On January 7-8, 2026, a two-day workshop on “Public Procurement and Disposal of Pubic Assets” was conducted at National Institute of Public Administration (NIPA), Lahore for the participants of 45^th Mid-Career Management Course (MCMC). The workshop was conduced by De. Irfan Ahmad, a highly accomplished expert on public procurement and contract management. Much of the discussion on the first day of the workshop focused Public Procurement, while the discussion on the second day was mainly focused on Contract Management. Dr. Ahmad opened his discussion by introducing the participants to several key concepts such as Bid, Tender and Rules & Regulations. In his discussion, he emphasized transparency, competitiveness, and accountability in public procurement. He elaborated the importance of clearly-defined Terms and Conditions, including price and rate setting, warranties and guarantees, and the use of technical specifications and standards to ensure quality and compliance. Dr. Ahmad also explained the eligibility and qualification requirements for bidders, including relevant experience, past performance, financial strength, human and technical resources, and managerial capability. A key feature of the workshop. was the demonstration of the actual use of EPADS (E-Pak Acquisition & Disposal System), developed by the federal government to digitalize the public procurement process. Dr. Ahmad discussed several fundamental concepts such as pre-contract review, contract finalization, types of contracts (consultancy contracts, goods contracts, works contracts), and contract management.

The discussion on each topic was followed by a hands-on exercise/simulation exercise and a question & answer session. Following the discussion on Public Procurement, the class was divided into three groups and each group was asked to prepare a procurement document and to present it before the class. Following the discussion on Contract Management, a simulation exercise was conducted, with the class divided into two groups, with each group comprising three sub-groups (Contractor, Procuring Agency and Arbitrators). Dr. Ahmad applauded the quality of work/arguments by the participants. The participants showed keen interest in the discussion and asked many probing questions, which were answered by the learned guest speaker.