The government is careful about protecting interest of all, particularly tenderers, involved in implementation of the country’s development programmes. For this, awareness about electronic government procurement (e-GP) is being created among them for increasing transparency in public procurement process to help achieve sustainable development.

Mr. Md. Mahfuzar Rahman, Director (Joint Secretary), Central Procurement Technical Unit (CPTU) of Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division (IMED) under the Ministry of Planning, said this while speaking as the chief guest at an e-GP awareness workshop.

The CPTU organized the workshop at the conference room in the office of the Deputy Commissioner of Jhalakathi on 28 August 2023.

Under CPTU’s Digitizing Implementation Monitoring and Public Procurement Project (DIMAPPP) supported by the World Bank, the workshop was managed by Bangladesh Center for Communication Programs (BCCP).

Ms. Farah Gul Nijhum, Deputy Commissioner and District Magistrate, Jhalakathi chaired the function. Mr. Md. Sakhawat Hossain, Deputy Director (Senior Assistant Secretary) of CPTU, IMED, Mr. Md. Ruhul Amin, Additional Deputy Commissioner (General), Ms. Latifa Jannati, Additional Deputy Commissioner (Revenue), Mr. Mohammed Mamun Shiblee, Additional District Magistrate and Ms. Shajia Afroz, Additional Deputy Commissioner (Education & ICT) also spoke at the workshop.

Mr. Badal Krishna Haldar, Senior Deputy Director, BCCP, delivered welcome address and made a presentation on e-GP at the workshop moderated by Mr. Md. Abdus Salam, Program Manager of BCCP. He also elaborated on Citizen Portal of CPTU and its effectiveness for people of all strata.

Mentioning the present volatile market situation across the globe, Mr.Md. Mahfuzar Rahman said, the government does not want to put tenderers in a difficult situation in the wake of unusual price hike of essentials.

Emphasizing the need for proper utilization of various modules incorporated by CPTU into the e-GP system for ensuring complete digitization, he said, these will ensure appropriate use of public money and accelerate country’s development.

In the presentation, it was emphasized that Citizen Portal will help ensure people’s participation in monitoring of project implementation as this incorporates features to get access to related information on project works. For this, the Citizen Portal needs to be popularized among citizens, it mentioned.

Representatives of Procuring Entities (PEs), tenderers and journalists in the district attended the workshop.