Canada-Bangladesh agrees to work for the development of knowledge sharing technology education in reputed educational institutions of Bangladesh on the basis of joint partnership. Canadian Ambassador to Bangladesh. Dr. Lilly Nicholls expressed this interest during a meeting with State Minister for Information and Communication Technology Zunaid Ahmed Palak at ICT Tower, Agargaon on Wednesday, May 25.
Sami Ahmed, Managing Director of Bangladesh Startup Company Limited, Counselor of the Canadian Embassy and other senior officials of the ICT Department were also present.
The state minister said the country’s ICT sector has stood on a strong footing as a result of taking timely and effective steps in the IT sector in the last 13 years. About 2 million young people are entering the workplace in the country. Bangladesh is earning 1.4 billion dollars in IT / ITES sector. Bangladesh ranks second in online labor force. About 6 lakh 50 thousand freelancers in the country are earning about 700 million US dollars from the outsourcing sector. He informed the Ambassador that the target has been set to earn 5 billion US Dollar in the IT / ITES sector by 2025 and ensure 100% internet and government services. He requested for the establishment of a university under Canada-Bangladesh joint management on various issues including ICT sector.
Palak said that in order to build technology-based manpower and provide training in new technologies including Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR) and Robotics in the face of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, ‘Sheikh Hasina Institute of Frontier Technology’, 300 ‘School of Future’ and specialized labs are being set up in a number of universities. In addition, Sheikh Kamal IT Training and Incubation Center is being set up in 64 districts for the development of skilled human resources. By 2041, various programs are being adopted and implemented to move the country from a labor-dependent economy to a knowledge-based economy.
The Ambassador of Canada to Bangladesh lauded the development of various sectors of Bangladesh in the last 13 years under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. The Ambassador said that in a short span of time, various sectors including ICT sector of Bangladesh have undergone tremendous development. She expressed hope that Bangladesh would go further in various fields including information technology in the coming days. The Ambassador assured that Canada would stand by Bangladesh in the development and growth of the ICT sector.