Private sector and governance reformers are "holding our breath" to see whether a $33 million project truly transforms public sector management, warning that "changing the culture" is as important as modernising systems.

Matt Aubry, the Organisation for Responsible Governance's (ORG) executive director, told Tribune Business that the project would improve governance, and public sector accountability and transparency, if successfully implemented.

He added that the four-pronged project, which is focused on performance monitoring, improved national statistics, better public financial management and a more open public procurement process, aligned with ORG's goals.

"We're glad it's moving forward," Mr Aubry told Tribune Business. "We'd heard there was movement on this last year, but we'd not seen evidence it was happening.

"The heart of this project is to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of public procurement and financial management; getting different parts of government to work effectively together.

"We obviously applaud the effort, as one of the components of good governance is efficiency and effectiveness, and one of the components of this will become a pilot for more accountability and transparency, bridging key parts of government to work more in tandem."

Representatives from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), which is financing the project, said the Government could enjoy $13.1 million in annual savings from establishing a more efficient, open and transparent public procurement process.

Mr Aubry agreed that improvements in this area would boost the 'ease of doing business' for the private sector, and added: "Having a much more fair and clear process for bidding for government contracts, you'll have an opportunity to understand where and who got what, what the parameters of different contracts will be, and the outturns."

He was supported by Rick Lowe, a director with the Nassau Institute 'think tank', who described the IDB-funded project as "a step in the right direction". He expressed disappointment, though, that the more critical reforms would take place later in the five-year reform programme.

"This is something they've committed to publicly, which is a step in the right direction," Mr Lowe said of the Government.

"If there's any sense of disappointment, it's going to take four years to roll out all of the procurement reforms and new accrual-based accounting system. They are the third and fourth years. That's the toughest part for sure.

"The Deputy Prime Minister said we've fallen behind Jamaica, we've fallen behind the Dominican Republic. He says he's a competitive fella and doesn't like to lose."

The Government currently operates a cash-based accounting system, which only recognises revenues when they come in and expenditures when they become due for payment.

It fails to capture spending commitments that the Government may have entered into, but which have yet to fall due, meaning that the current public sector accounting system does not reveal the full extent of its liabilities. This is what an accrual-based system will correct.

Mr Aubry, meanwhile, backed the project's intent to improve the timeliness, breadth and accuracy of national statistics presentations, warning that without such data "the public and private sectors will be left in the dark".

"For it to be truly effective, we have got to change the systems and also the culture," he told Tribune Business. "It's all going to be in the very specifics; that we don't lose track of what it's for, and the end goal.

"We were excited it's launched, and we're holding our breath to see what comes from it and will try to get involved as actively as possible."

Mr Aubry urged the Government to work on key legislation "concurrently, not sequentially" with the project, arguing that anti-corruption laws, a Fiscal Responsibility Act, whistleblower protection, an ombudsman and a Public Service Act would all help to support and underwrite its work.

He also called for mechanisms and processes to be established that would allow civil society organisations and other groups to participate in, and give feedback on, the $33 million project.