COLOMBIA (IDF) PROCUREMENT LAW REFORM REGLAMENTATION THE GOVERMENT OF COLOMBIA IS TRANSFORMING THE COUNTRY'S PROCUREMENT SYSTEM IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE DIALOGUE OPENED DURING CPRAR EXERCISES. THEY NEED FUNDING FOR THREE KEY ASPECTS: REGULATION AS PER NEW LAW REGARDING (A) SELECTION OF CONSULTANTS AND METHODS OF CIVIL WORKS AND GOODS PROCUREMENT; (B) CREATION OF A NEW UNIFIED BIDDER REGISTRATION SYSTEM AND (C) SUPPORTING CINCO'S ROLE IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE REFORMED LAW  The ultimate development purpose of the grant would be to guarantee a faster and smooth implementation of the new procurement regulation and try to avoid the paralysis that may be created by the lack of knowledge of those in charge to apply the new rules, in the implementation of projects that require procurement actions. The reform is introducing rules that changed dramatically the way procurement has been carried out in the last 15 years in Colombia. As example of the new modalities introduced by the new regulation, this is the first country in the region introducing quality as the selection method for selection of consultants; inclusion of lowest evaluated bid as criteria to award civil works and goods contracts; introducing the reverse auctions for procurement of common goods and include the possibility of framework contracts, among others. For Colombian procurement officers and private actors  it will be a challenging period if they do not received rapid training and guidance because there is not reference on how to implement the new methods and rules. Focusing on the implementation of the new regulation will accelerate the actions to strengthen procurement system, increasing the efficiency and making it more predictable. The Colombian congress opted for making the new law mandatory since its promulgation without a timeframe for training purposes. It makes urgent the need of help the Government on this purpose.  As documented by the Banks assessment, the Colombian procurement system needed this reform in order to make it more efficient, transparent and reliable. The new law 1150 has already broken significant ground but challenges remain, particularly for its implementation. Tackling these challenges could place Colombia at the forefront of Latin American on public procurement best practices and significantly closing the gap with Bank#s policies.  As background information, the legal framework consists of Law 80 of 1993 and 1150 of 2007 and around 80 regulatory decrees and other laws. Over-regulated public procurement introduced opportunities for corruption. Over-regulation and the high concern with corruption led to an environment of mutual distrust between the government and those doing business with it. Also, there was no system to monitor and evaluate procurement practices.  Under this scenario, the Bank, though the Modernization of the Financial Public Administration II Project helped strengthen the procurement systems. This subcomponent of the project (a) developed legislation and regulations to support modifications to the Procurement and Contracting (Law 80) with a view to improve the legal framework for public procurement; (b) designed and implemented institutional arrangements for developing and regulating public procurement and contracting policy; (c) developed and implemented a system for monitoring and evaluation of procurement and contracting practices in the public sector; (d) designed and implemented an internet based public procurement information system aimed at disseminating all information regarding procurement practices; and (e) carried out a survey to determined procurement training needs and developing a pedagogical system for providing public sector personnel with learning tools relating to the conceptual, technical, legal and procedural aspects of public procurement and contracting.  There were two areas that the MAFP II was not able to finance: (i) to finalize the institutionalization of the public procurement system and (ii) to finalize the regulation process as ordered in the law 1150 that  reformed law 80 (Public Procurement Legal Framework. With its careful work over the last two years, the Bank has earned a place as a trusted advisor for this reform, which has lead to the governments request for this IDF grant.  The National Planning Department through CINCO (Commission Inter-sectorial of Public Procurement) has an important convening role in the reform process. It has been the leader of this process and has been able to obtain public and private sector support for the transformation of the procurement system. At this point, it is crucial that CINCO continues finalizing this task. Approving the new law should be seen as a very important achievement but implementing the reform is perhaps even more important. This task cannot be left to Ministries and Agencies that are not familiar with the new procedures since they did not participate in the process. The whole process can be in jeopardy if the implementation fails to accomplish what was foreseen when the reform was proposed.  On a technical level, however, CINCO should identify focal points that, in the future, will support the reform and disseminate the knowledge require to use the new tools and procedures created by the law.  Once the reform is implemented with IDF support the knowledge would be shared with other countries, with the aim of documenting lessons learned, facilitating replication and ultimately resulting in more harmonization. With the full implementation of Law 1150 and with the institutionalization of the procurement system, it will become one of the region's best practices.