More than 200 professionals have trained to implement electronic procurement procedures. The Public Procurement Property & Administration Agency organised training at Harmony Hotel partnering with Transparency International last week. Mohammed Ali, a senior procurement specialist at the Agency, said the system will control corruption and theft, simplifying existing paper-based procurement practices. A study estimates that the electronic system can reduce procurement costs by 16pc. The Deputy Director, Woldeab Demisse said around 70pc of the annual budget constitutes acquisitions. Close to 147 federal agencies have requested 400 billion Br for accession out of the allocated 560 billion Br for the fiscal year. Last year, the Ministry of Finance issued a directive granting the Public Procurement & Property Authority the mandate to manage the e-procurement system while officials commenced by automating the end-to-end process. Established two years ago, the Authority expanded the system to 72 institutions training about 1,800 professionals, compelling them to communicate through a portal, including procurement plans, tendering, bid evaluations, and notification of awards.