ISLAMABAD (Business Desk): The Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) has developed an artificial intelligence-based system to identify bid-rigging and potential irregularities in government procurement.
According to CCP Chairman Farid Ahmed Tarrar, approximately $60 billion is spent on public procurement in Pakistan every year, accounting for 15 to 20 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).
He said that monitoring government procurement worth trillions of rupees was not possible through complaints and manual inspections alone. The new AI system would help direct investigative resources towards suspicious and high-risk cases.
The CCP clarified that alerts generated by the system would not constitute conclusive evidence of a violation or the existence of a cartel. Each case would require independent verification, evidence collection and legal scrutiny.
The system, designed to detect collusion in bidding, is in an advanced stage of preparation ahead of its implementation. It has also been featured in a Stanford report on anti-competitive practices worldwide, which presents the experiences of 30 competition authorities from across the globe.
Institutional agreements have been reached with federal and provincial procurement authorities, as well as the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), to facilitate the system’s implementation.
The initiative is expected to promote fair competition in government procurement and help ensure the more effective use of public resources.