Strategic Procurement Planning

Strategic Procurement Planning is the structured analytical process that ADB requires executing agencies to complete before procuring goods, works, or services under an ADB-financed project, producing a documented strategy that links project objectives to appropriate procurement methods, packaging decisions, and market engagement approaches.

What is Strategic Procurement Planning?

The 2017 adb-procurement-policy introduced strategic procurement planning as an explicit requirement because previous approaches often resulted in procurement methods chosen by habit rather than market reality. The process asks executing agencies to assess the supply market for each contract package, consider the risk profile of the procurement, analyse whether international or local competition is realistic, and then select the method, packaging, and timeline that best serve the project's objectives within the core-procurement-principles.

The output is a documented procurement strategy that feeds directly into the project's procurement-plan, the public document that lists all planned contracts, their estimated values, and their procurement methods. ADB staff review the strategic procurement plan as part of project preparation, and significant deviations from it during implementation require ADB's agreement. The process explicitly allows for market sounding, meaning executing agencies and ADB can engage with potential suppliers informally before issuing formal procurement documents, to test assumptions about market capacity and pricing.

Why Strategic Procurement Planning matters for bidders

Market sounding conducted during strategic procurement planning is one of the few legitimate opportunities for suppliers to influence how a procurement is structured before it goes to tender. When ADB or an executing agency invites industry input, suppliers who respond with substantive market information, realistic pricing benchmarks, and honest assessments of what the contract scope requires can shape packaging decisions in their favour. Firms that are already registered in cms and active in the relevant dmc are more likely to be contacted for market soundings. Monitoring ADB project approval announcements and then reaching out to the executing agency and ADB task team during project preparation is the way to participate in this early stage.

FAQ

Is the strategic procurement plan a public document?

The strategic procurement plan itself is typically an internal ADB-borrower working document. Its outputs, including the procurement method and package structure, flow into the procurement-plan, which is published on ADB's project portal.

Can the procurement strategy be changed after it is approved?

Yes, but changes require ADB's agreement, particularly if they affect procurement methods, packaging, or contract values significantly. The intent is that the strategy is stable enough to give the market predictable signals.

What is a market sounding in this context?

A market sounding is an informal consultation where ADB or the executing agency seeks supplier input on pricing, technical requirements, or market capacity before finalising procurement documents. It is not a tender and creates no procurement obligation.