Poised for continuous expansion, Bangladesh has cultivated modern technology sectors in almost every district
Sajeeb Ahmed Wazed, Advisor, Information andCommunication Technology
Bangladesh Hi-Tech Park Authority (BHTPA) started its journey in 2010 with the aim to bring economic prosperity to the country through developing appropriate and favourable policies to support entrepreneurs and investors to stay ahead in adopting the Fourth Industrial Revolution. With the gradual development of high-tech and software technology parks, its incubation and training centres, specialised laboratories across the country, the youth of the country now have access to information technology research focussing on emerging technology. The entire ecosystem is driving towards the implementation of digital Bangladesh, creating a stream of technology-based employments and decentralising infrastructure and local employments by promoting entrepreneurship.
Bangladesh Hi-Tech Park Authority is working to establish 39 hi-tech parks and software technology parks and 64 IT training and incubation centres across Bangladesh. Among these, eight hi-tech and software technology parks, as well as eight IT training and incubation centres are already in business. Construction of the 31 hi-tech parks and software technology parks and 56 IT training and incubation centres are ongoing. With more than 152 startups and 175+ investors in hardware, software and biotech sector, BHTPA has generated over 21,000 employments in just four years.
Competitive Incentive Packages for Investors
Bangladesh Hi-Tech Park Authority is committed to providing full support to the investors to create a favourable business environment for them in hi-tech parks. For that, BHTPA has come up with multiple incentives for the investors which will support the business to grow in the process:
Future Industries to Meet the Global Demand
To accelerate the development of the country by utilising the immense potential of the trillion-dollar ICT sector in the world market, the government has set a target of five billion in export revenue from the ICT sector and employment of two million people by the year 2030. The following sectors are picking up momentum with a sustainable supply and demand:
Bangladesh’s fintech is helping to boost financial inclusion. Bangladeshis nearly doubled the number of transactions they made using mobile devices between 2016 and 2019, from $27 billion to more than the $51 billion as per the Economist, 2020. Growth has been observed in travel tech too, as first-time domestic travel saw a two-fold growth during the year 2020-2021. The market of IoT is gradually increasing and it is being expected that the rate of this growth will reach 38.3 per cent in 2020, whereas the total market will stand at $267 billion. The adoption process to support electronics vehicles and supporting policy to assist related technologies are also ongoing.
Following the sectoral plans, BHTPA is working on providing support on policy, technology adoption, employee skill-up facilities throughout their investment journey in the Hi-Tech ecosystem.
— Source: BHTPA