The cabinet on Monday approved in principle the draft of the Public-Private Partnership Bill-2013 that would allow ‘unsolicited proposals’ for development projects.
‘The Prime Minister’s Office placed the draft law to give an effective legal basis to the PPP project,’ cabinet secretary Mohammad Musharraf Hossain Bhuiyan told a news briefing after the meeting at the secretariat.
He said that the proposed law provided scopes for allowing ‘unsolicited’ proposals.
The prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, chaired the weekly cabinet meeting.
There are at least 35 PPP development projects currently running with an office for dealing with such projects in the PMO, the secretary said.
He said that the government had earlier framed a policy along a strategy to take up development projects in partnership with the private sector.
Once the law is enacted, the government would not require such strategy or policy for the PPP projects.
Considering the priority of the projects, the government could sideline the approval of the cabinet committee on economic affairs to sign deals with the private companies for development projects, according to the draft.
The cabinet meeting also approved the Strategy Paper titled ‘National Strategy for the Development of Statistics’ with a vision of upgrading the National Statistical System into international standard, adds United News of Bangladesh.
Musharraf said the aim of the strategy was to strengthen the enforcement of the existing ‘Statistic Act, 2013.’
The main features of the law are to strengthen the access to official statistics, upgrading system of national accounts, determining green GDP, strengthening industrial statistical database, registration of national population and setting up of database for making the social protection programme more effective and setting up of offices of BBS to division and district level.
The cabinet also approved in principle the draft of the ‘Khulna Agricultural University Bill 2013’.
The cabinet secretary said the prime minister had promised to set up the agricultural university during her Khulna visit in 2011.
Two agriculture entrepreneurs would be appointed as syndicate members of the university as per the draft law, he said.
The cabinet also approved drafts of ‘Comilla University (Amendment) Act 2013’ and ‘Barisal University (Amendment) Act 2013’, providing for the full-time posts of pro-vice chancellor and treasurer for each of the university. Moreover, the name of Barisal University has been changed to the University of Barisal.
-With New Age input
