Bright future for ICT sector
Many experts believe that the countrys ICT sector will in the future surpass the readymade garment sector as the countrys leading foreign exchange earner. The hopes expressed, we believe, are strongly grounded in reality. Bangladesh has made remarkable progress in the sector, especially in the last five years or so. Bangladesh currently has three fibre optic connections with India apart from submarine cables. The government has plans to establish similar connections with Nepal and Bhutan and fibre optic cable connections had been ensured up to the northern district of Rangpur. 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. The authorities are now in the process of establishing ICT parks including the Kaliakoir Hi-tech Park in Gazipur and Jessore Software Technology Park. Planned projects include Mohakhalili IT Village in Dhaka, Barendra Silicon City in Paba upazila of Rajshahi District, and Sylhet Electronic City in Companiganj upazila, Sylhet. Software and hardware industries working on ICT will be employed for these massive establishments. The parks will be connected by both road and railway to facilitate investors. The authorities have provided high-speed internet connectivity in public universities at no cost.
International investors have been quite appreciative of the recent developments in the countrys ICT sector, the investment climate and the potential for return on equity in Bangladesh. Today the term Digital Bangladesh has become the new mantra of development. The widespread use of the term clearly signals the governments emphasis on the development of the information and communication technology. Accordingly, the government has formed a separate ministry a few years back.
The outsourcing market is emerging in Bangladesh in a big way. The government is running a number of projects to encourage the youth of the country to take up outsourcing jobs. However, more training is essential regarding training of the youth so that they can take the opportunity that outsourcing can bring.
The information and communication technology (ICT) revolution has been rightly been hailed as the enabling force for developing countries to become more active participants in the global economy. The rapidity with which the 160 million Bangladeshis are embracing the Internet is a marker on which the countrys entrepreneurial leaders can pin their hopes for the future.
