A call for utilizing benefits of Tenderers’ Database in the electronic government procurement (e-GP) system was made at a workshop of Government-Tenderers Forum (GTF) on 25 May 2023 in Pabna.

Mr. Md. Shamimul Haque, Director (Additional Secretary), Central Procurement Technical Unit (CPTU) of Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division (IMED) under the Ministry of Planning, was present as the chief guest at the workshop held at the office of the Deputy Commissioner in Pabna. Mr. Abdullah Al Mamun, Additional Deputy Commissioner (Revenue) presided over the workshop.

He urged all concerned to utilize benefits of the Tenderers’ Database recently added to the e-GP system.

The CPTU organized it with the objective of fostering dialogues between procuring entities (PEs) and tenderers on procurement issues and ensuring proper implementation of procurement contracts. 

The workshop was held under Digitizing Implementation Monitoring and Public Procurement Project (DIMAPPP) which is being implemented by CPTU with support from the World Bank. It was managed by Bangladesh Center for Communication Programs (BCCP).

Dr. Zeenat Sultana, Program Director of BCCP, delivered the welcome speech and made a presentation on GTF at the workshop.

Speaking as the chief guest, Mr. Md. Shamimul Haque laid importance on GTF as this would help create a congenial environment for implementation of public procurement in a sustainable way.

About 80 per cent of the country's Annual Development Programme (ADP) is spent on public procurement, he said. Around 65 per cent of the total expenditure on procurement is conducted through e-GP system, he said adding GTF can play a role in ensuring integrity of procurement process.

Mr. Shamimul Haque said that the CPTU has been working sincerely in taking the electronic procurement system ahead and making it time-befitting with inclusion of some major modules like Automated Challan, Electronic Audit, International Competitive Tender, Tenderers’ Database. With this, he said, the system has now become fully digitized.

The CPTU provides all sorts of information required by tenderers round-the-clock as its Help Desk is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week and 365 days a year. Besides, Help Desks in 10 clusters for 28 procuring agencies give replies to queries of tenderers, he added.

Mentioning usefulness of e-GP, he said that public procurement process remained uninterrupted even during the lockdown due to Covid-19 pandemic as the system was digitized.

He urged tenderers and PEs to remain active and run the GTF by updating it for the better benefit of the country. Terming tenderers the main driving force of e-GP, he expressed the hope that Bangladesh would achieve the target 12.7 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SGDs) by making public procurement system sustainable.

Emphasizing the need for skills development of those concerned about procurement, Mr Shamimul Haque assured all of providing more trainings by CPTU for both tenderers and PEs.

Highlighting effectiveness of the tenderers’ database, he urged all tenderers to register with the e-GP system and provide their information for the database. He said that the day is approaching fast when there will be no scope for tenderers to participate in tender unless they are registered with the system.

Assistant Superintendent of Police in Pabna Ziaur Rahman, Executive Engineer of LGED Anisur Rahman Mondal, Executive Engineer of Roads and Highways Department Abul Mansoor Ahmed, Executive Engineer of Department of Public Health Engineering Atiqul Islam, District Education Officer Rostam Ali Halaly, President of Pabna Chamber of Commerce and Industry Saiful Alam Swapon Chowdhury, District Primary Education Officer Nikhil Chandra Halder, District Food Officer Hasan Al Naeem, Pabna Press Club President ABM Fazlur Rahman, General Secretary Saikat Afroz Asad, Pabna Sangbadpatra Parishad President Abdul Matin Khan, General Secretary Shahidur Rahman, BSS Correspondent Rafiqul Islam Sweet, Media Specialist of BCCP Golam Shahnee, Jail Super Nasir Uddin Pradhan, Senior Information Officer Md. Samiul Alam, among others, attended the workshop.

Abdullah Al Mamun urged members of GTF to hold at least one meeting of the forum every year as this would create an environment for PEs and tenderers to have interactions. He also suggested for inclusion of journalists in the committee.

The presentation focused on the structure of GTF as this platform creates a scope for PEs and tenderers to exchange views and share issues related to public procurement and thus remove confusions about procurement process. It also highlighted how the Citizen Portal of CPTU can benefit all stakeholders.

