The number of tenders opened in a single day in the electronic government procurement (e-GP) system registered a new record of 2230 on Wednesday.
Earlier, the number was 1508 in a single day, said a press release.
The e-GP system introduced by the Central Procurement Technical Unit of Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division (IMED), Ministry of Planning, in 2011 as part of reforms and government's efforts to digitize all public service delivery.
The procuring entities and tenderers across the country have embraced the electronic system gladly as it has removed all physical and operational hassles.
There has been an exponential growth in the numbers of invitation, submission and opening of tenders and contracts through e-GP since 2012.
Up to May 3, 2023, a total of 1,05,569 tenderers and 11,174 procuring entity offices registered with the e-GP system. So far, a total of 6,86,703 tenders worth Taka 7,07,104 core were invited in the e-GP system.
Bangladesh has been in a leading position in digitizing entire cycle of procurement starting from planning to contract implementation management.
Electronic contract management (e-CMS) system and electronic audit (e-Audit) modules and Tenderers' Database have recently been added to e-GP.
The CPTU has also formulated Sustainable Public Procurement (SPP) Policy which is now under process of finalization.
It has been implementing a project titled, "Digitizing Implementation Monitoring and Public Procurement (DIMAPP)" with support from the World Bank. The release said that the e-GP is saving US$600 million annually. Travel distance has reduced by about 497km. About 1,053 million pages of paper are saved. About 1 lakh 53 thousand tonnes of carbon dioxide emission has decreased. The procurement lead time has also come down to 57 days from 100 days. The digital system is saving both time and money.