Bangladesh’s ICT exports to Japan have reached 120 million dollars with a 30 percent growth, said Nishimura Yasutoshi, the Japanese Minister of Commerce. He expressed interest in recruiting skilled manpower, especially IT engineers from Bangladesh, expecting this income to reach billions of dollars in the near future.
The Japanese Commerce Minister expressed this interest to the State Minister for Information and Communication Technology Zunaid Ahmed Palak in a bilateral meeting with the Japanese Commerce Minister at Hotel Sonargaon in the capital on Sunday afternoon.
After the meeting, the state minister told reporters that the Japanese commerce minister has invited a trade delegation from Bangladesh in September-October to get investment in smart-up, hardware and skill development programs. And Bangladesh has expressed interest in becoming an R&D hub for Japanese companies.
He also said that 7 issues were discussed in the meeting. Meanwhile, after software, the Japanese Minister of Commerce has expressed interest in investing in Bangladesh’s hardware sector and potential startup sector. Besides, the country has also discussed filling fresh graduates of Bangladesh with training in AI, robotics, microchip design and cyber security to meet the manpower shortage. Bangladesh-Japan IT Institute and Incubation Center will be established simultaneously in Hi-Tech Park. And they will visit Japan in the final joint partnership in these matters.
The state minister said that after opening the Research and Development Centers by Japanese companies like Sony, Hitachi, Toshiba, Toyota, Nissan and Kawasaki in Bangladesh, the government will focus more on Japan as the sixth exporting country for Bangladesh in the software sector. Besides, services will be provided from Bangladesh to the Japanese service industries.
He said that this meeting will play an important role in the formation of Smart Bangladesh in 2041.
UMEDA Hideyuki, Director of the Overseas Energy Infrastructure Office of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan, Matsuo Takehiko, Director General of the Trade Policy Bureau, Murayama Katsuhiko, Director of the Southwest Asia Office of the Trade Policy Bureau, Iwama Kiminori, the Japanese Ambassador to Bangladesh, First Secretary Haruta Hiroki and Azumaya Kenji along with senior officials of the ICT Division were present at the meeting.