On March 11, 2021, a Session was held on the Application of Behavioral Science in Public Procurement. The session was organized by the World Bank Group. The session was attended by: Krish Krishnakumar, Manager of the World Bank's Global Practice for Europe and Central Asia, Procurement Solutions and Innovation, Akylbek Umetaliev, Head of the Department of Logistics, Kyrgyz State Technical University, Nurida Baizakova, Director of the Department of Public Procurement under the Ministry of Economy and Finance, Erke Turdumambetova, Director of the Training Center under the Ministry of Economy and Finance. Irina Goncharova was moderated by the World Bank. In total, over 80 listeners participated in the session: teachers, students, procurement specialists, experts, business representatives, employees of the World Bank project implementation departments and others.
The session was opened by Mr. Krishnakumar, he noted that this is already his third meeting with the Department of Logistics, KSTU named after Razzakov and that each meeting leaves only the most pleasant impressions on him. Referring to the topic of the session, Mr. Krishnakumar emphasized the importance of Behavioral Science as a powerful tool that helps to solve problems, as well as make decisions based on Behavioral Science. Director of the Department of Public Procurement under the Ministry of Economy and Finance Nurida Asanovna voiced the idea that it would be a good decision to develop a methodology based on Behavioral Science.
The World Bank began research in Behavioral Science back in 2010 and during this time has gained good experience and the baggage of successfully implemented cases in many countries around the globe. One of the World Bank's Behavioral Science researchers is the talented sociologist and researcher John Isabelle Sousa, who gave the main part of the presentation on Behavioral Science. The presentation began with an interesting and unique experience among the participants of the session, probably this was to be expected from a sociologist studying Behavioral Science. As it turned out, the experiment was not in vain, since all the participants immediately grasped the material. Further, Jonah Isabelle talked about what are the factors that impede decision-making and how to successfully make decisions under changing conditions, why it is important to take into account behavior in public procurement, an example of increasing efficiency associated with tax discipline. The participants of the session, and especially the students, highly appreciated the material provided and upon completion of Joan's speech, actively asked questions and received detailed answers from not only Joan herself, but also from Irina Goncharova and Mr. Krishnakumar. The speech of Erke Turdumambetova, director of the Training Center under the Ministry of Economy and Finance, also brought positive moments to the session. She noted the importance of such educational meetings and shared with the session participants that she was very interested in the topic of the session. Ms. Erke Turdumambetova announced the signing of a memorandum of cooperation between the Department of Logistics of KSTU and the Training Center under the Ministry of Economy and Finance, and that now logistics students can take the test and, if successfully passed, receive a buyer's certificate.
