The government is devising a ‘Made in Bangladesh Strategy’ for the ICT sector to create a large-scale employment and open up a window for nearly half a million students who secure graduation degree each year to enter the job market. The Leveraging ICT for Growth and Employment of the IT-ITES Industry Project (LICT) of BCC under ICT division has already prepared a draft putting emphasize especially on purchasing locally made digital devices, software and IT-ITES services by the government.
“Made in Bangladesh Strategy is being introduced with an ultimate goal to formulate `Made in Bangladesh Policy’ to create large-scale employment and opportunity especially for the 5 lakh students who secure graduation each year,” said State Minister for ICT Zunaid Ahmed Palak.
He said the strategy for the ICT sector will help expanding the country’s ICT industry and creating large-scale employment at a time when the government is taking preparation to face the challenges of fourth industrial revolution. “The strategy will not only help branding Bangladeshi ICT products abroad but also awaken patriotism among the people to buy locally made products,” Palak said.
ICT Secretary N M Zeaul Alam said in the journey towards implementation of Digital Bangladesh the government has created an ICT ecosystem to flourish ICT sector. “The strategy will create an opportunity to procure locally made products including digital devices and software by the government,” he said adding the local industries are producing quality software and exporting to over 85 countries.
Executive Director of Bangladesh Computer Council (BCC) Parthapratim Deb said they have been taking opinions of the stakeholders including experts, industry leaders and academia through holding workshop to enrich the strategy.
Several more workshops will be held in this regard before finalizing the strategy, he added. IT-ITES Policy Adviser of LICT Project Sami Ahmed said the experts, industry leaders and academia have already put forward few suggestions at a meeting held at the conference room of LICT last week and the strategy is expected to be finalized within a couple of months.
