Citizen Portal or ‘Sorkari Kroi Batayan’ in public procurement is an important step to increase citizen engagement in public procurement. The Citizen Portal is now a major source of public procurement information. The latest district-wise information on invitation of tenders and award of contracts is available on this portal. It has given citizens an opportunity to easily know various aspects of public procurement.

The participants made such observations at a workshop on citizen engagement in public procurement on 13 December 2023. The workshop was organized by the newly-established Bangladesh Public Procurement Authority (BPPA). The workshop was held at the CPTU building in Sher-e-Bangla Nagar of the capital with facilitation by Dnet, a consulting firm engaged by BPPA.

Secretary of IMED Mr. Abul Kashem Md. Mohiuddin spoke as the chief guest in the workshop. BPPA Chief Executive Officer Mr. Mohammed Shoheler Rahman Chowdhury presided over workshop. Director (Additional Secretary) of BPPA Mirza Ashfaqur Rahman delivered the welcome address. The workshop was organized under the Digitizing Implementation Monitoring and Public Procurement Project (DIMAPPP) of BPPA supported by the World Bank. It was the first of six such workshops with stakeholders planned by BPPA in December 2023.

A video on citizen participation in public procurement was screened at the beginning of the program. Apart from this, there was a presentation on the Citizen Portal. Officials of various offices took part in the question-answer session.