New procurement policy expands opportunities for small and medium enterprises

The government has introduced a new procurement policy aimed at increasing the participation of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and improving their access to government procurement opportunities.

According to the policy issued by the Ministry of Finance today, for procurements valued at less than MVR 5 million, contracts will be awarded to the highest-scoring eligible SME bidder when SMEs participate in the bidding process.

Under the revised framework, construction projects valued below MVR 500,000 have been reserved exclusively for Grade 7 contractors registered with the National Contractors Registry. Projects valued between MVR 500,000 and MVR 10 million will be allocated to Grade 4, 5, 6, and 7 contractors.

The policy further states that when SMEs are included among bidders in government procurements, the contract will be awarded to the eligible bidder that achieves the highest evaluation score, in line with the new preference mechanism.

Additionally, for bids valued under MVR 5 million, if a bid submitted by a company based on the island where the project will be implemented is within 10 percent of the highest-ranked bid price, priority will be given to the local company.