to help Chinese companies seek diversified development in the market. Such measures will help expand cooperation on the Belt and Road Initiative, explore the blue ocean market for international procurement, and promote the transformation and upgrading of “Made in China” to “Created in China” and “Chinese Brands”. At the same time, the expansion of direct procurement by the UN in China will help further unblock the industrial and supply chains, better reflect the comparative advantages of Chinese goods, effectively serve the needs of the UN system in peacekeeping, humanitarian assistance and development assistance projects, and contribute to the UN 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.
In the near future, and through publicity and trainings, the CCPIT will rely on local and industrial trade promotion agencies to help Chinese enterprises, especially the small and medium-sized ones, solve their problems of “not knowing about UN procurement”, “not knowing how to do it”, and “not being good at it”. In the future, the CCPIT will also build information and data platforms, hold conferences and forums, carry out capacity building for enterprises, and build cooperation networks.