Approving the proper methodology of the project consultant appointment supports the possibility of hiring the consultant best suited for the project and enhances the project success and achievement of its goals. The Project Committee shall be responsible for approving the consultant appointment and it may assign to the Federal Entity any tasks it deems appropriate to be carried by the entity under its supervision.
There are three ways to appoint the project consultant, namely:
A- Open international competitive bid
It is defined as an open invitation to more than one consultant (which gives it the competitive nature) from more than one country (which gives it an international nature) to submit proposals for consultancy services in a specific project. It is the best way for appointing the consultants due to its transparency and the creativity resulting from submitting creative action plans and innovative ideas that may not be taken into account. It also promotes consultants' trust in the government, which may be non-existent or questionable if the committee/entity is used to award the consultancy services by mutual agreement. On the other hand, it may appear that the awarding method through open international competitive bidding is expensive and requires a longer time and larger team to organise thereof, but this cost and effort may be negligible when comparing thereof with the cost resulting from the selecting an inappropriate consultant and its implications for the joint project failure.
B- Tendering
It is one of the competitive bidding types and it is not only characterized by inviting all consultants interested or qualified to do the work, but also it is targeted to a specified number of consultants who may be local or foreign.
The method of Tendering is less costly than the open international competitive bidding due to the savings resulting from not publishing the invitation in the local and international newspapers, where the registered or well-known consultants are directly notified.
This method should be used in awarding the consultancy services if there is a limited number of the consultants specialised in providing the envisaged services and have a good track record.
C- Direct Agreement - Mutual agreement
It is an invitation directed to one entity to submit a consultancy services bid for a specific project and the contract is signed after negation.
In general, the time and cost factors are the most important incentives to resort to this method. It allows hiring a consultant quickly and at a lower cost than the cost of organizing the awarding process through an open international competitive bidding or Tendering. However, this method misses the opportunity to compare the technical and financial bids with alternative bids. It may cause the government to be subjected to strong criticism such as lack of transparency, may encourage corruption and bribery and may constitute a violation of financial regulations relating to contract deals.
Accordingly, it is preferred to depend on the open international competitive bidding or Tendering when appointing the project consultant. The awarding process shall be linked with a real schedule, and the Time limits specified therein shall be observed. In general, the procurement-regulating unit at the concerned Federal Entity plays an important role in tendering and application of the regulation enforceable in this regard.