More than 75 participants including representatives from PEs, tenderers, bankers, civil society and media attended the workshop.

Dhaka, 21 May 2023: A nine-member delegation of the New Development Bank (NDB) exchanged views on procurement policy and practices of NDB and Bangladesh at a meeting with the Central Procurement Technical Unit at CPTU Conference Room in Dhaka on 21 May 2023.

The New Development Bank, formerly known as BRICS Development Bank, finances projects and innovates tailored solutions to help countries achieve a more inclusive, resilient, and sustainable growth.

The BRICS stands for Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. These countries are the founder members of the NDB. Bangladesh joined the development bank as a member in 2021. United Arab Emirates and Egypt are also new members of the NDB.

Director General of CPTU Mr. Mohammed Shoheler Rahman Chowdhury chaired the meeting while Mr. He Tian, Project Team Leader, Public Sector Department of NDB led the delegation.

The delegation of Sanghai-based multilateral bank is now in Dhaka to finalize lending for the Dhaka City Water Supply Resilient Project of Dhaka WASA and explore financing in areas like digital infrastructure, water and sanitation, environment protection, social infrastructure and clean energy.

The DG of CPTU in a presentation gave an overview of Bangladesh Public Procurement Framework which includes steps towards reforms, transformation into electronic procurement system, professionalization of procurement, impact of reforms and new initiatives in the reform process.

He elaborated on the recent progress in electronic government procurement (e-GP) system in Bangladesh. These are addition to e-GP of electronic contract management system, electronic audit, tenderers’ database, international competitive bidding and self-payment through automated challan.

In a presentation, Ms. Hua Xu, Senior Procurement Professional of NDB, spoke on the procurement practices of the development bank. She appreciated public procurement framework of Bangladesh. “The public procurement system in Bangladesh is very advance,” she observed.

Directors of CPTU and Additional Secretaries Mr. Masud Akhter Khan and Mr. Md Shamimul Haque, Director and Joint Secretary Mr. Md Mahfuzar Rahman, Director Ms. Laboni Chakma, Senior System Analyst Mr. Md Mosharraf Hussain and other officers of CPTU were present in the meeting.

Mr. Mohammad Akhtaruzzaman, Additional Chief Engineer and Project Director of Dhaka WASA and its two other officers were also present on the occasion.

Narsingdi, 16 May 2023: The government is careful about protecting interests of all concerned in public procurement, especially tenderers as they are involved in implementation of the country’s development programmes.

As part of it, electronic government procurement (e-GP) system has been introduced. The government does not want to put them (tenderers) in difficulty due to any sudden volatility in the market as they are making significant contributions to the execution of development projects.

Masud Akhter Khan, Director (Additional Secretary), Central Procurement Technical Unit (CPTU) of Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division (IMED) under the Ministry of Planning, said this as the chief guest at an awareness workshop on e-GP held in Narsingdi on 16 May 2023.

The CPTU organized the workshop at the conference room of the office of the Deputy Commissioner in the district for creating awareness among the concerned with the aim of ensuring transparency in public procurement.

Under the Digitizing Implementation Monitoring and Public Procurement Project (DIMAPP) which is being implemented by CPTU with support from the World Bank, the workshop was managed by Bangladesh Center for Communication Programs (BCCP).

Abu Naeem Mohammad Maruf Khan, Deputy Commissioner of Narsingdi presided over the workshop. Dr. Zeenat Sultana, Director (Program), BCCP, delivered the welcome address and made a presentation on e-GP and public procurement.

Additional Deputy Commissioner (General) Mostafa Manwar, Additional Superintendent of Police Shamsul Arefin, a large number of tenderers and representatives from procuring entities, attended the workshop. Mohammad Abdus Salam, Program Manager, BCCP, moderated the program.

As the tenderers spoke on their difficulty in doing business due to a surge in prices of construction materials, the CPTU director said that Covid-19 and Russia-Ukraine war is responsible for volatility in global market, but he expected this will not last for a long time.

No country is out of the brunt of such an uneasy situation, he said adding to give a sigh of relief, the government has recently enhanced the rates of materials for being quoted by tenderers for construction works. The prices have gone further high which put tenderers in a more difficult situation, he admitted, expecting such an abnormal situation will not last longer.

