Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina conveyed that 78.55 percent of the total population of the country is using the Internet. Bangladesh has about 650,000 freelancers, making it the second largest provider of online labor worldwide. We have achieved $1.9 billion in ICT exports by 2023. It is expected that by 2025, export earnings in this sector will increase to 5 billion US dollars.
Sheikh Hasina, while speaking at the 60th anniversary celebration of the Foreign Investors Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the opening of the Investment Expo on Sunday said, ‘We believe that Bangladesh will become the ninth largest consumer market by 2030. But we are working with the goal that Bangladesh can surpass the established markets like UK and Germany and the current high-growth Vietnam or Thailand. We have that effort’.
She said, we have a huge population. We will make the most of it. We are developing them as skilled manpower.
Stating that 100 Special Economic Zones, 39 Hi-Tech Parks across the country have been opened for foreign investment, Sheikh Hasina said that investment policies including tax waiver, remittance royalty, exit policy, dividend and full return of capital, protection of foreign investment by law will continue to be made easier.
The Prime Minister further said, Bangladesh has become an attractive destination for investment, industrialization and export to many countries of the world due to various advantages including economic growth, structural development programs, investment-friendly policies, large domestic market, strategic location, high profitability, working population and so on.
She said, we have built sustainable infrastructure on a large scale. These include elevated expressways, under-river tunnels, deep-sea ports and expansion of public transport systems. Padma Multipurpose Bridge, Padma Bridge Rail Line Link, Metrorail, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Tunnel on Karnaphuli River and Bangabandhu Satellite are the manifestation of our capabilities.
Expressing the hope that the logistics sector alone will become a 90 billion US dollar market by 2025; she said Bangladesh now has an opportunity to build 350 billion US dollars of infrastructure in the energy, water, logistics and transportation sectors.
“Let’s all make Bangladesh the golden Bangla of the father of the nation’s dream with smart citizens, smart economy, smart government and smart society by 2041”, said Sheikh Hasina.
Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi, Prime Minister’s Private Industry and Investment Adviser Salman F Rahman, Commerce Ministry Senior Secretary Tapan Kanti Ghosh, Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) Executive Chairman Lokman Hossain Mia, FICI President Nasser Azaz Vijay and others spoke at the event.
The journey if FICI began in 1963. This year the chamber celebrates its 60 anniversary. As a leading chamber, FICI represents investors from 35 countries of the world in more than 21 sectors of Bangladesh. More than 200 member-institutions of the Chamber have contributed about 30 percent of the domestic revenue in this journey of six decades. In addition, FICI represents 90 percent of the country’s inward FDI, which is of particular importance to the overall development of the country.