Continuing procurement reforms in Bangladesh

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Continuing procurement reforms in Bangladesh

Encouraged by recent success in making a systematic change in the country’s procurement environment, the Government of Bangladesh has undertaken further initiatives to consolidate the procurement reform and improve the performance of the system to strengthen the public sector governance.

The World Bank is assisting the government in preparing this new procurement reforms package which will help institutionalize procurement management capacity, strengthen key sectoral agencies and the procurement policy unit, introduce electronic-procurement on a pilot basis, and built the concept of social accountability in procurement.

With World Bank support in the last four years, the country has now an improved procurement policy framework, applicable to all public sector entities. A procurement act has also been passed by the last Parliament, that soon will help enhancing efficient use of public resources with better value-for-money and backed up by a transparent and accountable system to improving the overall business environment.

A recent World Bank pre-appraisal mission held discussions with all relevant stakeholders about various arrangements of the follow-on procurement reforms initiative. These includes: Training of procurement officials, engineers, auditors, bidding community including policy makers, help government’s key sectoral agencies to manage and monitor their own procurement following the national laws and regulations and using the procurement management information system, with piloting of the electronic -procurement system.

The appropriate disclosure of procurement information, combined with a strategic communication plan and the engagement of civil society group/ beneficiary groups in monitoring of procurement outcomes, are also being contemplated under the new procurement reforms package.

March 2007

Contacts:
S.M. Rezwan Ul Alam, (8802) 815-9015, Ext 4242
e-mail: salam3@worldbank.org

For more information on the World Bank in Bangladesh, please visit : www.worldbank.org.bd & www.worldbank.org