Govt to start distribution of e-passports from December

The government will start distribution of electronic passports (e-passport) with 10 years’ validity from December, Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal said today.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will inaugurate it formally, the minister said while briefing the media after a meeting of Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase (CCGP) at the Cabinet Division.

Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal chairs a meeting of Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase (CCGP) at the Cabinet Division on September 25, 2019. Photo: Star/ Rejaul Karim Byron

The cabinet committee in the meeting approved the last shipment of 20 lakh machine-readable passports (MRP) and 20 lakh lamination foil, the minister said adding that it would cost Tk 41 crore.

Earlier, the government planned to introduce the e-passport by July.

The committee also approved the Construction of Outer Ring Road project which will be implemented with the association of Japan on government-to-government (G-to-G) basis.

Three routes of 48-kilometre highway will be constructed or widened though the project which will cost approximately Tk 10,200 crore, he added.

Last June, the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) approved a project to introduce e-passports, which many countries are using nowadays.

In July, the government signed an agreement with German firm Veridos GmbH to promote Bangladesh into the e-passport era, which was expected to begin in December the same year. However, the process saw some unexpected delays, according to passport office sources.

Around 120 countries have already introduced e-passports.

As per a planning ministry proposal, Bangladesh introduced MRP and machine-readable visa system on April 2010, in accordance with the International Civil Aviation Organisation guidelines.