e-procurement system to bring transparency in using public funds soon
Thursday, 26 June 2008
Special Assistant to the Chief Adviser for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Dr M Tamim has said the government would set up an e-procurement system to bring transparency and reduce corruption in handling public funds, reports BSS.
"We will establish the e-governance in the procurement system to ensure transparency and accountability for using the public money," he said while speaking as the chief guest at the concluding session of a three-day international workshop at a city hotel Wednesday.
The Asia regional workshop on `Implementing Procurement Reforms and Improving Procurement Performance' was organised by the Planning Commission with the support of World Bank, Asian Development Bank (ADB), UK's Department for International Development (DFID) and Australian AusAid.
IMED Secretary Sheikh AK Motahar Hossain chaired the concluding session of the workshop.
The special assistant said harmonisation is needed among the development partners as various development partners have various procurement policies, which is one of the major causes of delaying the implementation of government projects.
"I personally faced such kind of problems in handling various procurement policies," he said, adding "Reform is also needed in the donor's procurement policies side by side with the government's initiatives."
Dr Tamim said reforms in the public procurement system started from 2003 by formulating a regulation. After that, in 2006, a public procurement act was passed and to implement the act properly, the present government has enacted public procurement rules-2008, he added.
Dr Tamim expressed the hope that the public procurement law and rules would bring accountability and transparency in the whole procurement process, including tender, project approval, work execution and duties of civil servants.
He said training and updating knowledge are very important for proper understanding of different procurement laws and policies to bring efficiency in the entire process.
Later, Sheikh Motahar said they have already appointed an international and a local procurement experts under the central procurement technical unit (CPTU) to set up the e-procurement system.
"We could be able to start the e-procurement system by July next year on a pilot basis and within two to three years it could be run completely," he said.
After setting up the e-procurement system, anyone could get information from website even from his/her home.
Nearly 100 participants from host Bangladesh and 16 other countries participated in seven working sessions of the workshop.
"We will establish the e-governance in the procurement system to ensure transparency and accountability for using the public money," he said while speaking as the chief guest at the concluding session of a three-day international workshop at a city hotel Wednesday.
The Asia regional workshop on `Implementing Procurement Reforms and Improving Procurement Performance' was organised by the Planning Commission with the support of World Bank, Asian Development Bank (ADB), UK's Department for International Development (DFID) and Australian AusAid.
IMED Secretary Sheikh AK Motahar Hossain chaired the concluding session of the workshop.
The special assistant said harmonisation is needed among the development partners as various development partners have various procurement policies, which is one of the major causes of delaying the implementation of government projects.
"I personally faced such kind of problems in handling various procurement policies," he said, adding "Reform is also needed in the donor's procurement policies side by side with the government's initiatives."
Dr Tamim said reforms in the public procurement system started from 2003 by formulating a regulation. After that, in 2006, a public procurement act was passed and to implement the act properly, the present government has enacted public procurement rules-2008, he added.
Dr Tamim expressed the hope that the public procurement law and rules would bring accountability and transparency in the whole procurement process, including tender, project approval, work execution and duties of civil servants.
He said training and updating knowledge are very important for proper understanding of different procurement laws and policies to bring efficiency in the entire process.
Later, Sheikh Motahar said they have already appointed an international and a local procurement experts under the central procurement technical unit (CPTU) to set up the e-procurement system.
"We could be able to start the e-procurement system by July next year on a pilot basis and within two to three years it could be run completely," he said.
After setting up the e-procurement system, anyone could get information from website even from his/her home.
Nearly 100 participants from host Bangladesh and 16 other countries participated in seven working sessions of the workshop.