Home ›› 18 Aug 2021 ›› Front
Hi-tech parks in Bangladesh, which debuted with much hope of digitalising the whole country, are now facing despair and stagnation for want of sustainable infrastructure essential for information and communication technology parks.
Though the government made big promises to lure investors and increase jobs in the IT sector, it’s going otherwise without delivery on promises and proper planning, claim sector people.
According to the data provided by the Bangladesh Hi-Tech Park Authority (BHTPA) for the fiscal year 2020-21, altogether 39 Hi-Tech and software technology parks are being set up across the country, and the construction of five parks have already been completed while three more parks will be ready soon.
BHTPA authorities, established in 2010, are governed by an executive committee chaired by the minister/state minister of the information technology department of the ministry and a board of governance chaired by the prime minister.
Posts, Telecommunication and Information Technology Minister Mustafa Jabbar said to The Business Post that these parks had been built on barren lands in unplanned manners.
“Along with necessary facilities like uninterrupted electricity, high-speed internet connections; good housing, educational infrastructure, medical and transport facilities are also a necessity,” he added.
“We are building high-tech parks in areas like the wetlands of Gowainghat upazila, 50-60 km away from Sylhet city or on the banks of Chalan Beel of Singra upazila of Natore district. And we expect that programmers, engineers or investors from home and abroad will move in, but the premise didn’t work that way,” the minister added.
According to BHTP data updated till this year February, more than Tk 950 crore were invested by the government in eight completed BHTPA projects, estimated more than Tk 570 crore private investment was wooed in the BHTPA industrial zones and facilities. More than Tk 44.9 crore direct revenue was earned by the BHTPA authorities while estimated more than Tk 4000 crore proposed target of private investment within 2023.
“Although the Hi-Tech Park at Kaliakoir, Gazipur is somewhat operational among others, it still needs a lot of improvement,” the minister said.
Datasoft Manufacturing & Assembly Inc Ltd is the first company to start operation in Kaliakoir Park. Its Managing Director Ratan Hasan Rahman said, “The park has been in the making for 15 years, but the development doesn’t talk for it.”
“The optical fiber lines aren’t operational due to some hardware requirement, and the authorities have not solved the problem for the past three years. This left us no choice but to use low Mbps broadband connection from the local ISP providers; whereas we need high-speed fiber optic cable capable of supporting Gbps to run our production line,” he added.
“Apart from that, the infrastructure and facilities are so poor here that I rented three apartment floors for my employees, but none of them continued to work there even for seven days. They even told me if I shifted them here from our Dhaka office, they’ll resign,” he further said.
Southtech Group Managing Director Syed Mamnun Quader, who has been in the software and IT business for more than 25 years, said, “With a good internet connection, IT-related business can be operated remotely from anywhere. Some research and development-related areas need physical settlements like data centres, equipment etc.”
State Minister for Information and Communication Technology Zunaid Ahmed Palak said to The Business Post that they have set up a total of two data centres at Kaliakoir and Jashore hi-tech parks.
“We gave a thought to relocate to Kaliakoir or other parks, but our employees didn’t buy the idea as most of these parks are located in remote places, away from citizen amenities,” Mamnun added.
According to Rahman, the on-road journey from Dhaka to Kaliakoir takes two to three hours, and on return in the evening, it takes five hours. Commuter train service can be a solution to avoid the hassles, but it no longer operates there.
“Bangladesh Railway claims that they don’t get enough commuters to run the service. I told the state minister if you make sure of running the service, we will arrange for you as many commuters as you need,” he said.
Palak said although they are prioritising train communications. However, once the rapid bus transit and the Asian Highway are established, the transportation will be faster.
“If the railway authorities provide fast, sophisticated locomotives, it will be convenient for commuters there. They can reach Kaliakoir in about 1 hour from Mirpur Cantonment Railway Station,” he hoped.
Syed Almas Kabir, president of the Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS), claimed that most skilled workers have become Dhaka-centric.
“For example, a graduate from Khulna or Shahjalal University of Science and Technology comes to Dhaka to look for a job instead of Jashore or Sylhet Hi-tech Parks,” he added.
On the other hand, Jabbar said this sector needs suitable workplaces to boost and attract investors and sector people.
“The Software Technology Park we built in the Bangladesh Development Bank Limited Building in the capital in 2003 is now so jam-packed that no new companies can find space in there, and same goes for Janata Tower Hi-tech Park,” he added.
BHTPA authorities claimed that they had created direct employment for 13,000 people in the ICT sector by 2020.
By June 2021, 28,500 skilled workforces have been created in the ICT sector through various training by the BHTPA.
Palak says, “Altogether direct and outsourcing by 2025, our target is to generate 50,000 and by 2030 one lakh, by 2041 five lakh jobs in high-tech parks.”
On the other hand, BHTPA says they are training 55,000 young people by 2025, 100,000 by 2030, and 150,000 people by 2041, considering the workforce the IT industry needs.
To attract domestic and foreign investors, 14 types of incentives have been provided to investors in BHTPA. Although, some investors say the policies announced by the authority are not practical due to a lack of coordination among government agencies.
Commenting on the policies approved and implemented by different ministries and government agencies, Rahman said, “The National Board of Revenue (NBR) does not know if the ICT ministry passes a policy; the customs authorities do not know what NBR authorised.”
“For example, I imported my laptop parts, and Chittagong Customs asked for a 15 per cent duty tax. I challenged them that this is duty-free and authorised by the government. Yet they’re not releasing my cargos, eventually hampering my production line,” he added.
Saying the authorities and policies are backward, they need to study how other countries gracefully run IT parks.
Rahman added, “I am planning to meet BHTPA authorities and chairman of the NBR to inform them that their policies are not implemented in customs. And if they continue to fail to implement their promised policies, I think we have to move to Cumilla or other places.”
Starting a start-up in Bangladesh is quite complicated, which discourages many foreign investors. Kabir said, “Starting a business in Singapore, for example, takes half an hour. But it takes more than a month or two to do the same thing in Bangladesh combined with hectic paperwork. These things happen because many of our government officials and administration staffers are not familiar with ICT issues, leading to complications. This process needs to be made simple and dynamic.”
Adding country branding is essential to attract foreign investment to meet the country’s five billion dollar revenue earning target before 2025, Kabir said, “We have also urged the government to extend the tax holiday until 2030 so that foreigners feel encouraged investing in the country. And this needs to be addressed now.”
On the contrary, Palak said, “We are in constant touch with the NBR. We forward our investors’ applications to them. Also, if IT businesspeople export products, they will get a 10 per cent cash incentive. In terms of investment, they will get total income tax exemption for the first seven years.”
