The country does not mandate functional separation for operators with significant market power (SMP) in the telecom market. However, according to Art. 45 of the General Telecommunications, Information, and Communication Technologies Law, accounting separation is mandated since 2011.

Art. 87 Bis of Supreme Decree No. 0181 stipulates that, where a contract is awarded to a foreign bidder, the latter shall be required to subcontract national enterprises, provided that such enterprises are available within the domestic market

It is reported that, although regulations exist in the field of public procurement, their implementation remains insufficiently transparent. More broadly, the tendering process is marked by opacity and serves as a barrier to effective participation. Government requirements and tender specifications are not always clearly defined, and procurement notices are not consistently made publicly available.

Bolivia is not a party to the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA), nor does it have observer status.

There is a limitation on foreign equity participation in the government‑controlled telecommunications company Entel, which was nationalised by Supreme Decree No. 29544. Art. 19 of Law No. 516 stipulates that the assets and investments recovered through nationalisation processes undertaken by the State for the recovery of natural resources and strategic sectors may not, under any circumstances, be privatised in any form.

According to the Art. 416 of the Commercial Code, in order for a foreign company to operate in Bolivia, it must be registered in the Commercial Registry by establishing either a branch or a permanent representation with a domicile within the territory of the Republic.

It is reported that effective protection of patents is limited by reliance on a century-old industrial law, namely the Law of 2 December 1916.

Bolivia is not a signatory of the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT).

Bolivia is not a signatory of the 1996 World Trade Organization (WTO) Information Technology Agreement (ITA) nor the 2015 expansion (ITA II).

Art. 29 of Supreme Decree No. 0181 provides that the procurement of goods shall be oriented towards favouring national production. If a good required by a public entity is not available in the designated electronic catalogue of nationally produced goods, the entity shall undertake the procurement process pursuant to the rules set out in the Decree. Likewise, where an item appearing in the electronic catalogue does not satisfy the specifications or conditions required by the public entity, the entity may rely on the procurement procedures authorised by the Decree.

Art. 59 of Supreme Decree No. 0181 stipulates that the public tender procedure is the mechanism applicable to the procurement of goods and services when the estimated value exceeds Bs 1,000,000 (approx. USD 145,000), thereby allowing the participation of an indeterminate number of bidders only above this threshold. Art. 60 further provides that this procedure may take the form of a national public call for contracts up to Bs 70,000,000 (approx. USD 10,000,000), or an international public call for contracts that exceed this value. In addition, when the nature of the procurement requires international dissemination of the call for tenders for contracts below Bs 70,000,000, an international public call may nevertheless be issued, provided that the procedure is adapted to the requirements applicable to that modality.

Art. 77 of Law No. 164 stipulates that the executive, legislative, judicial, and electoral branches, at all levels, shall promote and prioritise the use of free software and open standards within the framework of national sovereignty and security. The executive branch at the central level of the state shall prepare the implementation plan for free software and open standards, in coordination with the other branches of the state and the entities of public administration.

Art. 30 of Supreme Decree No. 0181 establishes that, for goods, specific preference margins and numerical adjustment factors shall apply according to the procurement modality: under the Support for National Production and Employment (ANPE) scheme, a 10% preference margin is granted for goods produced domestically regardless of input origin, with an adjustment factor of 0.90; a 25% margin applies where nationally sourced components (raw materials and labour) constitute between 30% and 50% of the gross production cost, with an adjustment factor of 0.75; and a 35% margin applies where such components exceed 50%, with an adjustment factor of 0.65. In the case of public tendering, a 10% preference margin is likewise applied to domestically produced goods regardless of input origin, with an adjustment factor of 0.90; a 20% margin applies where national components represent between 30% and 50% of the gross production cost, with an adjustment factor of 0.80; and a 30% margin applies where national components exceed 50%, with an adjustment factor of 0.70.