Abu Naeem Mohammad Maruf Khan, Deputy Commissioner of Narsingdi, urged tenderers to show highest sincerity in starting contract implementation after being awarded and completing it timely by maintaining the quality for the sake of sustainable development.

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

A total of 75 participants including local representatives of procuring entities (PEs), tenderers and journalists attended the workshop.

3 May 2023, Dhaka: The number of tenders opened in a single day in the electronic government procurement (e-GP) system registered a new record of 2230 on 3 May 2023.

Earlier, the number was 1508 in a single day in the e-GP system.

The e-GP system was introduced by the Central Procurement Technical Unit of Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division (IMED), Ministry of Planning, in 2011 as part of reforms and government’s efforts to digitize all public service delivery.

The procuring entities and tenderers across the country have embraced the electronic system gladly as it has removed all physical and operational hassles.

There has been an exponential growth in the numbers of invitation, submission and opening of tenders and contracts through e-GP since 2012.

Up to 3 May 2023, a total of 105569 tenderers and 11174 procuring entity offices registered with the e-GP system. So far, a total of 6,86,703 tenders involving Tk 7,07,104 crore were invited through the e-GP system.

Bangladesh has been in a leading position in digitizing entire cycle of procurement starting from procurement planning to contract implementation management.

Electronic contract management (e-CMS) system and electronic audit (e-Audit) modules and Tenderers’ Database have recently been added to e-GP.

The CPTU has also formulated Sustainable Public Procurement (SPP) Policy which is now under process of finalization.

It has been implementing a project titled, “Digitizing Implementation Monitoring and Public Procurement (DIMAPP)” with support from the World Bank.

The e-GP is saving USD 600 million annually. Travel distance has reduced by about 497km. About 1053 million pages of paper are saved. About 1 lakh 53 thousand tonnes of carbon dioxide emission has decreased. The procurement lead time has also come down to 57 days from 100 days. The digital system is saving both time and money.

17 April 2023, Dhaka: Electronic Project Management Information System (e-PMIS) of Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division, Ministry of Planning, is a step towards achievement of the vision for Smart Bangladesh.

Such an observation came to the fore at a workshop for stakeholders on development of e-PMIS software at the NEC Auditorium on the campus of Bangladesh Planning Commission in Dhaka on 17 April 2023.

The Central Procurement Technical Unit (CPTU) of IMED organized the workshop under the Digitizing Implementation Monitoring and Public Procurement Project (DIMAPPP). The CPTU has been implementing the project with support from the World Bank.

The CPTU has developed the e-PMIS for project monitoring and evaluation electronically by IMED under DIMAPPP.

Secretary, IMED, Abul Kashem Md. Mohiuddin was present in the workshop as the chief guest while Additional Secretary, IMED (Administration), Dr. Gazi Md. Saifuzzaman, attended it as the special guest. Director General of CPTU, Mr. Mohammed Shoheler Rahman Chowdhury, presided over the programme. Mr. Md. Aknur Rahman Ph.D, Director, CPTU, made a detailed presentation on the e-PMIS Software.

His presentation touched upon key stakeholders of e-PMIS, key features, objectives, benefits, modules, mobile app, integration with external systems, user roles and responsibilities and functionalities. Mr. Aknur in his presentation put thrust on implementation of e-PMIS to reach the goal for establishing Smart Bangladesh.

The objectives of e-PMIS are to ensure transparency and accountability in projects under the Annual Development Programme (ADP). Presently there are 1627 projects in the current revised ADP. The e-PMIS will also help increase working efficiency, reduce waste, minimize collusive practices, correlate multiple data points and manage financial and physical progress in project implementation.

Directors General (DGs) of eight sectors and officers of IMED, officers of CPTU, Planning Commission, Planning Division, Economic Relations Divisions (ERD) and project directors attended the workshop.

The Secretary said IMED monitors and evaluate project implementation across the country. The present workforce is not enough to monitor so many projects physically. The e-PMIS will help to do it online. It will also ensure accurate and real-time information about project status, he noted. The Secretary said any system at the beginning has some problems and with practice it improves.

