State Minister for Planning Zonayed Abdur Rahim Saki on Thursday held a meeting with officials of the Bangladesh Public Procurement Authority (BPPA) at its conference room in Dhaka, where he discussed the institution’s functions and ongoing reform efforts.
Bangladesh is moving to improve and simplify its public procurement system, with senior officials calling for a more accessible and user-friendly digital platform to support wider participation in government contracting.
The meeting took place at the BPPA Bhaban under the Bangladesh Planning Commission. Senior officials including the Secretary of the Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division (IMED), Shirajun Noor Chowdhury, and BPPA Chief Executive Officer S. M. Moin Uddin Ahmed were present.
A detailed presentation was made by the BPPA on its work, including the background of procurement reforms, digitisation of public procurement, legal frameworks, the electronic Government Procurement (e-GP) system, organisational structure, achievements, and future plans. The discussion also covered sustainable public procurement and ongoing operational challenges.
During the meeting, the State Minister highlighted the need to make the e-GP platform easier to use, ensuring that stakeholders can register and participate in procurement processes without unnecessary complications. He described the BPPA as a ‘highly important institution’ in strengthening transparency and efficiency in public spending.
He instructed the BPPA chief executive to hold wider consultations with relevant stakeholders to gather feedback on the authority’s operations, organisational structure, and the functioning of the e-GP system. He added that such consultations would help assess manpower needs, capacity building requirements, and possible improvements to the digital procurement platform.
The minister also highlighted the importance of decentralising e-GP training programmes to divisional and district levels. This, he said, would strengthen the capacity of tenderers and ensure smoother participation in public procurement across the country.
In response, the BPPA Chief Executive Officer said, “a comprehensive consultation process would be organised soon. He added that a report based on stakeholder feedback would be prepared and submitted to the government, outlining the overall performance of the authority and the e-GP system.”
The BPPA would put forward proposals for amendments to the Public Procurement Act and Public Procurement Rules, aimed at further strengthening the country’s procurement framework and improving efficiency in public spending,” he added.
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