South Asia Region Public Procurement Knowledge Exchange Program – Exposure Visit of Heads of Procurement from South Asian countries to U.S. Government Procurement Systems has started with initial meetings in the World Bank offices at Washington DC. Visiting delegation was welcomed by Mr. Felipe Goya, Practice Manager for South Asia and West Africa of the Solutions and Innovations in Procurement, Governance Global Practice. Mr. Priyanga Algama - Director General, Department of Public Finance, General Treasury, Sri Lanka, and Chair of SAR Public Procurement Network (SAR PPN) addressed the delegation and set the context. Mr. Aaron Held, Advisor and Director of Business Liaison, Office of the U.S. Executive Director, The World Bank also welcomed the delegation to US Government procurement entities and hoped the interactions would be mutually beneficial. Mr. Plamen Kirov, Senior Procurement Specialist, SAR APM Office, The World Bank detailed the agenda for the week. During the session, World Bank’s mobile Application PPM Kin- Public Procurement Managers Knowledge Information and Network was launched by Mr. A K Kalesh Kumar, Capacity Building Coordinator, GGP-SIP, World Bank.
 
The delegation consists of senior officials from South Asian countries including Mr. Md. Faruque Hossain  from Bangladesh, Mr. Leki Tshering from Bhutan, Mr. Sanjay Aggarwal and Mr. Kumar Chandrahas Jha from India,  Mr. Ahmed Mujutaba from Maldives, Mr. Binod  K. C. from Nepal and Mr. Priyanka Algama from Sri Lanka. Mr Anand Kumar Srivastava, Sr Procurement Specialist World Bank Afghanistan office represents the country. The delegation will be visiting and interacting with officials from  US General Services Administration (GSA); The Institute for Public Procurement (NIGP); U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO); U.S. Department of Commerce; Us Trade and Development Agency and Virginia Department of General Services, Commonwealth of Virginia during the five days program from September 11 to 15.