Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)- Bangladesh government is planning to introduce electronic procurement (e-procurement) system in four large state-owned agencies next year aiming to curb corruption and speed up public purchase, officials said.
"We expect the online procurement to start from next year in four major agencies," Secretary of the Implementation, Monitoring and Evaluation Division Abdus Sobhan Shikdar was quoted by the Financial Express (FE), the country’s lone financial daily, as saying. "We will appoint international consulting firms in March next year. The firm will give necessary support to the selected four agencies for introducing e-procurement," he added.
The government has decided to introduce the online procurement system in its four larger agencies on test case basis against the backdrop of rampant corruption and complex procurement system.
The four agencies are: Rural Electrification Board (REB) under the power division, Local Government and Engineering Department (LGED) under the local government division (LGD), Roads and Highways Department (R&HD) under the communications ministry and Water Development Board (WDB) under the water resources ministry.
The Bangladesh government has already prepared the Public Procurement Act 2006 and the Public Procurement Rules 2008 to bring transparency in the procurement system.
BBN/SI/SS/AD-20September08-12:51 PM