The cabinet committee on economic affairs has given approval in principle to buy 15,000 pieces of dunnage, plastic or air bags used to keep goods safe, for stacking food grain in warehouses of the Directorate General of Food. It has also approved in principle a special procurement method to add APIS, PNR, e-visa, e-TA and a sovereign data analytics platform to the country's immigration management.

The approvals were given at a meeting of the committee at the Secretariat on Monday, 24 August, chaired by Finance Minister Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury. Two proposals were presented and discussed: one from the Ministry of Food and the other a miscellaneous proposal from the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Under the food ministry's proposal, the 15,000 pieces of dunnage will be bought for stacking grain in food warehouses under the Directorate General of Food by direct purchase, citing urgent state need and the public interest under section 68(1) of the Public Procurement Act, 2006.

The purchase will exceed the value limit set in rule 99(2) of the Public Procurement Rules, 2025. The committee recommended the proposal for approval in principle.

Under the home ministry's proposal, five important technologies are to be added to the existing immigration system: the Advanced Passenger Information System (APIS), Passenger Name Record (PNR), e-visa, e-Travel Authorisation (e-TA) and a sovereign data analytics platform.

Considering national security needs, the committee gave approval in principle to adopt the related procurement method under sections 68(1) and (2) of the Public Procurement Act, 2006.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.