ANOTHER three ministries were preparing to adopt the e-procurement system, one in a series of online government projects, after nine ministries successfully completed an operational trial of the system on July 31, the coordinator of the project said.

“The system will soon be introduced by the ministries of Commerce, Construction and Home Affairs,” said U Tin Win Aung, who is also the president and chief executive officer of the Myanmar Computer Co., Ltd.

E-procurement is an online commerce system that allows government agencies to buy goods and services from domestic and foreign businesses through a secure internet connection.

“We tested the system in 54 departments under nine ministries during a trial period that began on April 2,” U Tin Win Aung said.

Myanmar Computer company is a member of the e-National Task Force’s Information and Communication Technology Applications Committee, which began developing the e-procurement system in October 2003.

During the trial period e-procurement was introduced to the ministries of Industry (1), Forestry, and Communications, Posts and Telegraphs, followed by the ministries of Energy, Electric Power, Industry (2), Mining, Agriculture and Irrigation, and Hotels and Tourism.

With the testing completed, all other government ministries in Myanmar are working to improve their ICT infrastructure so that they can eventually adopt the system and use it effectively, U Tin Win Aung said.

Two websites have been set up to access the e-procurement system: app.ep.com.mm, to be used by the government, and www.ep.com.mm, for use by suppliers.

On April 2 an office was opened at MICT Park’s Building (6) to provide technical support to the ministries and suppliers using the system, said Daw Chaw Khin Khin, the senior vice president of the Myanmar Computer Co., Ltd.

She said that a four-day e-procurement training session was conducted in April for 105 staff members from the first nine ministries to adopt the system, and that a training program for all ministries would be held this month.

Training courses will also be held for suppliers, who can use the system to submit offers through the internet to provide goods and services to the government, bypassing much of the paperwork required to turn in hardcopy bids.

Only users registered with the e-procurement system are eligible to submit bids online.

The yearly registration fee is K100,000 for local companies, K200,000 for joint-venture or Myanmar-based foreign companies, and US$300 or FEC300 for foreign companies.

The suppliers must also have a digital certificate for online security, which is issued by the Myanmar Electronic Trust Company for K20,000.