Bangladesh has made six proposals for a new one-billion-dollar line of credit to China for six projects in the postal & telecommunication and information & communication technology sectors. On Wednesday, January 24 in the morning, the ICT State Minister for Posts and Telecommunications Zunaid Ahmed Palak discussed these proposals in a courtesy meeting with Chinese Ambassador to Bangladesh Yao Wen. This was stated by State Minister Palak and Ambassador Yao Wen in the press briefing at the end of the meeting.
At the end of the courtesy call, Ambassador Yao Wen said at the beginning that China will always be positive about Bangladesh. We are the most trusted friend of Bangladesh government. At the same time the most reliable development partner. That is why we want to advance the Prime Minister in the implementation of the Smart Bangladesh vision of the new government. That is why I will continue to support Bangladesh in the ongoing projects, training and leadership programs and funding for the development of ICT infrastructure. In this regard, I have full faith that I will be able to create a better situation by cooperating with State Minister Palak.
In response to a question whether any investment in ICT infrastructure development was discussed in the meeting, he said, proposals have been received, discussions have been held to take them forward. I can’t talk about it in detail yet. We always believe in fulfilling our promises. Let’s see how it goes.
After that, ICT State Minister Zunaid Ahmed Palak told the reporters that in the last 10 years, the Chinese government and private companies have cooperated with us in the development of ICT infrastructure in Bangladesh. We have installed fiber optic cable at the upazila level through Info Gov 2 project under the Ministry of Docks and Telecommunication and ICT with China’s loan support. We have laid fiber optic cable at union level under NOFO Gov 3 project. We are now connecting 1 lakh 9 thousand primary and higher secondary educational institutions, land offices and community health clinics and 555 Smart Employment Centers under fiber optic under EDC project. Also, I am making a smart tower of 41 floors in Purbachal. In the last 10 years we have used loan assistance of about 1 billion dollars in 6 projects including BTCL’s PSTN, Teletalk’s 4G and setting up of data stores. Now we are repaying the loan by earning from there.
Similarly, the state minister also said that 6 projects have been proposed through ERD to attract investment from the Chinese government and the country’s Exim Bank and tech companies to implement the government’s 2041 vision. He said, in this proposal, modernization of urban and rural life for 500 million dollars, Teletalk’s 4G network expansion and development of BTCL and TSS and some projects under BCC have been proposed for loan assistance of 1 billion dollars.
Pointing to the Prime Minister’s emphasis on political rather than economic diplomacy, Palak also said, “We now want companies from China and those countries to choose Bangladesh’s ICT and telecom sector as their best investment location.” For that purpose, Bangladesh-China Investment Summit was discussed in the meeting. We will also sign a memorandum of understanding for a strategic partnership in increasing export earnings, attracting investment, creating employment, education, innovation and entrepreneurship.
However, in response to a question stating that there was no discussion about Huawei’s 5G project in the meeting, the state minister said, “We have sent 6 new project proposals of telecom and ICT through ERD.” Those that are under implementation are ongoing. What more can be done in the future is discussed.