A country brand dubbed ‘Bangladesh Next’ was launched in Dhaka on Saturday aimed at projecting Bangladesh as a potential outsourcing destination for software and IT-enabled services in the world.
Bangladesh Association of Software & Information Services took the initiative to inform the world community of Bangladesh’s potentials in diverse fields especially the IT sector.
‘Investment in the IT sector is very expensive. The government would give priority to the IT sector in the next national budget,’ commerce minister Faruk Khan said while introducing the brand at the Bangabandhu International Conference Centre in Dhaka.
BASIS president Mahbub Jaman chaired the function while Denmark ambassador to Bangladesh Svend Olling, Export Promotion Bureau vice-chairman Jalal Ahmed, Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry director TIM Nurul Kabir and American Chambers of Commerce Bangladesh president Aftab-ul-Islam spoke as special guests.
Asian Tigers managing partner Ifti Islam presented the keynote paper highlighting the prospects of IT industry in Bangladesh.
Faruk said the country had four problems in the fields of power, infrastructure, education and confidence building. By now, he said, the government took diverse measures to bring more private sector companies in investments in the energy sector.
The country witnessed 4.11 per cent growth last year at a time when many developed countries suffered in the global financial recession, said the commerce minister.
Bangladesh earned $33.5 million by exporting software and the IT-enabled service in the last fiscal year, which is $.50 million higher than the 2008-2009 fiscal, BASIS sources said.
News: Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha
