ISLAMABAD: In a significant move to tighten oversight on public procurement, the Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) and the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Tuesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to collaborate against bid rigging, collusive tendering, and other anti-competitive practices.
The agreement was signed by Ms. Marryum Pervaiz, Secretary CCP, and Mr. Muhammad Tahir, Director General Operations NAB, at CCP’s headquarters. The ceremony was witnessed by CCP Chairman Dr. Kabir Ahmed Sidhu and NAB Chairman Lt Gen (Retd) Nazir Ahmed Butt, along with senior officials from both institutions.
The MoU lays the foundation for joint efforts in investigation, information sharing, and technical collaboration. It also envisions capacity-building initiatives, shared access to data, risk pattern identification, and coordinated enforcement strategies to promote transparency and protect public resources.
Speaking on the occasion, CCP Chairman Dr. Kabir Ahmed Sidhu emphasised the need for systematic monitoring of collusive practices, noting that while the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) for FY2023-24 stood at Rs1.1 trillion, provincial Annual Development Plans (ADPs) totaled nearly Rs1.559 trillion—an enormous volume of public spending that requires greater scrutiny.
Despite the existence of PPRA’s e-procurement system (EPADS), Dr. Sidhu pointed out a lack of robust mechanisms to detect and deter collusion. He highlighted that CCP has developed software capable of analysing large datasets to identify patterns of bid rigging, a method that can complement NAB’s more rigorous criminal investigations by providing actionable leads under the civil standard of proof employed by the Competition Act.
NAB Chairman Nazir Ahmed Butt lauded the initiative, calling it a crucial step in combating “mega crimes” against the economy. He stressed that anti-competitive practices in public procurement result in massive financial losses and must be addressed urgently. Butt expressed hope that CCP’s data-driven insights would enhance NAB’s enforcement capabilities and help uncover cartels exploiting regulatory loopholes.
The partnership aims to blend CCP’s economic and analytical expertise with NAB’s investigative and prosecutorial authority, forming a comprehensive approach to tackling corruption and inefficiency in public tenders.
Both institutions pledged to deepen cooperation and use the MoU as a platform for future joint actions to uphold economic integrity and transparency in Pakistan’s public sector.
