Home ›› 21 Apr 2022 ›› Front
The Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase on Wednesday approved the procurement of equipment and services for a Tk 5,883.73 crore digitisation project.
Equipment and services worth Tk 3,974.79 crore will be procured from China Railway International Group Co for the project aimed at providing all public services online, enabling people to access those quickly and easily.
The approval was given at a virtual meeting of the cabinet committee chaired by Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal.
The minister told journalists after the meeting the government was focusing on setting up modern ICT laboratories in educational institutes to implement digital finance and develop manpower under the project titled “Establishing Digital Connectivity (EDC)”.
The project would also enhance transparency and good governance, deliver services to people, expand ICT-based standard education, and create manpower with the knowledge of information technology, he said.
The government will finance 20 per cent of the project while the rest will be provided by China in the form of loans. The ICT Division is scheduled to implement the project by 2025.
“We believe it will be a good project, which will create jobs. Around one lakh people have lost their jobs in the e-commerce sector amid the coronavirus pandemic. Moreover, another five lakh people in this sector will become unemployed this year,” Kamal said.
He said the aim of the project is massive digitalisation across the country, including ensuring all government services with the latest ICT infrastructure.
The main objective of the project is to expand fibre optic connectivity to villages from unions, the minister added.
Kamal further said two things are considered when such projects are approved – government revenue and employment. The cabinet committee approved eight proposals at the meeting – two from the Road Transport and Highways Division, two from the railway ministry, one from the food ministry, one from the industries ministry, one from the Energy and Mineral Resources Division, and one from the ICT Division.
