Prevention of 10% wastage in public procurement will add 0.5% to the country’s GDP (Gross Domestic Product), said Planning Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal yesterday.
He said, “We cannot make wasteful expenditure. It is totally unwarranted in public procurement.......public procurement means spending money of the taxpayers. We must be always efficient, thoughtful and innovative in handling public money.”
Like India, every country in South Asia, looks forward to having huge investment to boost their capital expenditure basket, he said.
“We need to evaluate price value of procurement considering its efficiency, life-time and salvage value. This type of prudence will prevent wastage in procurement. ”
The government will go for e-procurement system, which will save money by preventing wastage, the minister said, adding that in the seventh five-year plan, we projected average GDP growth of 7.4%. “To translate this projection into reality, we have to invest a huge amount of money.”
Kamal was speaking at the inaugural ceremony of a three-day-long international conference titled “Third South Asia Regional Public Procurement Conference” in a city hotel.
Central Procurement Technical Unit under the Planning Ministry in collaboration of World Bank and Asian Development Bank hosted the international conference, aiming at developing public procurement systems, using online technology to ensure an effective and efficient public procurement service.
The conference brought together procurement professionals from around the world, and especially from member countries of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC).
Public procurement heads, policy makers, procurement experts, contracting and consulting industry representatives, civil society, and academia shared knowledge and experiences of good practices that would enable all the South Asian countries to enhance performance in the public procurement system.
World Bank Acting Country Director Martin Rama said, “Electronic government procurement is bringing substantial cost savings, eliminating paperwork and increasing the pace of implementing development works.”
He said South Asia needs investment of 1.5 trillion dollar in its infrastructure and energy sector.
“Again, currently, Bangladesh spends one fourth of its budget in procurement. So, ensuring accountability and transparency, e-procurement is a must in this case.”
Asian Development Bank Country Director in Bangladesh Kazuhiko Higuchi said, “ADP will help Bangladesh set up digitised system in public procurement.”
The discussants underscored the need for an efficient and transparent public procurement system for accelerating growth and prosperity of a country.
An advanced and well-functioning public procurement system can help increase competitiveness, improve service delivery, and boost citizen trust, they added.
