"In many ways, the outset is like that in India. The country has human resources and a growing number of quality IT students," Feroz said in an interview with The Daily Star adding, "Microsoft sees great potential of Bangladesh for flourishing in the next few years."

This outset was the main reason for the former IBM marketing manager to join Microsoft and set up an office on Gulshan Avenue a year ago.

"The difference between us and India is that we didn't jump on the bandwagon five or six years ago," Feroz felt. He sees three main reasons for this. Firstly, Bangladesh is still waiting for the international submarine fibre optic cable. Secondly, the government is not investing the promised two percent of the Annual Development Programme (ADP) in IT. And thirdly, Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) are not being enforced properly.

Developing awareness for IPRs has been Microsoft's first main focus in Bangladesh. "We are not concentrating on private users, but on businesses," he says. Many large companies in the telecommunication and banking sectors have licensed the Microsoft products in the last twelve months.

Among the companies co-operating with Microsoft are GrameenPhone Ltd, AKTEL, CityCell, Rupali Bank and Janata Bank. Feroz stresses that the government and its ministries are also coming one by one to terms with Microsoft's licensing regulations.

Concerning small and medium-sized companies he has, however, not been successful to date. "We realise that our licensing fees are too high for companies that are used to paying Tk 100 (around $1.49) for our Office 2003 package. In academia, we offer the package at $54, instead of $399. In a commercial environment this is not possible of course."

Regarding small businesses, Microsoft is not much further than a year ago. But Feroz sees no way around licensing. He believes that transparent and properly enforced IPRs might be costly in an initial stage, but in the long run they are good for business.

"It's about innovation and incentive," he said adding "Take Mustafa Jabbar's Bangla keyboard as an example. He invented it. But now everybody is copying it. Why should people invent things if everybody can copy them afterwards and reap the fruit of the inventor's hard work?"

In an optimistic outlook Feroz believes that if the government starts investing more in IT and IPRs are properly installed, Bangladesh could in five years become a regional IT hub. "We will never be able to be compared with the whole of India, but why not with certain regions such as Mumbai."

Bangladesh's IT market today is sized at around $90 million. Going with Feroz's goal of a regional IT hub by 2010, the market should increase to $700 million- $800 million in the next five years.

In a final question, The Daily Star asked Feroz, if some of Office 2010 might be programmed in Bangladesh. He laughed and answered: "We've got a long way to go for that. But as country director of Bangladesh, that's what I dream of, yes."