Bahrain Tender Board
The Bahrain Tender Board (BTB) is an independent, regulator of government procurement practices in the Kingdom of Bahrain, established in 2002 by Legislative Decree No: 36. All public tenders valued over BHD 10,000 ($ 26,595) must be published on the government’s official tendering website. The BTB works in collaboration with the public sector purchasing authorities, and local, regional and international contractors and suppliers.
The five main steps in a tender process
Tender Preparation
The principle tendering method is public tendering, other tendering methods require obtaining the prior approval of the BTB. Tenders can be applied for using one of the following methods: public tender, limited tender, direct purchase (single source), competitive negotiation, and two-phases tenders, and request for proposals. The purchasing authority shall initiate the tender documents through the e-Tendering System. To visit the system please click on the link: e-Tendering System.
- After obtaining the approval on the e-Tendering System, the Purchasing Authority will publish the tender in the system.
- For public tenders, an automatic tender advertisement or announcement is published on the BTB’s website.
- For other tendering methods, automatic email invitations are sent to the selected suppliers or contractors.
2. Bid Submission
- The suppliers/contractors need to register in the e-Tendering System using the following link: Registration.
- The suppliers/contractors need to purchase and download the tender documents electronically.
- Bidders submit their bids to the BTB between 8.00 am to 1.30 pm, Sunday to Wednesday. Bids received after the specified closing time will not be accepted.
3. Tender Opening
- Opening of bids is carried out in the presence of the BTB’s members and/or the bids opening committee members, purchasing authorities’ representatives and suppliers/contractors representatives.
- Once the bid is opened, the prices are displayed online on the BTB’s website. They can be found at the opening time on the “Live Opening” tab through the link: Live Opening, and on the “Opened Bids” tab through the link: Opened Bids.
- During the bids opening process, the bids will be verified by the BTB’s members and/ or the bids opening committee members to ensure that all the bids are accompanied by the required documents.
Accepted Bid
Bids are accepted if they conform to the requirements of the tender documents including the submission of the required appropriate documents and papers.
Suspended Bid
Bids are suspended in the following cases:
- The Bidder did not purchase the tender documents and/ or is different from the buyer’s name.
- The Form No. (TB 02) is not attached.
- The original copy of the Initial Bond is not attached.
- The Initial Bond is not in the right form according to the BTB’sDecision No. (3) for 2004 and the tender documents.
- The Initial Bond includes wrong information and/or does not conform to the requirements.
4. Tender Evaluation & Award
- All the opened bids documents shall be forwarded to the concerned Purchasing Authority or any other body assigned by the board to evaluate the bids.
- The concerned Purchasing Authority examines the bids and excludes the non-compliant ones.
- All the opened bids, except the suspended or non-compliant bids, will be evaluated by the concerned Purchasing Authority.
- The tender will be recommended for award by the Purchasing Authority based on their evaluation report.
- Upon receipt of the tender evaluation report and award recommendation, the BTB will review and issue an award decision or any other appropriate course of action to the concerned Purchasing Authority.
- The awarded tenders can be found on the “Awarded Tenders” tab through the link: Awarded Tenders, and a monthly report is published on the Official Gazette.
Bahrain Major Projects
- Oil and gas: Bahrain announced last year the discovery of a major tight oil and gas reserves off its western coast. The new find consists of at least 80 billion barrels of tight oil and between 10 and 20 trillion cubic feet of deep natural gas.
- King Hamad Causeway: The project connecting Bahrain and Saudi Arabia involves building a 25-kilometer causeway parallel to the existing King Fahd Causeway for trains and vehicle traffic. It has an estimated cost of $5 billion. The first tenders associated with the proposed King Hamad Causeway are expected to be announced in 2019.
- Bahrain Metro Rail: The Ministry of Transportation has recently shortlisted three consultants to provide transactional advisory services for Phase I of the Bahrain Metro Rail Project, estimated to cost up to $2 billion. The project will feature a 184km network made up of six lines and is being implemented in four phases. Phase 1 will involve two lines running 30 kilometers and covering 20 stations.
- Other infrastructure: Bahrain is in the process of building other infrastructure projects, including a greenfield aromatics petrochemical facility as part of Bapco’s modernization program, the Al-Dur 2 Independent Water and Power Project which will have 1500 MW of generation capacity when online in 2020, and the Diyar al Muharraq master-planned community being built on 12 artificial islands. Bahrain also plans a new $300 million convention center in Saquir, and a $267 million King Abdullah Medical City in Durrat Al Bahrain, that will include a 500-bed hospital.
Education and Health Care: Bahrain seeks to develop its educational and health care systems creating great investment opportunities in the Kingdom.