He cited the example of e-GP system implemented by CPTU of IMED. The e-GP is now a success and delegations from foreign countries are now coming here to learn about e-GP from CPTU, he mentioned.  The adoption of e-PMIS will make project implementation and management easier, he observed.

The Additional Secretary of IMED said stakeholders like project directors and others involved in project implementation will provide information in e-PMIS, they will also take information and analyze those for proper implementation of projects. He informed that a plan is underway to get the e-PMIS officially launched by the Honorable Prime Minister. The e-PMIS is a step towards Smart Bangladesh. This is a helpful tool for achieving the government vision, he added.

In open discussions participants gave various suggestions for improving the system and widening its functionalities and integration with other software and online system developed by different government agencies.

The DG of CPTU replied to queries of participants and said the suggestions have been noted and those will be taken into consideration to improve the system.

The DG of CPTU said project implementation information can be taken from e-PMIS and analyzed to assess project performance. Policy makers can be informed of such performance. Project data and photos can be given to the e-PMIS by mobile phone. It has already been connected to e-GP system, national ID database, IBAS++, PPS and AMS.

Dohatec New Media, Bangladesh, dotGOV Solutions LLC, USA, and Beximco IT Division, Bangladesh, in 2021 signed the contract, as a joint venture on e-PMIS, with CPTU for IMED under DIMAPPP.  

13 April 2023, Dhaka: 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.

                                                                            Press Release

                                                              Workshop on Draft SPP Policy held

16 March 2023, Dhaka: A workshop on the draft of Sustainable Public Procurement (SPP) Policy was held on 16 March 2023, at the NEC Conference Room, Planning Commission Campus, She-e-Bangla Nagar in Dhaka.

The Central Procurement Technical Unit (CPTU) of Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division (IMED), Ministry of Planning, arranged the workshop under the Digitizing Implementation Monitoring and Public Procurement (DIMAPP) project supported by the World Bank.

The workshop was conducted with a view to finalizing the draft policy by taking opinions of representatives from various ministries, divisions and selected public sector organizations (SPSOs) having major stake in the value and volume of public procurement in the country.

Upon finalization, the SPP principles will gradually be addressed in public procurement framework. The SPP principles are expected to be piloted in paper and paper products, office supplies, computer and other electronic equipment and supplies, office and other furniture or related wooden appliances, vehicles and transportation equipment and official paper-made publications.

Honourable Minister of State, Ministry of Planning, Professor Dr. Shamsul Alam, was present in the workshop as the chief guest. Secretary, IMED, Mr. Abul Kashem Md Mohiuddin, presided over it.  He also delivered the Address of Welcome.

Director General of CPTU, Mr Mohammed Shoheler Rahman Chowdhury, gave a detailed presentation on the contents of draft SPP Policy. Lead Procurement Specialist, Mr Ahsan Ali, World Bank Dhaka office and Task Team Leader of DIMAPP Project and Senior Procurement Specialist Mr ANM Mustafizur Rahman spoke about WB involvement and  necessity of the policy.

Bangladesh is the first country in South Asia to adopt the SPP Policy.

The objective of the draft policy is to incorporate economic, social and environmental issues and some more important aspects like life-cycle cost of goods and services in the process of public procurement. Officials present in the workshop gave their opinions on the draft policy. The CPTU will now finalize the policy by considering observations made in the workshop.

Earlier, the CPTU drafted the policy under DIMAPP Project and posted it on CPTU website for public opinions. Based on those feedbacks, the CPTU revised it and again posted on the CPTU website.

The CPTU of IMED has been working on sustainable public procurement issues which are mentioned in 12.7 target of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). Under the SDG, a sustainable public procurement system has to be established in the country by 2030. 

A dedicated 24-hour seven days help desk has been functioning at the Central Procurement Technical Unit (CPTU) of IMED, Ministry of Planning, for the smooth conduct of electronic government procurement (e-GP) in the country.

The e-GP Help Desk (helpdesk@eprocure.gov.bd), having a hunting number of +8809609 112233, is equipped with required resources and expertise. Recently, its capacity has been enhanced with more resources to cope with the growing number of registered and non-registered tenderers and procuring entities seeking support from various parts of the country. 

Tenderers or PEs who are yet to register also want to know from the Help Desk about the process of registration and operation in e-GP. Those who are registered make queries to the Help Desk if they face any difficulty and problems while processing or participating in e-GP tenders.

