Bangladesh’s growing ICT sector needs UK investment: BASIS

Noting the potentials of the growing ICT sector, Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS) President Syed Almas Kabir has urged the British investors to invest in the ICT sector of Bangladesh.

“The ICT sector is resilient being supported by conducive government policies, like tax exemptions, cash incentives on ICT exports, rapid development of hi-tech parks. It indicates that the foreign investors can take the opportunity for making investments at the part of new ICT product and solution development as well as can form joint ventures with the local counterparts to tap domestic ICT business opportunities,” he said.

The BASIS president came up with the call while addressing the “Bangladesh Investment Summit 2021” organised by the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) in the United Kingdom, said a press release.

The stock market regulator arranged the summit highlighting the long-cherished relationship between the UK and Bangladesh, interpreting this into a strengthened bilateral trade and investment relationship further.

In the session styled ‘The Rise of Bengal Tiger: Trade And Investment Potentials’, BASIS President Almas Kabir noted trade potentials and investment aspects of Bangladesh ICT sector and spoke about the needs of research and product development.

He added that the Bangladesh and ICT sector of the country already proved to be a very promising destination for foreign investors.

The local ICT industry is also assisting with the ICT infrastructure and services of mega projects like Metrorail, Padma Multipurpose Bridge. Meanwhile, the whole world is adopting 4IR, where Bangladesh is actively considering being a front-runner, he added.

He told the participants that a total of 400 Bangladeshi companies are currently exporting their services and products to 70 international markets, including the UK, the USA, Canada, Japan, Europe, Asia Pacific and Middle East.

Almas Kabir briefed the programme about the recent development of the ICT sector in Bangladesh. He said the ICT sector in Bangladesh has shown significant growth in the last few years, especially in the subsequent years.

During the 2020-21 fiscal year, IT/ TES exports amounted to $1.3 billion, given the Covid-19 induced challenges. At the same time, the domestic ICT market stood at $1.4 billion, creating about one million jobs locally, he added.

He also informed that the UK is one of the largest ICT export destinations for Bangladesh accounting for 13 per cent of total ICT exports.

The session was participated by the non-resident Bangladeshi (NRB) people living in the UK and representatives from BSEC, Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA), ICT Division, BEPZA, Bangladesh High Commission in London among others.