Hon.Planning Minister MA Mannan MP on 13 April 2023 said despite having some challenges, efforts to involve citizens in public procurement at the field level need to continue.

“Although citizen engagement in public procurement is a new concept it has positive outcomes and it is a step forward,” he said while speaking as the chief guest at the 16^th meeting of the 36-member Public-Private Stakeholders’ Committee (PPSC) on public procurement.

The Central Procurement Technical Unit (CPTU) of Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division (IMED), Ministry of Planning, organized the meeting at NEC Conference Room in Dhaka under its Digitizing Implementation Monitoring and Public Procurement Project (DIMAPPP). The CPTU has been implementing the project with support from the World Bank.

The Minister of State, Ministry of Planning, Dr. Shamsul Alam was present in the meeting as the special guest while Secretary, IMED, Abul Kashem Md. Mohiuddin chaired it. Senior Secretary and Member (Socio Economic Infrastructure Division) of Planning Commission Mosammat Nasima Begum was also present in the meeting. Director of CPTU, Masud Akhter Khan moderated the programme.

The Secretary delivered the welcome speech. Director General of CPTU Mohammed Shoheler Rahman Chowdhury made a presentation on enhancement of electronic government procurement (e-GP) system and major milestone achievements in recent times.

The PPSC is a platform of representatives from the public and the private sectors to make recommendations and guidance in overall improvement of public procurement management in the country.

Mirza M. Hassan PhD, Senior Research Fellow, BRAC Institute of Governance and Development (BIGD), made a presentation on citizen engagement and its model in public procurement and Munshi Sulaiman PhD, Research Director of BIGD, made another presentation on impact evaluation of citizen engagement that BIGD has implemented in 48 upazillas over the last four years as consultant engaged by CPTU under DIMAPPP.

The Minister of State Dr Shamsul Alam said that e-GP has added a great value to the efforts on Digital Bangladesh. He emphasized digital system in government activities to reduce hassles in service delivery.

Dr. Ahsan H Mansur, Executive Director of Policy Research Institute, appreciated the citizen portal initiative of CPTU to give information on public procurement to citizens.

Representatives from Legislative and Parliamentary Affairs Division, Public Works Department, Bangladesh Association of Construction Industry, Foreign Aided Projects Audit Directorate, Economic Reporters Forum, Development Journalist Forum of Bangladesh, Finance Division, Institute of Architects Bangladesh, among others, took part in open discussions.

They appreciated citizen engagement in public procurement and said it helps in enhancing quality of public procurement.