Public contracts are open to foreign suppliers in many markets, but access depends on trade agreements, registration and local preference rules. The UK, France and Singapore admit foreign bidders broadly; the US and India attach domestic content tests; Saudi Arabia layers registration, a national portal and local content preferences. A foreign bidder should check eligibility and preference rules before it prices a bid.
Open procurement markets
The UK's Procurement Act 2023 has governed how public bodies and utilities buy since 24 February 2025, and suppliers bid through the free Central Digital Platform. As a party to the WTO Government Procurement Agreement, the UK lets businesses from other parties bid for covered contracts. French public buyers must examine every offer received on time whatever the bidder's nationality or location, and Germany applies the EU procurement rules to contracts at or above the EU thresholds. Singapore runs procurement on an open-by-default basis through GeBIZ and is also a GPA party.12345
Registration and domestic preference: the US and India
To bid for US federal contracts as a prime, an entity needs an active SAM.gov registration, renewed every 365 days. Federal buyers then apply the Buy American rules: a manufactured end product counts as domestic only if domestic components exceed 65% of the cost of all components for deliveries in 2024 to 2028, rising to 75% from 2029. State and local procurement has its own rules.
India's central procurement applies the Make in India order, which classes suppliers by local content: 50% or more for a Class-I local supplier, more than 20% for Class-II, and 20% or less for a non-local supplier, who may bid only when a global tender enquiry is issued.678
Saudi Arabia: registration, portal and preferences
Saudi government procurement is governed by the Government Tenders and Procurement Law and runs through the Etimad portal. A foreign company that wins a government contract without a permanent presence can obtain a temporary investment registration from the Ministry of Investment for the life of the contract. Bidders must also factor in local content rules and the regional headquarters requirement, covered in the localisation and incentives modules.9101112
| Market | Framework | Foreign bidder access | Preference or content rule | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | Procurement Act 2023 | Covered contracts open to GPA parties; registration on Central Digital Platform | None identified | GOV.UK |
| France | Code de la commande publique | Every offer examined whatever nationality | None identified | service-public.gouv.fr |
| Germany | Competition Act Part 4 | EU rules above EU thresholds | None identified | gesetze-im-internet.de |
| Singapore | GeBIZ; GPA party | Open by default | MOF states no special preference | MOF |
| United States (federal) | FAR; SAM.gov | SAM registration needed for prime awards | Buy American: domestic components over 65% (75% from 2029) | SAM.gov; Acquisition.gov |
| India (central) | Make in India order | Non-local suppliers only in global tender enquiries | Class-I 50% local content; Class-II over 20% | ELP summary (secondary) |
| Saudi Arabia | Government Tenders and Procurement Law; Etimad | Temporary investment registration for contract winners | 10% price preference for national products; RHQ rule | MoF; MISA; secondary sources |
Decisions to make
- Is the buyer covered by a trade agreement that admits suppliers from the bidder's country?2UK access for foreign businesses rests on the GPA schedules and thresholds.
- Which entity will bid, and is it registered on the right platform?61US federal bids need an active SAM.gov registration and UK bids go through the Central Digital Platform.
- Can the product meet domestic or local content thresholds?78US Buy American and India's Make in India classes can decide whether an offer is eligible or preferred.
- For Saudi bids, does the group have a regional headquarters and a local content plan?1211Both can affect eligibility and evaluation in Saudi public tenders.
Documents usually needed
- Supplier registrations (SAM.gov Unique Entity ID, UK Central Digital Platform account, Etimad account)
- Bill of materials with component origin and cost, for domestic content calculations
- Local content certificates or self-declarations required by the tender
- Corporate documents, tax and good-standing certificates, translated and legalised where required
- Temporary investment registration in Saudi Arabia for an awarded contract
Common mistakes
- Assuming every public contract is open to foreign bidders without checking trade agreement coverage
- Letting a SAM.gov registration lapse during a bid
- Calculating domestic content on product price rather than component cost
- Bidding in India as a non-local supplier where no global tender enquiry was issued
- Pricing a Saudi bid without allowing for the 10% preference for national products
Questions businesses ask
Can a non-EU company bid for French public contracts?
French buyers must examine every offer received on time whatever the bidder's nationality or location.3
What counts as a domestic product for US federal purchases?
For most manufactured products, domestic components must exceed 65% of the cost of all components for deliveries from 2024 to 2028, and 75% from 2029.7
What this guide does not yet confirm
These points need checking with a qualified local professional before you rely on them.
- Current GPA thresholds and the US Trade Agreements Act waiver of Buy American rules were not checked.
- The current DPIIT text of India's Make in India order and its margin of purchase preference could not yet be checked.
- UAE federal and emirate procurement rules beyond the ICV programme were not researched.
- The official text of Saudi Arabia's Government Tenders and Procurement Law could not yet be checked.
Sources and review status
Each statement is numbered to the source it was checked against. We use official sources where we can, and each statement says whether it was checked against an official or a secondary source. Sources last checked on 19 October 2026. None of it has been professionally reviewed yet: it is research checked against official and secondary sources by WONE Global, not legal or tax advice.
