Palak seeks $500m support from China

State Minister for ICT Zunaid Ahmed Palak urged China to give a $500 million in support to help Bangladesh implement the ‘My Village My Town’ project aiming to transform rural villages into cities or towns.

Palak made the urge while addressing the closing ceremony of Info-Sarker Phase-3 project at a city hotel on Tuesday.

The state minister also requested the authorities of Huawei Technologies (Bangladesh) to establish a research and development centre in Bangladesh.

Chinese Ambassador to Bangladesh Li Ziming, Senior Secretary to Information and Communication Technology Department NM Ziaul Alam, and Chief Executive Officer of Public Private Partnership (PPP) Authority Md Mushfiqur Rahman were present on the occasion.

The establishment of 3 projects under Info Sarkar in 2017 was a challenge task but it had been possible for the relentless efforts by the all relevant stakeholders, said Zunaid Ahmed Palak.

The government through the ‘My Village My Town’ project aims to establish a high-speed network infrastructure through optical fiber cables in 2600 unions of 488 upazilas under 63 districts.

The project would also establish a virtual private network (VPN) connection among 1000 offices of the Police department at various levels, and introducing e-services for the rural population for employment through outsourcing.

The government also envisions the capacity building of union digital center (UDC) to connect government offices and educational institutions at the peripheries, helping to create a bridge between cities and rural areas under the project.