Economic Reporter :
Bangladesh and World Bank (WB) on Tuesday struck a deal for digitizing monitoring of the country’s annual development programs and improving public procurement performance.
The US$ 55 million Digitizing Implementation Monitoring and Public Procurement Project (DIMAPPP) will help Bangladesh to expand electronic government procurement (e-GP) to all public sector organizations.
It will also help improving the capacity to monitor implementation of development projects and programs using digital technology, said a WB press release.
Economic Relations Division (ERD) Secretary Kazi Shofiqul Azam and WB Country Director for Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal Qimiao Fan sign the deal at ERD.
“This project is a testament to the government’s commitment to expand digitization to all public procuring entities as well as to monitor development programs and projects,” said Qimiao Fan.
In Bangladesh, annual expenditure on public procurement amounts to over US$ 7 billion in recent years, representing 70 percent of the annual development program.
Since 2002, the WB has been helping Bangladesh improve its public procurement system, and in 2011, the WB supported the rollout of e-GP in four key procuring entities.
Currently, about 35 percent of the annual development budget is executed using the e-GP platform. This has helped improve efficiency of public spending, and reduced procurement delays.
In 2016, 83 percent of contracts were awarded within the initial bid validity period, versus only 10 percent in 2007. The effort has significantly reduced inappropriate bidding practices at decentralized level and increased transparency as now all bid invitations and contract awards are published on the platform’s website.
Building on the success of predecessor projects, DIMAPP will support the Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division under the Ministry of Planning to effectively monitor execution of annual development programs by digitally connecting all public sector organizations, combined with a nationwide expansion of the e-GP system.
“DIMAPP will institutionalize electronic procurement and digitize the monitoring of development projects and programs to expedite project implementation and enhance transparency of the spending of public resources,” said Kazi Shofiqul Azam.
The credits are from the International Development Association (IDA), the WB’s concessional lending arm. The credits are interest-free and repayable in 38 years, including a six-year grace period, and carry a service charge of 0.75 percent.
