On Saturday, at a seminar held at the Dhaka Chamber of Commerce (DCCI) Conference Center in Motijheel, speakers emphasized the urgent need to strengthen Bangladesh’s ICT sector by developing device manufacturing ecosystems and expanding skills in microchip design, IoT, and AI to increase growth and employment opportunities. They noted that while Bangladesh currently has around 350,000 IT workers, most are engaged in design-based tasks, with a need for expansion into service-based areas to support economic growth.
DCCI President Md. Ashraf Ahmed delivered the welcome address. The seminar’s chief guest, Lutfey Siddiqui, the Prime Minister’s Special Envoy on International Affairs, stated that policy adjustments should focus on clear data-driven reforms rather than requiring extensive changes in law. He urged stakeholders to provide concrete facts and timelines, emphasizing that interim governments should not persist long-term and that power should be transferred to a people’s government as soon as possible.
The seminar also featured ICT Advisor Fayez Ahmad Tayyab, BIDA Executive Chairman Chowdhury Ashiq Mahmud Bin Harun, and Bangladesh Bank Executive Director Muhammad Zakir Hasan. Mr. Harun highlighted that ICT, like the garment sector, should be developed into a major export industry, particularly through advancing semiconductor and AI work.
Discussions underscored the necessity for policies that foster tech exports and facilitate foreign investment. Speakers advocated for more joint industry-university partnerships, digitalization to curb corruption, and an emphasis on sustainability and green technology. BONDSTEIN Technologies Director Mir Shahrokh Islam underscored the potential of software services in the global market, urging policymakers to ease foreign office openings, promote research incentives, and enable investment from capital markets.
Former BASIS President Syed Almas Kabir critiqued some of the sector’s statistics as inconsistent, suggesting that data accuracy could help direct resources to higher-value exports.
Other attendees, including Banglalink’s Chief Corporate Affairs Officer Taimur Rahman, emphasized the need for regulatory freedom in telecom and internet services, highlighting digital inequities and the need to prevent arbitrary internet shutdowns, which they labeled a human rights issue.
In his address, Muhammad Zakir Hasan of Bangladesh Bank noted the importance of private sector contributions to ICT infrastructure development and encouraged financial inflows over outflows for sustainable growth in the ICT sector.
