DHAKA, April 8, 2025 (BSS) - The government has given priority to make the 
electronic government procurement or e-GP system more time-befitting and 
user-friendly through bringing necessary reforms soon in the public 
procurement law. 

Mirza Ashfaqur Rahman, chief executive officer (CEO) of the Bangladesh Public 
Procurement Authority (BPPA) of the Implementation, Monitoring and Evaluation 
Division (IMED) under the Ministry of Planning, made this remark at a 
workshop on "Sharing of experience about BPPA functions and e-GP" as the 
chief guest held at the DC office conference room in Moulvibazar district 
today.

Deputy Commissioner and District Magistrate of Moulvibazar Md Israil Hossain 
chaired the workshop while Additional Deputy Commissioner (General) Bulbul 
Ahmed was present, said a press release here.

Mentioning the objective of the BPPA, Mirza Ashfaqur Rahman said the BPPA is 
working in line with the guidance of the present government to make the 
country's public procurement truly user-friendly by incorporating the 
recommendations and feedback from the concerned stakeholders at the 
grassroots through holding workshops across the country.
 
He, however, urged stakeholders to make more recommendations on bringing 
reforms in the system to make e-GP fully workable.

"We want to develop a public procurement system which will be more user-
friendly, so our priority is to bring positive changes as because this is the 
right time," said the BPPA chief pointing to this present favourable 
environment as the government is very sincere and prompt to bring reforms in 
the system.

In the present public procurement system, there is budgetary allocation for 
only implementing a project but no fund is allocated for its maintenance 
after completion, he mentioned.

He also suggested the authorities concerned, especially the procuring 
entities, for seeking funds for maintenance of a work which is very much 
essential for longevity.

Responding to the participants at the workshop, Ashfaqur said, BPPA would 
consider if the performance guarantee of tenders could be increased to ensure 
quality of work, but that might put burden on tenderers as this fund is held 
for quite a long time. 
Referring to the upcoming amendment to the law, he said there will be no 
scope for selling tender by any awardee as the provision for 10 percent less 
is being omitted from the law and rules.
 
He requested people to notify any loophole in project works and thus reveal 
those, saying: "Time has now changed and there is no reason to be afraid of."

Mentioning that the national budget of Bangladesh for the current fiscal year 
(FY25) is Taka 7,99,000 crore of which 40 percent is allocated for public 
procurement, he said currently 65 percent of the procurement is done through 
e-GP. 

Considering the huge spending of the budget through e-GP, he said, training 
on e-GP is a must for educating all concerned for smooth implementation of 
projects works.

The workshop was organised by BPPA with support from the Bangladesh Center 
for Communication Programmes (BCCP).
 
Deputy CEO and Programme Director of BCCP attended the workshop. 

A total of 70 participants including representatives of procuring entities, 
tenderers, journalists, bankers and civil society members were present.