Ecuador: Government pushes to boost competition in government contracts

Santiago Vasquez, General Director for Ecuador’s National Service for Public Contracts (Sercop), joined his counterpart at the country’s competition and markets regulator, SCPM, Cristian Ruiz, in presenting a series of initiatives set in motion by their respective agencies in order to improve the process of public bidding, to encourage greater transparency and promote open and ethical competition between state suppliers.

In this vein, the Sercop Director had publicly requested Mr. Ruiz to instruct the SCPM to analyze the actions of several companies which recently participated in a Reverse Bidding for Corporate Medicine. Mr. Ruiz in turn handed over documentation on a number of antitrust and competition violations detected among a number of pharmaceutical companies.

Mr. Vasquez pointed out that both institutions have coordinated their actions from the start of the Reverse Bidding process, carrying out preemptive actions to protect the wellbeing of Ecuador’s citizens and their right to decent healthcare and access to quality medication.

Full Content: El Telegrafo

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