Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen has underlined the need for taking more initiatives under public-private partnership (PPP) in ICT sector, terming Bangladesh as a perfect platform of innovation.
"Bangladesh's ICT sector has grown by 40% annually since 2010, thanks to public-private sector initiatives and facilitation from the government," he said.
The foreign minister was addressing the inaugural session of the three-day first-ever Digital Device and Innovation Expo-2019 at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre (BICC) in Dhaka on Monday, reports BSS.
Momen said: "Vision 2021 and Digital Bangladesh is no more a dream. It is a reality today."
Emergence and advent of spread of ICT industry, tools and norms have truly uplifted lives and livelihoods of people across the country.
He said the government was quick in identifying the ICT industry as a thrust sector.
"Consequently, within just one decade, you all have seen significant job creation, growth in output, improvement in governance," he added.
For Bangladesh, Momen said there is no option but to make right choice and take adequate preparation so that the country's youths and industries can fully utilize this advantage of technology.
"The government has stepped forward and we think the private sector will reciprocally move ahead," he added.
Mentioning that the government has declared tax holiday till 2024, 1% import tax for materials of hardware industry and exceptional cash incentive of 10% for ICT export, the foreign minister hoped that not only the local entrepreneurs, but also the foreign investors would be greatly encouraged to take the rare advantages offered by the government.
Bangladesh Hi-Tech Park Authority, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Division, Bangladesh Computer Samity (BCS), and Idea Project are jointly organizing the expo.
State Minister for ICT Division Zunaid Ahmed Palak, Chairman of Parliamentary Standing Committee for Posts, Telecommunications and ICT Ministry AKM Rahmatullah, and Secretary General of World Information Technology and Services Alliance (WITSA) James Posant, among others, spoke on the occasion.
Palak said the government has taken initiatives to make Bangladesh as a mobile phone exporting country by 2021.
Moreover, he said Bangladesh will become a robot-exporting nation in near future as the government has already taken steps in this regard.
