Bangladesh’s efforts to bring about a systemic change in its public procurement system through Electronic Government Procurement (e-GP) have been ongoing for over a decade and with the assistance of the World Bank, the third reform project Digitizing Implementation Monitoring and Public Procurement Project (DIMAPPP) has been undertaken. To enhance e-GP system’s functionality and further automation, a comprehensive module to build and manage tenderers database have been included in e-GP system. Therefore, a comprehensive training program was required to train the Procuring Entity (PE) officials and Registered Tenderers (RT) on tenderers’ database.
To support this reform, on the first day of March 2023, Dohatec New Media and Central Procurement Technical Unit (CPTU), IMED, Ministry of Planning signed a consulting service agreement titled Consultancy Service for Workshop and Training on National Tenderer Database. The consultancy service aims to enhance the training scope of the Tenderer Database, focusing on Selected Public Sector Organizations (SPSO) and Tenderers. Dohatec New Media’s major services will include enhancing the capacity of the Procuring Entity (PE) offices of the SPSOs and IMED officials in using the features of the National Tenderers’ Database (NTDB), as well as validating and inserting information, preparing, and finalizing the current tenderer’s list, and assisting tenderers in using the features of NTDB and inserting available information.
The agreement outlines that 100 PE batches and 50 Tender batches for NTDB training will be conducted, consisting of 2000 PEs and 1000 Registered Tenders (RT) respectively. The training will be conducted at Dohatec New Media’s five separate locations with state-of-the-art training facilities located in Doha House, Hossain Tower, Boraq Unique Heights, Taj Casilina (Training Centre 1 and 2). The agreement expects to train 3000 participants in total.
Mr. Md. Shamimul Haque, Director (Joint Secretary) at CPTU, attended the opening ceremony of the first batch of NTDB Tenderer training held on March 27, 2023, at Hossain Tower. He also attended the opening ceremony of the second batch of NTDB Tenderer training, in the same venue, along with Mr. Mohammed Shoheler Rahman Chowdhury (Director General (Additional Secretary)) in the same week. The first NTDB PE Training was held for CPTU officials at IMED on April 12, 2023. To date, five batches of NTDB RT and two batches of NTDB PE have been completed.
The training is immensely beneficial for the PEs and tenderers. As the NTDB allows for the verification of work completion certificates, payment certificates, and other important documents, there is no need for physical verification, which has expedited the evaluation process. Furthermore, the system can determine a Tenderer’s capacity based on authorized data, provide litigation history, and automatically calculate the Annual Construction Turnover of any fiscal year within a specified time frame. On the other hand, tenderers can swiftly save their employee, equipment, and other relevant information and use them to prepare their tenders easily. Users can also issue payment certificates and work completion certificates after verification from the respective PE.
In conclusion, Dohatec New Media’s consultation services for the National Tenderer Database training program will greatly enhance Bangladesh’s public procurement process, boost economic growth, and achieve the smart Bangladesh goal. The efficiency and transparency of the e-GP system will be considerably enhanced by increasing the capacity of Procuring Entity (PE) offices and making tenderers capable of employing the NTDB capabilities, resulting in benefits for both the Procuring Entity and the Tenderer.