The target to earn about US$ 5 billion by 2023 from export of software programmes may suffer a huge loss due to the global corona pandemic.
Experts said that more than half of IT-based jobs have shrunk in recent months. This has also reduced export income forecasting a gloomy future for the IT and software development sector.
If the devastating pandemic situation keeps worsening, the country’s IT sector’s target to earn five billion dollars by 2023 may stumble, the industry experts fear.
In a recent letter to the government, Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS), the national trade body for Software and IT Enabled Service industry, expressing such fear has sought government incentives to recover the losses in the IT and software development sector.
The letter to the finance minister mentioned that the technology-based companies doing business are facing closure due to the coronavirus crisis. Many of them are continuing office work staying at home. But the work of the software and IT sector in the country and the world market has decreased alarmingly.
Export demand has declined by about 50 per cent. In the corona pandemic situation, the business downturn is expected to last at least another 6 months.
This could result in a loss of at least $ 1,300 million in the local IT sector ($ 500 million in the local market and $600 million in exports), amounting to Tk 11,050 crore. BASIS has sought incentives from the government to consider this loss, the letter added.
BASIS President Syed Almas Kabir in this regard told Bangladesh Post that, “We have a target of $5 billion in export revenue earning by 2023. Last year, for the first time, we exported more than one billion dollars’ worth of software. The target for export earnings this year was more than one billion dollars. But coronavirus has already caused a loss of about a billion dollars. As a result, export earnings will decrease this year. However, it is not yet known how much it will decrease.”
“The IT sector usually depends on other sectors. This sector provides technical assistance to various businesses. For this reason, the sector will not be able to return to normalcy until other businesses also function normally. It is indeed is a big challenge for us,” Kabir added.
He predicts that, after overcoming the situation, new opportunities will come in the IT sector. The new software will be needed, the field of work will increase.
“If this situation continues for a long time, it will not be possible to retain manpower in the sector. IT workers will be forced to move to a different profession, which could cause great damage to the sector besides financial problems”, he feared.
As the spread of the virus intensifies around the world, it imposes mandatory restrictions on work, forced almost everything to a standstill. As a result, the IT services sector’s growth has been badly affected by the pandemic.
According to BASIS information, the country for the first time earned $2.8 million worth of software. The country officially starts exporting software from 2003. The income from software export was continuously increasing every year. It was expected that the IT sector would surpass the garment industry as the main source of export earnings. But the corona situation has changed that perception.
NM Ziaul Alam, senior secretary of the ICT Division said, “We are working on the IT sector’s future planning. It will be finalized in a couple of days. Our sector has stumbled a bit because of the lethal virus. But we will move forward as per our new plan in the future”.