The Bangladesh Public Procurement Authority (BPPA) has stressed the importance of strengthening institutional capacity at the ministerial level to ensure greater efficiency and transparency in public procurement.
The call came during a workshop held at the BPPA headquarters in Dhaka on Monday aimed at aligning national procurement training curricula with the newly enacted Public Procurement Rules (PPR), 2025.
The workshop brought together national procurement trainers to review and adapt existing training materials in line with the updated regulatory framework.
Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division (IMED) Secretary Shirajun Noor Chowdhury emphasised the need for senior policymakers to be well-versed in procurement processes.
“Empowering ministries in public procurement will, in turn, strengthen departments and directorates. If secretaries themselves are familiar with procurement matters, it will naturally enhance the understanding of their officers,” he said.
He observed that gaps in procurement knowledge still persist across ministries often slowing down project implementation.
“Addressing these gaps will significantly accelerate the execution of government projects,” he noted.
The two-phase workshop gathered 26 out of 73 national procurement trainers for the first session held on 20 October, with the second session scheduled for 26 October.
During the event, Director of BPPA and National Procurement Trainer Shah Eyamin-Ul Islam presented an in-depth overview of the new and amended provisions under PPR 2025.
Trainers also shared their insights and recommendations for refining specific rules and ensuring their consistent application.
Among the participants were Shish Haider Chowdhury, Secretary, ICT Division; Md Faruque Hossain, former Secretary and ex-Director General of the former CPTU; Amulya Kumar Debnath, former Director General of the former CPTU; Masud Akhter Khan, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Primary and Mass Education; and Dr Md Aknur Rahman, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources.
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BPPA’s Chief Executive Officer and Secretary, S M Moin Uddin Ahmed, highlighted several key reforms under PPR 2025, including the formal recognition of national procurement trainers and the planned establishment of an Institute of Public Procurement (IPP) under BPPA.
“Each ministry and agency will now have a dedicated procurement unit as stipulated in the new rules,” he said.
He also announced BPPA’s plan to organise a high-level workshop exclusively for Secretaries to raise awareness and build a deeper understanding of procurement issues at the highest tiers of government.