The Help Desk members provide instant info, solutions and advices to them. However, if the queries are about specific explanations of any section of the Public Procurement Act or Rules, the help seekers are requested to refer it to CPTU authorities.    

The government has decided to connect all procuring entities with e-GP system (www.eprocure.gov.bd) by December 2016. The CPTU has taken up an action plan to implement the decision.

The number of PEs and tenderers registering with the system is increasing day by day. The Help Desk is working non-stop 24 hours every-day to provide e-GP related information and solutions as and when the PEs and tenderers make queries on phone, email and mobile numbers.     

45 banks now connected to e-GP

A total of 45 banks are now connected to electronic government procurement (e-GP) system.

The Central Procurement Technical Unit (CPTU) of Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division (IMED), Ministry of Planning, is implementing e-GP in the country.

The banks are connected to e-GP under MoUs signed with CPTU to receive fees from tenderers’ for registration, registration renewal and tender documents in the e-GP system.

On May 18, 2017, CPTU signed a MoU with the NRB Global Bank. With the signing of this MoU the number of banks linked to e-GP has stood at 45. About 3000 branches of such banks are providing services to tenderers across country.

Secretary-in Charge of IME Division Md Mofizul Islam presided over the meeting organized by CPTU at its conference room on the occasion of the signing ceremony.

Senior System Analyst Md Mosharraf Hussain anchored the programme and facilitated introduction of the participants. CPTU officers were also present.

Deputy Managing Director of NRB Global Bank Kazi Mashiur Rahman Jayhad, Senior Executive Vice President & Manager Ataus Samad and other officers represented the bank in the MoU signing ceremony.

Director General of CPTU and Additional Secretary Md Faruque Hossain said at the beginning of the e-GP we had to pursue banks to join the system. Now banks are coming forward to join e-GP as they have found it a potential sector of doing business.

Deputy Managing Director of NRB Global Bank said that this is a fourth generation bank. It has the policy of having branches on an equal basis in rural and urban areas. He sought cooperation of CPTU in the operation of services for e-GP.

The IMED Secretary requested the bank to provide smooth services to tenderers. He laid emphasis on digital, easy, safe and transparent transactions of banks in the country.      

He said, “We have resource constraints and so we need to be careful about proper utilization money in public procurement.” Bangladesh now has an emerging economy and fiscal management needs to be prudent and transparent, he added.  

The DG, CPTU and the Deputy Managing Director of NRB Global Bank signed the MoU on behalf of their respective sides.

The Central Procurement Technical Unit (CPTU) of Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division, Ministry of Planning, formally gave away letter of selection to 21 newly certified national trainers on public procurement at its conference room on November 6, 2016.

With the latest addition, the total number of national certified trainers of CPTU on public procurement has now stood at 60.

The new trainers were selected through a rigorous selection process conducted at CPTU by ITC-ILO Turin University some months back.

The Director General of CPTU Md Faruque Hossain briefed the new national trainers on the occasion of giving away the letter of selection along with a code of conduct.

Director (Coordination) Md. Helal Uddin, Director (Rules & Training) Wahedun- Nabi Sarker, Director (e-GP) Aziz Taher Khan and Training Coordinator K. M. Ali Newaz of CPTU were present during the briefing.   

The DG, CPTU said that this is a short briefing for the new trainers as they are now ready to conduct training on public procurement. “We are planning to provide them further orientation on various issues including modules, documents etc. in December 2016. Later, there will be orientation for them on e-GP,” he noted.

Md Faruque Hossain said the trainers need to be aware of e-GP issues but the basis of public procurement is the law and rules. Therefore, they have to be conversant with the provisions of the Public Procurement Act-2006 and the Public Procurement Rules-2008.      

He said that the new trainers need to sharpen their skills and remain updated about national and international practices in the domain of public procurement.

The trainers proposed a professional platform for the national trainers on public procurement and exchange of knowledge among themselves. The DG, CPTU said he would take such issues into consideration.    

The DG, CPTU further said that a few trainers are not active now. “We have decided to remove the name and photo of those remaining inactive for three years, from the CPTU website,” he mentioned.