Kuwait’s National Assembly has unanimously passed in the first reading, a new public tenders law following the introduction of a number key amendments to the bill by the Financial Affairs Committee.
With regards to the construction industry, one of the most important provisions of the law obliges the Central Tenders Committee (CTC) – which awards state projects worth billions of dollars – to accept the decisions of the petitions committee, whose opinions are currently consultative.
Members of Parliament also debated whether the petitions committee, which studies challenges by contractors who lose tenders, should be under the Council of Ministers, or remain with the CTC, the Kuwait Times reported.
The MP Jamal Al-Omar said that the committee should be kept away from the Council of Ministers because its decisions are technical, while those made by the council are political, the report added.
Companies that are listed on the Kuwaiti Stock Exchange are given priority when it comes to the awarding of state contracts, but under the new law, no new projects will be awarded to companies that are having problems completing other projects, until they resolve their issues and complete the project.
Highlighting the importance of the tender law, MP Saadoun Hammad said that it must tackle a number of sensitive issues, like agreements that contractors bidding for the same project raise their costs.