Public Procurement in Chile: Policy Options for Efficient and Inclusive Framework Agreements

Public procurement is a critical element of sound governance and countries implement diverse tools and strategies to increase its efficiency and cost effectiveness. Framework agreements, in particular, aggregating public demand and streamlining procurement processes are increasingly used by central purchasing bodies in OECD countries. This report examines the use of framework agreements and their developments in Chile, benchmarked against the practices in other OECD countries. Implementation of framework agreements in Chile have provided business opportunities to a growing number of suppliers and a wide variety of goods and services to public entities. Yet, the steady increase of the number of suppliers and contract management activities now question the sustainability and the effeciency of the system. This report analyses different policy options that ChileCompra could consider and suggests ways to streamline processes, improve the effectiveness of the system and increase efficiencies while promoting inclusiveness.