Huge potential is based on electronic procurement
Despite some loopholes, the implementation of an electronic system for public procurement, replacing paper-based lengthy process, has been a boon for Bangladesh as it is saving huge amount of money and reducing amount of time in the bidding process, the World Bank said.
As a result of Electronic Government Procurement (e-GP), around $600 million has been saved between fiscal year 2012 and FY2018, the development lender said in its latest assessment on the public procurement system in Bangladesh.
Average procurement time from the invitation of bidding to contract signing declined from 93 days to 59 days in case of open tendering method works from FY2011 to FY2019, in line with the report titled "Assessment of Bangladesh Public Procurement System".
Following the introduction of e-GP in 2011, the bidding environment has improved drastically when compared to paper-based tendering system. Market access has also increased.
Only 10 % of tenders were awarded promptly in 2007. It jumped to 90 per cent in 2019. Only 15 % tenders award publication occurred in 2007 and it had been 100 per cent in 2019, the WB said.
Typically, only four bidders participated in bidding in 2007. It rose to 16 in 2019.
The report is founded on information of 296,760 e-GP and 12,000 traditional paper-based purchases by the government between FY12 and FY19.
Besides, it incorporated interviews and focus group discussions with key implementing agencies and surveys of bidders conducted in five districts.
In FY20, government purchase was estimated at around $24.1 billion, which was 45.2 % of the gross annual budget and 8 % of the GDP. In FY2019, e-GP processed 62 per cent of $24 billion in public areas procurement expenditure.
"Therefore, any improvement in the general public procurement system will probably have a substantial financial effect," said the WB.
In line with the assessment, 80 per cent of government procurement was made through the open competitive method.
Before the introduction of e-GP, bidders from a geographical area generally participated in the procurement process only within that area. However, e-GP has changed the scenario with a significant increase of non-local winners, the WB said.
The share of rejected bids declined from 8 % in FY2012 to 3 % in FY2019.
Currently, there are 1,365 procuring agencies in the united states. By July, 1,343 agencies registered with the e-GP system. The amount of tenderers registered with e-GP stood at 74,395, the Central Procurement Technical Unit (CPTU), which introduced e-GP, said in July.
THE LOOK Commission officials said that if the e-GP system were implemented better, the quantity of savings made might have been much more than $600 million.
They made the comments as the World Bank report also said bidders have to give bribes in the form of financial benefits, arrange trips and host dinners for government officials to win contracts.
A 2017 study by Wahid Abdallah, a research fellow at the Brac Institute of Governance and Development, showed that the e-GP holds enormous potential benefits for the united states. Each Tk 1 allocated to such efforts can do a phenomenal Tk 663 of good, the analysis found.
The global lender highlighted the progress in the federal government procurement process.
The country includes a robust public procurement system set up. This includes a procurement law, secondary legislation and associated standard bidding documentation and a well-functioning nodal agency CPTU, said the assessment.
The CPTU provides round-the-clock help desk service to address questions and problems raised by bidders and the general public, including the media.
The e-GP portal, www.eprocure.gov.bd, covers the end-to-end procurement process beginning with procurement likely to authorisation of payment to the contractors or suppliers. The module up to contract award is fully operational now.
The WB described challenges as well.
The general public purchase process lacks transparency plus some sections in the general public Procurement Act limit scope for competition among bidders. Large bidders are monopolising the procurement market, leaving the tiny kinds marginalised, it said.
About delayed implementation of contracts, the WB proposed rolling out the newly developed electronic contract management (e-CMS) system module of the e-GP and monitoring contract management performance.
It called for creating a supplier database with original identification of bidders and their beneficial owners and tracking the performance of the suppliers or contractors, including specialised groups.
The WB said a policy document with a detailed implementation road map for sustainable procurement ought to be prepared.
It proposed connecting e-GP with the integrated budget and accounting system (iBAS++) to facilitate real-time capturing of budget utilisation, procurement commitment and procurement expenditure and monitoring and tracking of payment.
A centralised procurement body at the central or regional level ought to be setup to procure commonly required items, the assessment paper said.
Other recommendations include scaling up citizen monitoring of contract implementation and including legal provision for a mandatory market analysis for high value and complex procurements before initiating the procurement process to raised understand the market composition, qualification of the bidders and specifications of the merchandise.
The full total value of the tenders is Tk 410,000 crore, the CPTU said in July.
The quantity of tenders invited online in Bangladesh has gone past four lakh within an indication of the country's race towards digitalisation.
