The government is building a digital economy through the combined efforts of the private sector and academia: Palak
State Minister for Information and Communication Technology Zunaid Ahmed Palak said the government is building a strong digital economy in the country through the combined efforts of the private sector and academia. As a result, the export revenue from ICT has already reached 1 billion dollars and it is expected to increase to 5 billion dollars by 2025, the state minister said.
The state minister as chief guest joined the digital platform on Thursday at the concluding session of a three-month-long training for CEOs of IT companies organized jointly by the LICT Project of Bangladesh Computer Council under the Department of Information and Communication Technology and the Institute of Business Administration (IBA) at Dhaka University.
He said the government has formulated a growth strategy titled 'Mission 5 Billion Dollars' for the IT industry with a view to achieving 5 billion USD growth by 2025. The government wants to achieve this goal with the help of the private sector and academia. He called upon the CEOs of IT companies to play their due role.
The state minister said the government was providing necessary policy support and incentives to the private sector for cooperation ahead of the fourth industrial revolution. A draft of the 'Made in Bangladesh-ICT Industry Strategy' has been formulated for the production of digital devices in the country.
He said the trend of positive growth in the country's economy continues even during the Corona pandemic due to joint public-private efforts and cooperation in the implementation of Digital Bangladesh. In 2020, the economic growth was achieved at 5.24 percent and in 2021, the per capita income reached 2227 US dollars.
Palak said the government has digitized payment systems to build a cashless society, which has led to the rapid growth of mobile financial services and e-commerce. In April 2021, Taka worth 63,479 crores was transacted on mobile phones. The growth of e-commerce is about 166 percent.
The state minister for ICT expressed optimism that all government services will be digitized by 2025. Already, various government services are being provided online to 7 million people through more than 6,000 digital centers.
Perth Pratim Dev, Executive Director, Bangladesh Computer Council, Prof. Sheikh Morshed Jahan, Rashed Noman, Director, BACCO, among others, spoke on the occasion conducted by Sami Ahmed, IT-ITES Policy Advisor, LICT Project. The ceremony was presided over by the Director of the Institute of Business Administration (IBA), Professor Farhat Anwar.
Fifty CEOs of the country's IT companies took part in the three-month-long training. Later, in the presence of the state minister, Farhat Anwar successfully handed over certificates to the trainees.
Tags: AcademyDigital economyPrivateGovernment
