WB suggests fortifying CPTU for e-GP growth

The World Bank (WB) has suggested strengthening the Central Procurement Technical Unit (CPTU) with continuity of skilled staff and enhancing efforts for further expansion of electronic government procurement (e-GP).
It, however, has appreciated the initiatives of procurement reforms taken by the government for ensuring transparency and accountability in public sector purchase.
"The government's commitment to pursuing these challenging reform initiatives, contributing to improving transparency and competitiveness of the public procurement system," WB said in its review on the status of public procurement reform project-2 (PPRP-II).
The government with the support of WB started reforming the public procurement system about 10 years back.
Some four key government agencies - Roads and Highways Department (RHD), Local Government Engineering Department (LGED), Bangladesh Rural Electrification Board (BREB), and Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) - started online procurement through the newly introduced e-GP system.
Later, 26 other government agencies have been included in the e-GP system to ensure transparency and accountability in public procurement, a CPTU official said.
He said Planning Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal-led committee will sit tomorrow (Wednesday) for finding out the next government agencies for inclusion in e-GP system.
According to WB, the number of electronic bid invitations grew to over 8,000 in May 2014 from only 14 in June 2012.
Similarly, the number of registered bidders for e-GP grew to 8,900 in May 2014 from only 294 in June 2012, it said.
The electronic procurement with online monitoring is making public contracting more accessible, secure, efficient and transparent, leading to a reduction in coercive bidding at decentralized level.
WB is supporting the government in implementing e-GP in the country through PPRP-II for improved procurement outcomes, starting with the key procuring agencies.
Under the comprehensive capacity development programme for the online procurement, key initiatives include: certification of national trainers, three-week procurement training for 24 agencies, 17 types of short courses covering 10,000 participants, international procurement accreditation and masters course.  
As of now, 39 national trainers have been developed, 2,200 officials from the four key agencies received the three-week training, about 400 officials of 20 additional agencies also received training, and 35 received international procurement accreditation including masters in procurement, with another 47 continuing.  As part of the demand for good governance, the public-private stakeholders committee (PPSC), with members of the leading think-tank organisations, is putting in place a third party monitoring mechanism in public procurement to demystify procurement at the grass-root level.