Setting worldwide principles of transparency in order to rationalize processes across all WTO member nations can bring significant benefits to citizens, taxpayers, government and political officials, providers and local, regional and global markets. In less open systems, bidders are often limited to those that have privileged access to information, or to the process itself. Taxpayers, citizens, government officials, and the local markets can be the beneficiaries or the victims of these differential practices. Taxpayers and the recipients of government services are the prime beneficiaries of an open system. Taxpayers are assured their government can get the best value for their tax dollars.
Clients receive high quality and responsive services at a reasonable cost to the public treasury.
Open procurement systems encourage a broad pool of qualified providers to bid with the confidence that they have the knowledge to compete and win. Governments receive the benefits of lower cost, innovative approaches, and the highest quality of goods and services. Public confidence in governmental conduct also translates into broader support for government itself. In much the same manner, public distrust in procurement erodes public confidence in the overall conduct of government and in the spending of public funds. Since the act of bidding to provide goods and services to government requires a significant investment by participating companies, potential bidders carefully gauge possible return on investment.