The Cabinet Committee on Public Procurement has approved the purchase of 395,000 tablets from Walton Digitech Industries at a cost of Tk 4.47 billion for the census work of the Bureau of Statistics.
The approval was given at a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Public Procurement and the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on Thursday afternoon. The Cabinet Committee on Public Procurement has approved a total of 12 procurement proposals, including a proposal to purchase 395,000 tabs for the census and household census project. The meeting had two proposals from the Ministry of Water Resources, two from the Ministry of Housing and Public Works, two from the Ministry of Food, two from the Department of Energy and Mineral Resources, one from the Department of Statistics and Information Management, one from the Ministry of Industry and two from the Ministry of Agriculture. In the 12 proposals approved by the procurement committee, the total amount is 1,706 crore 1 lakh 25 thousand 378 taka.
Asked at a virtual press conference after the meeting whether fertilizer would be imported from Russia, Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal said, “We have approved the proposal to import fertilizer from Russia.” Our good relations with Russia are undeniable.
If they can’t supply, then we will find for other sources. We can’t decide before that.
He further added that Swift has been discontinued from them regarding payment. We hope the war will stop. This will not be a problem. With that in mind we are considering these. Besides, we have thought of our safety. Alternative sources are also under consideration.
“If I can’t make the payment because of Swift, I have to take other measures,” he said. We want the war to end for the sake of world humanity. It is my hope that the people of the world will find peace. None of us want to see war.
International trade with Russia has almost come to a standstill due to the obstruction of Western countries, including the United States, over the attack on Ukraine. However, the Bangladesh government has already approved a proposal to buy 30,000 tons of fertilizer from the country. However, Swift’s operations with Russian banks have been halted and alternatives are being sought for transactions.
Regarding the approval to buy Walton tablet PC, Additional Secretary to the Cabinet Md. Zillur Rahman Chowdhury said, The committee approved the proposal to purchase ‘Tablets for CAPI for Main Census’ under the ‘Census and Household Census-2021’ project. The proposal to purchase 3 lakh 95 thousand tablets from Fair Electronics Limited for Tk 5.37 billion was not recommended. According to him, when tenders are called in one step two envelope system, two tenders are submitted. Both tenders submitted are technically responsive. At the end of the bidding process, the committee approved the proposal to buy 395,000 tablets from Walton DG-Tech Industries Limited, the lowest bidder company recommended by TEC, at a cost of Tk 4.47 billion.