My name is Ahmad Shah Naqshbandi and I am from Afghanistan. I was enrolled in the 11th edition in October 2016 and successfully completed the master's program in October 2017.
I am working with the National Procurement Authority of the Administrative Office of the President in Afghanistan, where I am responsible for the overall management of the procurement cadre’s professionalization.
Considering procurement as a profession and important for economic development and good governance, I had decided to pursue my master's degree in this field. As I am working as a permanent employee with NPA, therefore I was not able to leave my job and at the same time I was looking to find a place where I could complete my master degree in public procurement management, fortunately, I found International Training Center of the International Labour Organization (ITCILO) in partnership with the University of Turin and UNCITRAL (UN Commission on International Trade and Law) as an international training center offering modern procurement studies with a diversified culture from around the globe, the center has very qualified and experienced lecturers and resources delivering master program classes. The master program in public procurement management for sustainable development helped me in improving my capacity in public procurement from legal, economic and procurement management perspectives.
This master course turns into an opportunity not only for me to enhance my capacity and competencies but also assisted me to work on the procurement professionalization reform in my country through the establishment of a national procurement institute and offering similar programs for other procurement cadres working in the procurement sector.
For me, it was indeed a great learning experience and would like to thank ITCILO for delivering high-quality educational programs in a great international and diversified academic environment.