Swiss To Open Portal For Foreign Companies To Tender

by Ulrika Lomas, Tax-News.com, Brussels

25 January 2002

The bilateral EU accords agreed by the Swiss electorate in May, 2000, and finally ratified by all EU member states just in December 2001, included a free trade section which cleared the way for foreign construction firms to bid for Swiss contracts.

Now a new Swiss web site, to be launched in June 2002, will give foreign firms an easy way of taking part in the tendering process. The portal’s aim is to ensure that public funds are spent wisely and economically. It is hoped that by giving construction firms from all over Europe the opportunity to tender for work online, the most competitive price can be reached for the Swiss authorities.

The site, www.simap.ch, will open a sector of industry worth an estimated SFr 35 billion ($30 billion). On the new site, contractors and building firms, both from Switzerland and abroad, will be able to bid for contracts in areas as diverse as bridge building, tunnel security and utilities improvements.

The project was presented to the public at Basel’s building industry trade fair, “Swissbau”. The website will be available in French, German and Italian. By 2004, it may even be possible to sign contracts online, once electronic signatures are made more secure. This would mean that construction firms could bid, negotiate and finalise contracts all at the click of a mouse.

However, price is only one of the issues when it comes to financing a major public project, and the website is also focused on finding the best quality for the best price. Looking ahead, the Swiss authorities hope that one day all public work contracts, services and some 5,500 Swiss associations will be accessible via the simap site.

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