5% contractors secure 61% of electronic Government Procurement projects: TIB

Despite the digitisation of procurement, corruption and limited competition persist, says TIB boss

A decade of data on electronic Government Procurement, or e-GP, shows that 5 percent of contractors dominate 61 percent of the projects in the 10 ministries with the highest spending, according to Transparency International Bangladesh, or TIB.

Meanwhile, the bottom 10 percent of contractors hold less than 1 percent of the market share across all ministries.

The anti-corruption watchdog highlighted that tripartite collusion between the bureaucracy, contractors, and political forces has institutionalised “market dominance” in government procurement.

The TIB conducted a study titled "Bangladesh’s e-Procurement: Monopolistic Markets, Collusion, and Political Influence (2012-2014)" and presented its findings at a press conference at its office in Dhaka’s Dhanmondi on Tuesday.

TIB Executive Director Iftekharuzzaman shared the research data.

He said since the launch of e-GP in 2011, projects worth nearly Tk 5.97 trillion have been awarded through this system.

The highest approved contract value under the system was Tk 8.81 billion.

Projects with contract values higher than this have not yet been brought under this platform.

"The top 5 percent of contractors in the 10 highest-spending ministries secured 61.31 percent of the total contract value, whereas the bottom 10 percent of contractors collectively hold less than 1 percent of the market share across all ministries," Iftekharuzzaman said.

At the briefing, it was pointed out that despite the goal of creating a competitive market in government procurement, it has not materialised.

Instead, an uneven competition among contractors across ministries has been observed.

Presenting market share data, Iftekharuzzaman said: "In most ministries, the top 5 percent of contractors have increased their market share over the past decade. In the housing and public works ministry, these contractors secured 74.96 percent of the total contract value.

“In the ministry, the share of the top contractors increased by 15 percent, marking one of the highest growths.”

“In addition, a 10 percent increase has been observed in the Roads and Highways Departement and the education ministry.”