DHAKA: ICT and telecom ministers at a seminar underscored the need for building a merit-based economy for earning five billion dollars from export in the country’s ICT sector by 2021.
They were addressing the seminar organized recently at Bangabandhu International Conference Center (BICC) in Dhaka.
Addressing as the special guest, state minister for ICT Zunaid Ahmed Palak said that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina took various effective initiatives in the last eight years and achieved successes. She did not place vision of ‘Digital Bangladesh’ only; she also took strategies in achieving the goal.
The key obstacle in achieving the ‘Digital Bangladesh’ is lack of skilled human resources, and difference between educational institution and industrial sector. The prime minister set four pillars to make Digital Bangladesh. The pillars are-- (1) developing human resources (2) connectivity (3) encouragement in industrial sector and (4) e-Governance.
“We heavily worked for e-Governance in the last years. We also worked on the strategies-- local experience and global business,” he said.
Mentioning success for automation of Chittagong Sea Port, Palak said, “We earned revenue income of about Tk. 1500 crore from Chittagong port through only using DataSoft. For this, it is now a reference in the global market.”
“We achieved mentionable success in connectivity. We also gained success in human resources sector, as Bangladesh attained 22nd position in the global market in the list of BPO potentiality. It proves that we have merit. Now needs country-branding and industrial branding. We should be attentive so that the other countries are interested to our local market. We should increase our products in the global market,” he said.
“We want to build innovation ecosystem in Bangladesh. We don’t want to follow others. But we want to be exemplary. We have adopted Pyramid system to create skilled manpower. Inventors of some successful institutions will stand in highest of the pyramid, while thousands of youths will work there. We have taken innovation design and entrepreneurship project to encourage the inventors and the youths. It will help to make an innovation ecosystem. Secondly, we are working with BASIS for those who are achievers and dream to be CTO. Thirdly, we are continuing Learning-Earning project to ensure involvement of people of the grassroots level.”
Mentioning success in the project for grassroots, he said that around five lakh freelancers of grassroots dream of earning a lot of money from the remote area. “We are working to build an ICT ecosystem in the three phases, and we will work together to export highest from the sector. We will build a merit-based economy in Bangladesh through ensuring five billion dollars through export by 2021. We have already announced officially that not the foreign company, the local software companies will implement all the projects taken by the government,” he pronounced.
In her speech as the special guest, state minister for post and telecommunications Tarana Halim spoke about development of internet in the country. She said that the ICT and telecom sectors play vital role in implementing ‘Vision 2021’ of the government, as joint activity of the two sectors is the tool in achieving success. The two ministries are complementary for each other. All the initiatives of the ICT sector will face stumble if these are done without developing infrastructure, she added.
Narrating success of the government in this regard, Tarana Halim, said the tele-density rate was 34.50 per cent in 2008, which became 78.96 per cent in 2016. Some 4.60 crore people had used the mobile phone, while the figure is now over 13 crore. Internet subscribers were 0.40 crore people, while the figure is now 6.69 crore. Internet-density was 2.50 per cent, while the number is now 41.50 per cent. The international bandwidth use was 75 Gigabit; while the country’s total international bandwidth use has crossed 400 Gigabit. No people used SmartPhone, while the number has now crossed 1.2 crore and Bangladesh is now in ninth position in the world from the side of mobile phone use. The price of 1 MB broadband was Tk. 2700, while it is now under Tk.400.
Saying that Bangladesh developed more between 2008 and 2016, she informed that more other development projects are ongoing. The construction work of the Bangabandhu Satellite will end in 2017. “Our youths are being trained for maintenance of the satellite. We want to utilize our young manpower. We want to produce SmartPhone locally. For this, we are thinking to make Software and Hardware free from tax,” she said.
Mentioning that the postal sector will serve as e-commerce hub, she said that the sector will work to upright the e-commerce in the country. The telecom system can’t be changed in this regard, as telecom has some fixed rules. “All of us will work in open competition. We are cautious so that independent advantage won’t be provided in this regard. We are working on telecom issue. The construction work of Tower Sharing’s guide line is also going to end. We will be strong from infrastructure side following completion of the Tower Sharing’s guide line.”
Mentioning necessity of country branding, she said that Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina brightened our image in the global market before long. “We have to prove in working that we can. For this, our institutions have to achieve confidence,” she said.
BDST: 1752 HRS, MAR 16, 2017
EHJ/SMS
