Unsolicited Proposals in Infrastructure Procurement: A growing reality for governments, requiring robust management frameworks

The document examines the rise of unsolicited proposals (USPs) in infrastructure, where private entities initiate projects rather than governments. It highlights risks such as lack of transparency, corruption, and the avoidance of competition. Drawing on a PPIAF report, it recommends that governments adopt formal frameworks—including competitive bidding mechanisms like 'Swiss challenges'—to mitigate these risks. The author further argues that USPs can distract from sustainable public procurement (SPP) by bypassing critical needs analyses and straining limited public sector capacity to manage long-term asset life cycles.

• Unsolicited proposals (USPs) are becoming increasingly common, and governments are encouraged to accept them as an exception while developing robust management frameworks to handle them.
• USPs present significant risks to the public interest, including a lack of transparency, the avoidance of competition and due diligence, and increased opportunities for political patronage and corruption.
• There is a global trend toward formalizing USP frameworks; 85% of countries reviewed in the PPIAF study allow USPs, and 70% have developed legal frameworks to manage them.
• To ensure fair market pricing and value-for-money, governments should implement competitive procedures after a USP is proposed, such as a 'Swiss challenge', a bonus system, or automatic short-listing.
• USPs may undermine sustainable public procurement (SPP) because they often bypass the 'needs analysis' phase, which is essential for defining infrastructure requirements based on long-term performance and sustainability rather than short-term technical inputs.
• The attractiveness of USPs is often driven by a lack of public sector capacity to prepare bankable projects, but relying on USPs can further strain the limited professional skills needed to monitor contract performance and sustainability over an asset's life cycle.

APA

Turley, L. (2015). Unsolicited Proposals in Infrastructure Procurement: A growing reality for governments, requiring robust management frameworks. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/unsolicited-proposals-infrastructure-procurement-discussion-paper.pdf

Chicago

Turley, Laura. Unsolicited Proposals in Infrastructure Procurement: A growing reality for governments, requiring robust management frameworks. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2015. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/unsolicited-proposals-infrastructure-procurement-discussion-paper.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Turley |first1=Laura |title=Unsolicited Proposals in Infrastructure Procurement: A growing reality for governments, requiring robust management frameworks |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=November 2015 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/unsolicited-proposals-infrastructure-procurement-discussion-paper.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{turley2015unsolicited, author = {Turley, Laura}, title = {{Unsolicited Proposals in Infrastructure Procurement: A growing reality for governments, requiring robust management frameworks}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2015}, month = nov, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/unsolicited-proposals-infrastructure-procurement-discussion-paper.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }