Consulting service contract management in public sector procurement: best practice and challenges

Abstract

Consulting services show a central role in decorative efficiency, transparency and value of money in the public sector procurement. Government agencies in Bangladesh are more and more depending on consultants in terms of technical skills, policy guidance, feasibility analysis, and project management, especially in projects funded by donors. Although the high legal and regulatory framework offered by Public Procurement Act PPA, 2006 and Public Procurement Rules-PPR, 2025 has addressed issues in the management of consulting contracts, issues in project outcomes, schedules, and responsibility remain persistent. This paper is entitled Consulting Service Contract Management in Public Sector Procurement: Best Practice and Challenges and focuses on planning, procurement, and management of the consulting contracts in Bangladesh. It determines the institutional gaps, examines the best practices, and indicates the opportunities to achieve better transparency, efficiency, and performance in consulting procurement. The research, which is founded on qualitative research using secondary sources, such as official documents, policy frameworks, reports of the Bangladesh Public Procurement Authority (BPPA), Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division (IMED), international donor organizations, and academic literature, is used to analyze thematic trends, challenges, and improvement opportunities. The results show that the procurement laws in Bangladesh are generally in line with the international standards, but the level of implementation is poor. Consulting services use is on the increase at an impressive rate and most of the procuring entities have institutional and human resource limitations. Authorities usually do not have the specific training on the preparation of TOR, reviewing of technical offers and contract administration. Constant change of staff also undermines institutional knowledge and experience.