Come January 2018, the use of Electronic Government Procurement (e-GP) system will be mandatory. If the reactions at the Annual General Meeting of the Construction Association of Bhutan (CAB) are anything to go by, the contractors are all for it.
e-GP system will automate tendering and contract management process. A presentation on it was made at the CAB’s annual general meeting yesterday.
The e-GP system is expected to be efficient and more cost and time effective. “When its done manually, we are required to submit many copies of documents,” said Passang Dorji, the Executive Member of CAB.
“So, we have to print many copies, which involves costs.”
While it is being lauded as a great initiative, some doubt if it would work well mainly due to poor internet connectivity. “Today, there are many online facilities but the internet services are not very good,” said Neten Wangdi, also an Executive Member of CAB.
“I doubt if it would be as successful as it is in other countries.”
Officials from Government Procurement and Property Management Division, however, assured that it will not be a big issue.
The e-GP will bring all four stakeholders- bidders, procuring agencies, development partners and individuals- on a single platform. The system was launched in June this year.
