Joy eyes IT export to outdo RMG�s
Business Process Outsourcing Summit begins
BSS
Reiterating his commitment to further help flourish countrys ICT sector, Prime Ministers Information and Communication Technology Affairs Adviser Sajeeb Wazed Joy yesterday said it is his personal goal to make Bangladeshs IT export exceed its garment export, Joy came up with the observation while inaugurating BPO Summit at the Hotel Sonargaon in the capital yesterday, reports BSS.
Sajeeb Wazed Joy said I feel honoured to bring the vision 2021 to light. Our internet penetration was just 0.3 per cent six years ago but today it has crossed 30 per cent. We have laid six submarine cables as backup so that our internet connectivity does not get cut off, he said.
Organised by ICT Division and BACCO, Bangladesh Association of Call Center Outsourcing, the function was presided over by State Minister for ICT Zunaid Ahmed Palak. FBCCI president Abdul Matlub Ahmed, ICT secretary Shyam Sunder Sikder, Imran Ahmed, MP, chairman of parliamentary standing committee on the ministry of posts, telecommunications and information technology ministry and WITSA chairman Santiago Gutierrez addressed the function, among others.
Six years ago, the total export from the ICT sector was 26 million dollars, total employment in the ICT sector was a couple of thousand programmers only. Now the yearly export from the ICT sector has crossed 300 million dollars, around two lakh jobs have been generated in this sector, of which more than 25 thousand employments have been generated in this BPO (business process outsourcing) sector. Joy said.
Narrating the initial struggle of the present government for establishing IT industry in the country, the young adviser said, There was no facility in Bangladesh to establish BPO sector six years ago. We didnt have power, we didnt have connectivity. The price of internet was so high that only the big companies could afford that.
year, we have provided around 30 thousand youths with training. In future, we will provide training to 50 thousand youths yearly in outsourcing and software development. Sajeeb Wazed Joy added.
He said, Now our income from the BPO sector is 100 million dollars, it will cross 1 billion dollars in future. The current employment in this sector is 25 thousand, our target is to cross two lakh within the next five years.
Joy further said, We have established digital centers in over 5,500 locations throughout Bangladesh. We have given special importance to IT training starting from primary education. We have established thousands of multimedia classrooms.
Before we only had 2G but now we have 3G, and 4G is coming and we are about to have the auction next year. We hope to become a developed country not just a middle-income country. Our economy has to become a consumer-driven economy.
The Summit agenda has been carefully crafted to raise and address a variety of issues that Bangladesh faces to emerge as a global outsourcing hub. It also paves the way for industry experts and clients to meet under one roof and exchange their ideas and thoughts for an enhanced vision and making new steps towards innumerable possibilities.
More than 20 thousand people including corporate, institutional and individual buyers will attend the two-day summit. The organisers are expecting over 50 thousand core community visitors, while more than 10 foreign speakers will share their knowledge and expertise in the seminars. There is facility of on-the-spot recruitment in the summit.
