Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs clears proposals for digital border systems
Government Approves Five Immigration Technologies and Dunnage
- Five advanced digital systems approved to modernize national border and immigration security
- Direct procurement cleared for 15,000 dunnage units to upgrade grain storage engineering
- Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury presides over Cabinet Committee meeting
The government has granted in-principle approval for a specialized procurement framework to integrate five advanced information technology systems into the national immigration infrastructure, alongside procuring 15,000 dunnage units for food grain preservation. The decisions were finalized during a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs held at the Bangladesh Secretariat on Monday, 24 August 2026, with Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury in the chair.
Two separate strategic procurement proposals submitted by the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Food were reviewed and approved during the session. Under the Ministry of Home Affairs' initiative, five core digital systems will be integrated with the existing national border management architecture.
The approved technical systems include the Advanced Passenger Information System (APIS), Passenger Name Record (PNR), Electronic Visa (e-Visa), Electronic Travel Authorization (e-TA), and a Sovereign Data Analytics Platform. Considering critical national security imperatives, the procurement will proceed under Sections 68(1) and 68(2) of the Public Procurement Act, 2006.
Simultaneously, under the Ministry of Food's proposal, 15,000 pieces of dunnage will be procured through direct procurement methods to facilitate scientific stacking and post-harvest preservation of grains across state-run silos and warehouses. The committee recommended proceeding with the acquisition above the financial threshold outlined in Rule 99(2) of the Public Procurement Rules, 2025, to address public interest requirements.
//DBTech/BNO/SME//
