DHAKA, Dec 18, 2023 (BSS) - The number of women tenderers registered with the
electronic Government Procurement (e-GP) system is now 3388 in the country.

The first Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the newly-established Bangladesh
Public Procurement Authority (BPPA), Mohammed Shoheler Rahman Chowdhury, said
this at a workshop on citizen engagement in public procurement with women
tenderers at the conference room of the BPPA in the capital yesterday, said a
press release today.

Soheler said at present the total number of tenderers registered with the e-
GP system is about 1.11 lakh. "Although the number of the women tenderers in
e-GP is very small, we are hopeful that this will gradually increase further.
The BPPA has been working to this end," he said.
 
About 30 women representatives of various business chambers, women
entrepreneurs and women tenderers participated in the workshop organized by
BPPA under the Digitizing Implementation and Public Procurement Project
(DIMAPPP).

The BPPA has been implementing the project with support from the World Bank.
The Dnet, a consulting firm engaged by BPPPA in managing the Citizen Portal,
facilitated the workshop.

Secretary, Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division (IMED), Abul
Kashem Md. Mohiuddin was present as the chief guest in the workshop chaired
by the CEO of BPPA. Senior Procurement Specialist of the World Bank Dhaka
office Arafat Ishtiaque was present as the special guest. Director
(Additional Secretary) of BPPA Mirza Ashfaqur Rahman delivered the welcome
address.

The CEO said the government has recently issued the Sustainable Public
Procurement (SPP) Policy. To fulfill the SDG targets in public procurement,
the BPPA will work to implement sustainable public procurement under the SPP
Policy.

To do this, economic, social and environmental issues will be considered in
the public procurement process. The issue of giving preference to women
entrepreneurs and tenderers will also be considered, he noted.

Data Analytics Expert of Dnet Andalib Bin Haque made a detailed presentation
on the Citizen Portal and efforts to engage citizens in public procurement
through this digital interactive platform.

The BPPA launched the portal in 2020 with the objective of disclosing various
information on public procurement to citizens. The portal of its kind is
unique and rare in the world, he said in the presentation.

The women tenderers appreciated the government initiative and demanded
availability of information on them in the portal. They also expressed their
views on issues of public procurement.

IMED Secretary said, "We have taken note of the demands and suggestions of
you. We want the number of women tenderers to increase in the country. We
want to bring more of you in the trade of public procurement in the country.
Pursuant to this, we have exclusively brought women tenderers here to hear
your voice on citizen engagement and public procurement issues. We have been
exchanging views with other stakeholders too."

The WB representative said this portal will help all hold both procuring
entities and tenderers accountable to citizens as they will be questioned
about the quality and delivery in public procurement.

Citizen Portal which is much known as 'SorkariKroyBatayan' in Bangla is an
interactive web portal which has been open to citizens since August 20, 2020.

In order to digitize public procurement in Bangladesh, Prime Minister Sheikh
Hasina inaugurated the e-GP Portal on June 2, 2011. Both the government
procuring entities and the private tenderers embraced the electronic system
gladly since beginning because of its convenience.

Up to December 17, 2023, a total of 761,146 tenders were invited through e-GP
involving a total estimated cost of Taka 792,664 crore. The number is growing
day by day. The government earns revenue worth about Taka 400 crore a year
through the e-GP system.

At present about 40 per cent of the national budget and 80 per cent of the
Annual Development Programme (ADP) are spent on public procurement. Total
annual expenditures on public procurement is worth about $30 billion a year.

Public procurement is done with public funds and that is why citizens have
rights to know about public procurement. To fulfill the rights, BPPA has
established the Citizen Portal.

For further improvement of the overall procurement management and
establishing a sustainable procurement environment in the country, the
government has recently transformed the Central Procurement Technical Unit
(CPTU) of IMED into Bangladesh Public Procurement Authority (BPPA).