Targeting Trillion Dollar Digital Economy
Bangladesh Anchors Artificial Intelligence in Diplomatic Strategy
- Sovereign AI ecosystem will launch within twelve months using secured chipsets
- Foreign policy modernizes around knowledge workers to reach trillion-dollar economic targets
- Frameworks prioritize public service interoperability, cybersecurity, and preventing digital gender violence.
Positioning artificial intelligence, robotics, and advanced computing as strategic multipliers of national output, Bangladesh has placed tech diplomacy and frontier systems engineering at the center of public governance and international relations
According to official briefings on Thursday (October 8, 2026), the milestone “AI and Innovation Dialogue” was jointly hosted at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs auditorium in Segunbagicha, Dhaka, by the Foreign Ministry and the Governance Innovation Unit (GIU) of the Prime Minister's Office
The dialogue was attended by Adviser to the Prime Minister on Public Administration and Head of GIU Md Ismail Zabihullah as the chief guest, with Adviser to the Prime Minister on Posts, Telecommunications, Information Technology, and Science and Technology Rehan Asif Asad attending as special guest
Delivering his address, Md Ismail Zabihullah emphasized that executing a comprehensive "Whole-of-Government Approach" is essential to harness digital intelligence effectively
Special Guest Rehan Asif Asad highlighted state-backed initiatives designed to expand citizens' access to advanced computing interfaces
State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shama Obaed Islam stated that under the "Bangladesh First" doctrine set by Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, artificial intelligence will anchor the economic growth required to build a trillion-dollar economy by 2034
Drawing on her background as a software coder, Shama Obaed Islam stressed that technical innovation must dismantle systemic drudgery and eradicate technology-facilitated gender-based violence, an objective chronicled in the multi-agency project ‘Code Hope’
State Minister for Foreign Affairs Humaiun Kobir observed that while garments and overseas remittances laid down during the tenure of President Ziaur Rahman formed the foundational double helix of the economy, achieving the trillion-dollar target requires a third critical strand: the knowledge worker
Earlier, Foreign Secretary Ambassador Salahuddin Noman Chowdhury framed the core global dilemma of algorithmic governance: who controls artificial intelligence and who benefits from its yield
During the working session, technical papers were presented jointly by the International Trade, Investment and Technology (ITIT) Wing of the Foreign Ministry and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), proposing the roadmap for a dedicated AI Policy Lab in Dhaka
Sources confirmed that 25 international development organizations and 85 overseas diplomatic missions of Bangladesh participated virtually
Positioning artificial intelligence, robotics, and advanced computing as strategic multipliers of national output, Bangladesh has placed tech diplomacy and frontier systems engineering at the center of public governance and international relations
According to official briefings on Thursday (October 8, 2026), the milestone “AI and Innovation Dialogue” was jointly hosted at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs auditorium in Segunbagicha, Dhaka, by the Foreign Ministry and the Governance Innovation Unit (GIU) of the Prime Minister's Office
The dialogue was attended by Adviser to the Prime Minister on Public Administration and Head of GIU Md Ismail Zabihullah as the chief guest, with Adviser to the Prime Minister on Posts, Telecommunications, Information Technology, and Science and Technology Rehan Asif Asad attending as special guest
Delivering his address, Md Ismail Zabihullah emphasized that executing a comprehensive "Whole-of-Government Approach" is essential to harness digital intelligence effectively
Special Guest Rehan Asif Asad highlighted state-backed initiatives designed to expand citizens' access to advanced computing interfaces
State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shama Obaed Islam stated that under the "Bangladesh First" doctrine set by Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, artificial intelligence will anchor the economic growth required to build a trillion-dollar economy by 2034
Drawing on her background as a software coder, Shama Obaed Islam stressed that technical innovation must dismantle systemic drudgery and eradicate technology-facilitated gender-based violence, an objective chronicled in the multi-agency project ‘Code Hope’
State Minister for Foreign Affairs Humaiun Kobir observed that while garments and overseas remittances laid down during the tenure of President Ziaur Rahman formed the foundational double helix of the economy, achieving the trillion-dollar target requires a third critical strand: the knowledge worker
Earlier, Foreign Secretary Ambassador Salahuddin Noman Chowdhury framed the core global dilemma of algorithmic governance: who controls artificial intelligence and who benefits from its yield
During the working session, technical papers were presented jointly by the International Trade, Investment and Technology (ITIT) Wing of the Foreign Ministry and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), proposing the roadmap for a dedicated AI Policy Lab in Dhaka
Sources confirmed that 25 international development organizations and 85 overseas diplomatic missions of Bangladesh participated virtually
