The Tele Consumers Association of Bangladesh (TCAB) has demanded to increase the allocation in the budget for the coming 2021-22 fiscal year by giving special importance to the information and communication technology sector to build a developed, happy, prosperous, hunger and poverty-free Bangladesh. The organization made the demand in a press release sent at noon on May 8 (Saturday).
Md Murshidul Haque, the convener of the Tele Consumers Association of Bangladesh (TCAB), said in a statement, “Tk 1,415 crore was allocated in the budget for 2020-21 for the development of the country’s information technology sector, which is 16.7 percent more than the revised budget for 2019-20.” This is not enough for a populous and technologically backward country like Bangladesh.
It is quite questionable that how far the target for the country’s ICT sector has been achieved, which was set to increase from 1 billion to 5 billion dollars by 2021.”
He added, “The whole world is moving forward at a breakneck pace with the advancement of technology. China has emerged as a new superpower as a result of China’s revolutionary rise in technology. Along with Japan and South Korea, Vietnam has also made great strides in the garment sector as well as in the production and export of technology products. The Bangladesh government is also trying to take the country forward in the technology sector. But in order to succeed in this sector, we need to take effective action quickly through a concerted effort. ”
In the notification, the Tele Consumers Association of Bangladesh (TCAB) made a five-point proposal for consideration in the forthcoming budget:
1) Provide special allocation in information and communication technology for primary and higher secondary level students. Thousands of young people have benefited from the training through the Learning and earning Development Project. The project has expired. In this case, it is important to take new training projects on a larger scale for educated youth.
2) To attract local and foreign technology companies for the production of technology products by setting up high-tech parks which are under construction all over the country and to take special measures for the production and export of technology products in the country.
3) Freelancing should be treated with special importance to eliminate various problems of freelancers and launch PayPal in the country. This is because buyers in Europe-America-Canada-Australia prefer to use PayPal for their payments. In this case, Bangladeshi freelancers do not have a PayPal account, so freelancers from other countries get more benefits.
4) At present, online shopping has gained wide popularity in the country. In order to protect the interests of consumers in this sector, it is necessary to amend the Consumer Rights Protection Act 2009 and make the National Consumer Rights Protection Department more people-friendly and strong. To provide support to new entrepreneurs under government sponsorship. We need to think about whether Amazon, the world’s largest eCommerce company, can be brought to the country’s market to spread Made in Bangladesh products all over the world. Through Amazon, our neighboring country India has sold about 33 billion worth of products in the global market since 2015. It is necessary to consider how Bangladesh can also benefit from it.
5) Lockdown in the Corona pandemic since last year has caused a lot of stagnation in the country. Although there are some benefits to using technology in this case. Therefore, it is time to spread a strong mobile network and easily available internet services across the country. Besides, special allocation is required in the budget to make all sectors of the country more technology-friendly including education, health and judiciary.