The Republic of Guatemala has introduced legislation requiring the mandatory disclosure of all CoST information items by public infrastructure procuring entities, effective from 3rd January 2014. This was achieved when the Regulations of the Organic Law of the National Budget were passed on the 30th December 2013.

The information will be disclosed on the Ministry of Finance website as well as the websites of each public procuring entity. Disclosure must be made in a format that is compatible with the Integrated Accounting System (SICOIN) and other relevant government information platforms.

Guatemala is the first CoST country to introduce such a requirement across the entire public sector. The breakthrough is largely due to the efforts of Her Excellency Vice President of the Republic and CoST Guatemala Champion.

An event to publicise the new regulatory requirements mandating disclosure of CoST information items will be held at the National Palace of Culture on the 10th March 2014. The Vice President of Guatemala and the President of the Multi-Sector Group will open the event and the CoST Coordination and Assurance Team will deliver a presentation on the ‘CoST Indicators in Current Legislation’. The event will be attended by the executive units of 75 central government entities that deliver and manage public infrastructure projects, 22 Departmental Governors and 336 Guatemalan mayors.

Christiaan Poortman, Chair of the CoST Board said: “This is a tremendous breakthrough. The new legislation will help institutionalise transparency and accountability across Government. We extend our congratulations to all our colleagues in Guatemala who have contributed to this achievement.”