The objective of the document is to provide a working tool to the different institutions/entities that carry out public procurement procedures under the guidelines and forms of contracting established in the Public Administration Procurement and Contracting Law -LACAP-, its Regulations and other applicable regulations.

The presentation of the new manual was attended by 50 participants from public, autonomous institutions, such as: Banco Central de Reserva (BCR), Corte de Cuentas, Fondo de Conservación Vial (FOVIAL), Hospital Rosales, Hospital Nacional de Metapán, Alcaldía El Triunfo, Ministerio de Obras Públicas (MOP), Comisión Ejecutiva Hidroeléctrica del Río Lempa (CEL), Fondo Social para la Vivienda (FSV), Centro Nacional de Registros (CNR), Administradora Nacional de Acueductos y Alcantarillados (ANDA), Policía Nacional Civil (PNC), Fiscalía General de la República (FGR), Instituto Salvadoreño del Seguro Social (ISSS), inistries of Defense, Health, Finance, Education.

The Director of the UNAC, Mauro Jovel, was in charge of the welcoming remarks; and considering the good practices in the elaboration of normative documents, he explained that the Procurement Procedure Manual is applicable to all the institutions of the Public Administration and private actors that with public funds make purchases of works, goods and services through the forms of contracting defined in the LACAP, in addition, in purchases with external funds when the agency from which the resources come does not define the procurement procedure or that the cooperation agreement or donation mandates the use of the referred law.

The Public Procurement Procedures Manual had not been updated since 2014, now, under the management of minister Alejandro Zelaya, and with the entry into force of new regulations and reforms to the LACAP, the new version has been made with the aim of strengthening the processes through a standardized instrument for the development of public procurement.