ARDS PROCUREMENT UNIT – FIRST ISO 9001:2000 CERTIFIED UNIT IN AFGHANISTAN

Afghanistan announced its entry in to the main stream of global quality movement when Afghanistan Reconstruction and Development Services Procurement Unit, became the first ISO 9000 certified organization in Afghanistan in November 2006 by Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), India. The prestigious ISO 9001:2000 Certificate was received by several cabinet ministers of Afghanistan, in the presence of many other cabinet ministers.

This certification was received by ARDS using its in-house capabilities which include a team of nationals and international experts. This prestigious certification established the growing capacity and capability of Afghanistan and put an independent stamp of credibility, consistency and transparency of the systems followed in the vital area of procurement through which millions of Dollars worth of contracts are awarded under international aid and assistance provided by World Bank, ADB and other donor agencies for reconstruction and development of Afghanistan.

Some of the benefits and results which have been accrued by the certification are:

• Better Reliability, Efficiency & Effectiveness of Procurement Operations
• Orderliness & Clarity by working through well defined protocols
• Convenience to all – Within the organization, Line Ministries, Donor Agencies
• Consistency in processing of procurement cases and presentation of data
• Confidence of Customer and Donor Agencies
• Minimization of the response time
• Optimization of cycle time for processing a procurement case
• Correctness and consistency in decision making
• Transparency clubbed with confidentiality as needed
• Systems to monitor and improve stakeholders’ satisfaction