The Procurement Act 2023 rules for how public bodies and utilities buy goods and services took effect on 24 February 2025, and suppliers bid through the Central Digital Platform (the enhanced Find a Tender service), where registration is free. Applies to suppliers to central government, the NHS, local authorities, universities, schools, social housing providers, police and fire services and utilities. Geographic scope, including Scotland, is not stated on the source page.
As a party to the WTO Agreement on Government Procurement, the UK allows businesses from other parties to bid for certain UK public contracts. Coverage depends on the UK's GPA schedules and contract thresholds.
French public contracts are governed by the Code de la commande publique, and buyers must examine every offer received on time whatever the nationality or location of the bidder. Public buyers are contracting authorities (the State, local authorities, public bodies and certain publicly funded or controlled bodies) and contracting entities operating networks such as water, energy, transport and postal services.
The EU-law procurement rules in Part 4 of the Competition Act apply to public contracts whose estimated value excluding VAT reaches the thresholds set in the EU procurement directives, as amended from time to time. Public contracts, concessions and design contests; thresholds follow Directive 2014/24/EU, 2014/25/EU, 2009/81/EC and 2014/23/EU.
Singapore government procurement is open by default, with agencies publishing requirements, procedures and evaluation criteria on GeBIZ, and Singapore is a party to the WTO Agreement on Government Procurement. MOF states that all suppliers are treated equally, with no special preference.
'Open by default' is stated on the MOF Procurement Processes page.
An entity must hold an active SAM.gov registration to apply for federal awards, including contracts, as a prime awardee; registration assigns a Unique Entity ID and must be renewed every 365 days. Federal procurement and federal financial assistance. State and local procurement has its own vendor registration. Entities that only report as sub-awardees may need only a Unique Entity ID.
The page read does not state the cost of registration or the extra steps for entities located outside the US.
Under the Federal Acquisition Regulation, a manufactured end product (other than an iron or steel one) counts as domestic for Buy American purposes only if the cost of its domestic components exceeds 65% of the cost of all components for items delivered in 2024 to 2028, rising to 75% from 2029. Federal procurement (FAR 25.101(a)(2)(i)); the Buy American statute restricts the purchase of supplies that are not domestic end products. Trade agreements, including the WTO Government Procurement Agreement, can waive the restriction above set thresholds; that was not checked here. State and local procurement rules differ.
Page shows FAC 2026-01, effective 13 March 2026, last updated 28 September 2026.
Under the Public Procurement (Preference to Make in India) Order, a Class-I local supplier offers goods, services or works with local content of 50% or more, a Class-II local supplier more than 20% but less than 50%, and a non-local supplier 20% or less. Central government procurement. Class-I suppliers receive purchase preference; non-local suppliers may bid only where the procuring entity issues a global tender enquiry. Ministries can notify higher local content requirements for specific items.
Secondary source describing the order as revised on 4 June 2020; the current DPIIT text and later amendments could not yet be checked.
Government procurement is governed by the Government Tenders and Procurement Law, applies to procurement by government entities including procurement executed outside the Kingdom, and runs through the Etimad electronic portal. The Ministry of Finance sets procurement policy and maintains a boycott list.
Secondary (foreign government) source; the official Saudi text could not yet be checked run.
The Ministry of Investment offers a temporary investment registration for government contracts as a distinct filing category. Foreign companies performing government contracts without a permanent registration.
In Saudi government contracts, national products not on the mandatory list receive a price preference applied by treating the price of a competing foreign product as 10% higher than its bid price. Regulations on Preference for Local Content and Local SMEs and Companies Listed on the Capital Market in Business and Procurement Transactions, Article 10. Local SMEs receive a separate 10% price preference except in supply contracts and high-value contracts (Article 4(2)); for designated high-value contracts other than supply, price carries 60% of the financial evaluation and local content commitments and capital-market listing the remaining 40% (Article 17).
The date of the version read was not confirmed; the Local Content and Government Procurement Authority (LCGPA) administers the local content portal.
Under regulations approved by the Council of Ministers on 27 December 2022, Saudi government agencies may not contract with foreign companies that have no regional headquarters in Saudi Arabia, or with their related parties, from 1 January 2024. Applies to all government agencies, not only those under the Government Tenders and Procurement Law. Does not apply to works or procurements estimated below SAR 1 million or executed outside the Kingdom. Exceptions include a single technically acceptable offer, a best technical offer priced at least 25% below the next, emergencies, and work only non-RHQ companies can perform; the agency must report its reasons to the General Auditing Bureau and the Expenditure and Project Efficiency Authority within 30 business days of signing.
Secondary source (law-firm briefing, January 2023). No official Saudi page stating the contracting rule was found; the Ministry of Investment investor guide (2026) describes the RHQ licence but not the contracting restriction. Thresholds and exceptions may have been revised since.
Questions on this topic
10 statements on public procurement access for foreign bidders
