Government launches IT bids worth $500 million

The Governmental Group for IT Promotion (GPTI), headed by PM Nastase, endorsed the first 24 projects in the Romanian society computerisation offensive, which entail some $500 million in investments.

The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology in March had evaluated all the projects required by the computerisation of the Romanian society to nearly one billion dollars for four to five years.

The projects included a series of programmes for computerising the national health insurance network, the population record and the social insurance system. The projects have to be drafted by the specialised ministries and then endorsed by GPTI.

“The Group for IT Promotion has not received any such project (i.e. from the specialised ministries),” Dan Nica, IT&C minister, said yesterday.

He estimates that part of the 24 projects approved by GPTI on Wednesday will be completed by the end of the year. “Several projects, such as the ones entailing the change of the TV and radio broadcasting stations, will not be possible to complete in one year, but we are hoping that the $500 million in financing will be available by the end of 2001,” minister Nica specified.

Several international financial institutions will participate in the funding of the projects. It is about the World Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), but the exact amount of money they will put in the computerisation of the Romanian society cannot be estimated by the Romanian authorities yet, as negotiations with the two banks are not over yet.

The only certain thing by now is that the World Bank offers $300,000 for the development of the Romania Gateway portal and that it is interested in the development of the public e-procurement system.

The Romanian Government has already requested that the World Bank should allot $500,000 instead of $300,000 for the Romania Gateway portal.