Veridos, a joint venture of Giesecke+Devrient and state-owned Bundesdruckerei, has announced the conclusion of a major contract. The Ministry of Home Affairs of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, acting through the Department of Immigration and Passport (DIP), has commissioned Veridos with the supply, installation and implementation of next generation electronic passports and border control systems in Bangladesh. The contract, with a volume of approximately €340 million, will run for 12 years.
 
Bangladesh will move from machine readable to advanced electronic travel documents that meet the highest security standards. This includes high-tech color personalization technology to ensure the ultimate color brilliance of each ePassport holder’s image, improving visual verification. With more than 160 million inhabitants, Bangladesh is the world’s eighth most populous country and will provide the highest output of passports with color photos worldwide.
 
“Through the technological partnership with Germany, Bangladesh will gain crucial expertise to prepare it for various challenges, whether we are talking about fighting counterfeit id documents or terrorism. Furthermore, a comprehensive transfer of technology and capacity-building in Bangladesh will take place,” said Niels Annen, minister of state at the German Federal Foreign Office. “As a result of our cooperation, Bangladeshi passport holders will soon become the owners of one of the most sophisticated and secure types of passport in the world.”