ICTD requested KOICA for digital conversion of 5 more municipal services

South Korea is providing financial and technical assistance for the digital transformation of citizen services in 328 municipalities of the country. The National Municipal Digital Service Project (NMDSP) is being implemented by Korea International Co-operation Agency (KOICA). A review meeting on project implementation was held in the meeting room of the Information Communication Technology Department on Tuesday. At the meeting, it was decided to implement a total of 7 services in the existing 328 municipalities of the country, including two services in holding tax assessment and public complaint, along with 5 services already piloted in 1 city corporation and 9 municipalities. State Minister for Information and Communication Technology Zunaid Ahmed Palak requested ICT KOICA to add 5 more new services under the project on priority basis in his keynote address. KOICA agreed to provide financial support as a grant for the implementation of the project. Dr. Bikarna Kumar Ghosh, Managing Director, Bangladesh Hi-Tech Park Authority; Bangladesh Country Director of  Korea International Co-operation Agency (KOICA) Young-Ah Doh; members of the Korean expert team involved in the project, representatives of the local government department and senior officials of the Information Communication Technology Department also attended the meeting.. Later, a meeting was held with Japan International Development Organization (JICA) regarding the implementation of Smart Bangladesh Vision Masterplan funded by Japan as part of the implementation of Vision 2041 of the present government. JICA Chief Representative in Bangladesh Yuho Hayakawa, ICT Department and its affiliated agencies and JICA officials were present. It may be noted that, the technical assistance project has been approved by the South Korean government. The grant amounted to $ 8.5 million. The project will be implemented in collaboration with a2i, Department of Information and Communication Technology and Bangladesh Computer Council under ICT Department. KOICA has come forward to provide this payment as 5 previously piloted services have been successfully implemented.