The newly elected Executive Council (2024-2026) of Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS) was formally inaugurated with the oath to achieve self-sufficiency and establish sovereignty of indigenous software in the ICT sector to implement Smart Bangladesh.
A Towhid, founder president of BASIS, administered the oath to the newly elected executive council at an event held at Hotel Radisson Blu in Dhaka on Monday, reports UNB.
Various distinguished guests, including Salman F Rahman, adviser to the prime minister on Private Industry and Investment, state ministers for Posts, Telecommunication and Information Technology, and Commerce, along with representatives from BASIS member companies and foreign embassies in Bangladesh, were present at the ceremony.
As Russell T Ahmed was re-elected as the president of BASIS, outgoing Vice-President (Admin) Abu Daud Khan and Vice President (Finance) Fahim Ahmed handed over the BASIS flag to him at the ceremony.
Samira Zuberi Himika, the outgoing senior vice-president of BASIS, delivered the welcome address on the occasion.
State Minister for Posts, Telecommunication and Information Technology Zunaid Ahmed Palak said, “BASIS's 2500 ICT service providers and software development companies have created employment for around 3,00,000 youth, we want to increase it to 10,00,000.”
“We want to increase the export earnings of this sector to five billion dollars by 2029. Our IT sector is growing and so are the possibilities. We have requested the prime minister for tax exemption for another five years in this promising ICT sector. Now we have to be interested in making the youth skilled in things like start-ups, machine learning, blockchain, artificial intelligence and moving the country towards a technology-based economy, in addition to software development.”
State Minister for Commerce Ahasanul Islam (Titu), said, “Considering the country's ICT sector seriously, we have helped its expansion in the international market and will continue to support it in the future. Of course, the ICT sector of Bangladesh will one day become a big sector like the garment sector.”
The BASIS president highlighted the need for tax exemptions in the IT sector, emphasising the importance of self-sufficiency and development in the local market to achieve the goals set for the sector in the coming years.
FBCCI President Mahbubul Alam and government officials expressed their optimism regarding the role of BASIS in nurturing the indigenous software industry and contributing to the growth of the ICT sector in Bangladesh.
Plans for further expansion, support for start-ups, and skill development in emerging technologies were also discussed by various speakers at the inauguration ceremony.
In the speech, Salman F Rahman gave a positive indication that the tax holiday facility in the ICT sector of the country will remain in force this year as well.
He said, “I had an opportunity to talk to the prime minister about the issue of tax exemption. The prime minister assured to consider the proposal in view of the request to impose taxes consistently and rationally in different periods. This time the budget will inform how long the tax exemption can be.”
However, on May 8, 2024, the Executive Council Election for the 2024-2026 term of BASIS was held. Later, an 11-member executive council was formed.
