State Minister for Planning Ministry Zonayed Saki on Sunday said the Strengthening Institutions for Transparency and Accountability (SITA) project would play a crucial role in accelerating Bangladesh's economic growth and improving the quality of public services.
“The initiative would strengthen institutional capacity and help the government achieve its development goals through greater transparency, accountability and evidence-based decision-making,” he said while speaking as the chief guest at the launch of the World Bank-supported project at the Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel in the capital.
The project will be jointly implemented by five government agencies with financial support from the World Bank.
The event, organised by the Planning Division, was chaired by its Secretary SM Shakil Akhtar and attended by senior government officials, development partners, business representatives, media professionals and members of civil society.
The five implementing agencies are the Planning Division, the Bangladesh Public Procurement Authority (BPPA) under the Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division (IMED), the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), the National Board of Revenue (NBR), and the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (OCAG).
The five-year project, covering the period from 2025 to 2030, aims to improve the availability of reliable statistics, strengthen tax compliance, and enhance the efficiency, transparency and accountability of public expenditure.
The project will cost Tk 32.87 billion, including Tk 30.43 billion in financing from the World Bank's International Development Association (IDA) and Tk 2.44 billion from the Bangladesh government.
Saki said the SITA project would automate key public service functions across the five agencies and strengthen inter-agency coordination through data-driven systems.
He said the initiative would also reinforce the government's efforts to implement development projects within stipulated timeframes and budgets.
The state minister stressed the importance of automating the NBR's revenue collection system, modernising accounting and audit mechanisms, improving inflation and GDP measurement, strengthening project formulation and monitoring, and upgrading the electronic government procurement (e-GP) system.
Highlighting the country's fiscal challenges, Saki said Bangladesh's budget-to-GDP ratio currently stands at only 13 percent and needs to increase substantially.
"If we are to allocate five percent each to health and education, how can the remaining three percent finance all other development activities?" he asked.
World Bank Division Director for Bangladesh Jean Pesme said Bangladesh faces multiple challenges, including sustaining economic growth, creating jobs, enhancing transparency and addressing structural weaknesses.
He said the SITA project would make an important contribution to tackling these challenges.
World Bank official Sebastian Eckardt said around 1.6 million young people enter Bangladesh's labour market every year, while employment generation remains a major challenge.
He said effective implementation of the project by the five participating agencies would significantly improve public service delivery.
Planning Division Secretary SM Shakil Akhtar described the SITA project as highly significant for the division, saying it would provide strategic leadership and ensure effective coordination among the implementing agencies.
BPPA Chief Executive Officer (Secretary) SM Moin Uddin Ahmed said the authority is working to establish a fully digital, transparent, data-driven, inclusive, sustainable and citizen-centric public procurement system.
He said the project aims to introduce a modern, secure and cloud-ready e-GP Version 2.0 platform by 2030.
NBR Chairman Abdur Rahman Khan said Bangladesh's tax-to-GDP ratio, currently below seven percent, should be raised to around 15 percent.
He emphasised the need to curb tax evasion and improve integration among automated government systems.
IMED Secretary Sirajun Noor Chowdhury highlighted the transformative impact of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and artificial intelligence, saying the government is pursuing investment-led inclusive growth.
He also outlined the government's "3R" strategy—Recovery, Restoration and Reconstruction—to accelerate economic development.
Comptroller and Auditor General Md Nurul Islam said the project would establish an automated accounting and audit system within the OCAG, significantly improving service delivery.
According to the World Bank, the SITA project received approval on June 12, 2025, with financing of US$250 million.
The project seeks to modernise Bangladesh's core public institutions by strengthening public financial management, data systems, procurement and revenue mobilisation through digital transformation, institutional reforms and capacity building.
Among its key targets are developing an integrated national data ecosystem, modernising tax administration through automation and e-invoicing, strengthening public investment management with AI-enabled analytics and real-time monitoring, upgrading the e-GP system, and digitising audit processes.
The project also aims to reduce audit reporting time from 72 months to nine months, improving financial oversight and public accountability.