The Cabinet of Ministers has decided to include the “Swiss challenge” procedure in the government procurement guidelines to be followed on unsolicited proposals. A Swiss challenge is a form of public procurement which requires an authority which has received an unsolicited bid to publish the bid and invite third parties to match or exceed it.

Though the government discourages unsolicited proposals, some countries follow the Swiss procedure on unsolicited proposals considering positive aspects such as innovation and discovery of unforeseen potential, the statement said.

The need for incorporating this new procedure in the exiting procurement guidelines was pointed out by the Minister of City Planning and Water Supply, Rauff Hakeem at the cabinet committee on economic management.

The Finance Ministry has prepared the required guidelines and the cabinet has directed to the treasury to include Swiss challenge procedure as government procurement guidelines for handling unsolicited project proposals in all sectors.