| Description |
: |
The Financial Express
Date: 26 January, 2009
FE Report
The government has taken up a plan to introduce, in phases, e-Government Procurement (e-GP) to modernize its procurement management. This will help the government to make the procurement management transparent, accountable and faster, according to relevant sources.
An expert in e-GP said this will also help enhance the implementation of Annual Development Programme (ADP) and reduce the cost of public procurement largely.
According to a study of the World Bank of 2002, the total value of country"s public procurement amounts to more than US3.0 billion a year. The volume of expenditure is expected to increase manifold in the coming years as the country is undergoing more development activities, sources said.
With the financial assistance of the World Bank, the Center of Central Procurement Technical Unit (CPTU) of Planning Ministry has started the primary work to implement e-GP under the Public Procurement Reforms Project (PPRP -II).
The Local Government Engineering Department (LGED), Roads and Highways (RHD), Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) and Rural Electrification Board (REB) are the four target agencies under the PPRP-II. The e-GP will be introduced in 12 to 16 procuring entities under these four agencies first on a pilot basis.
The single end-to-end e-GP solution is one of the four components PPRP-II. The expert said after launching the e-GP public procurement processes all purchase related information will be delivered via a comprehensive integrated platform and e-GP portal. All stakeholders can have equal access to information, opportunities and participation in the procurement processes, he added.
The other components of reform programme include furthering policy reform and institutionalizing capacity development; strengthening procurement management at the sectoral level; and communication, behavioral change, and social accountability.
As a part of capacity building and institutionalising procurement system in compliance with the Public Procurement Act (PPA)-2006 and the Public Procurement Rules (PPR)-2008, three training courses spanning three weeks each have already been completed. A total of 108 such courses will be held covering over 10 thousand officials. The fourth course is now going on at the Engineering Staff College, Bangladesh at Bausia in Munshiganj district.
A broad-based social awareness campaign and communication programme on public procurement reforms, law and rules, and social accountability is also underway.
This campaign aims at involving civil society, media, parliamentarians, and other stakeholders in the procurement process to raise awareness in the society. By ensuring social accountability and third party monitoring an environment can be created which ultimately will help ensure a well-functioning public procurement system in Bangladesh, said a communication expert associated with the initiative.
e-GP will greatly enhance the monitoring and evaluation framework of a large volume of government expenditure each year and with increase in efficiency of the government"s procurement administration as well as reduce the cost of supplies.
e-GP also provides comprehensive management information and reporting system as prescribed in the PPR-2008.
Experience in e-GP in many countries shows that these factors combined can produce savings of up to 15 per cent or even more.
More than 80 per cent of total development expenditures are spent for public procurement in Bangladesh.
More than 50 governments around the world are already using e-GP in one way or other forms.
e-GP refers to the many applications of online web-based information technologies to strengthen all aspects of public procurement including for civil works, goods and services.
The government recognizes the importance of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) as a key enabler in its economic development and improving the quality of life.
Accordingly, the government devised an IT Act 2006 and as well pioneered in preparing an e-Government Vision. e-GP is one of the major initiatives under this vision.
The main goal of the present government is to create digital Bangladesh by 2021. e-GP can be a major component of the goal, the expert said.
Under the system, the entire public procurement activity undertaken by the government shall be channeled through the e-GP infrastructure in a phased manner, expert said. Efficiency in handling public procurement by the government organizations shall be enhanced through process evolutionary automation and transformation they said adding the system shall enable the government maintain a clear picture of its procurement activities on a real-time basis.
By engaging in e-GP, the government catalyzes the supplier community to participate in government procurement opportunities. |
