The Advisers Council Committee on Government Purchase (CCGP) has granted its approval for the direct procurement (G2G) of e-passport booklets and associated training from a German supplier.
The decision was formalised at the committee’s 46th meeting of the year, convened on Tuesday at the Cabinet Division Conference Room within the Bangladesh Secretariat. The session was presided over by Finance Adviser Dr Salehuddin Ahmed.
The proposal, presented by the Home Ministry, entails a total expenditure of Tk1,692.32 crore under the ambit of the project titled “Introduction of E-Passport and Automated Border Control Management in Bangladesh.”
The contract has been given to Veridos GmbH, a Germany-based company, which emerged as the responsive bidder in the evaluation process.
Addressing media in a post-meeting briefing, Finance Adviser stated that the government would issue nearly one crore new passports, as the demand for passports is high side by side the processing would be fast-tracked.
Apart from this, about 6.5 million documents will also be supplied alongside the passports.
According to officials, this strategic procurement is designed to substantially reinforce the country’s existing e-passport framework. The initiative is expected to markedly expand the system’s capacity for issuing the secure travel documents.
