Govt launches national app store
The government yesterday launched a national mobile application store in a bid to encourage local developers.
Mobile operator Robi will be the technology partner for the locally developed platform, which currently has over 12,000 developers, around 20 per cent of whom are women.
Around 23,000 apps are available there now.
Besides, the platform offers developers the scope to upload their applications for free, unlike Google's Play Store and Apple's App Store.
In the last five years, BD Apps has disbursed more than Tk 55 crore among its developers to facilitate a self-sustaining platform for locally made mobile applications.
Through the platform, around 300 developers are now earning roughly Tk 30,000 a month while the amount is hitting as high as Tk 2 lakh for some.
State Minister for ICT Zunaid Ahmed Palak declared BD Apps as the country's official application store during a deal signing ceremony between Robi and the ICT Division at the latter's office in Dhaka yesterday.
"From now on, any app developer, be it an organisation or a network operator, will be able to upload their apps to this platform," Palak said.
The ICT Division will work to provide income tax exemption for developers and abolish VAT on apps.
BD Apps is the largest mobile application platform in Bangladesh. Application developers can market their innovative applications on this platform to local smartphone subscribers.
"This partnership aims to boost ICT innovation and develop entrepreneurship," he added.
Bikarna Kumar Ghosh, additional secretary of the Ict Division, and Mahtab Uddin Ahmed, managing director and CEO of Robi, signed the agreement at a ceremony at the ICT Division in Dhaka's Agargaon area.
The arrangement is set to last for five years with the option of extension.
With the world on the brink of the fourth industrial revolution, the job market will soon transform as the need for physical labour will be eliminated, giving rise to the demand for digital skillsets.
And so, both Robi and the ICT Division are keen to formulate and modify developer-friendly policies to encourage entrepreneurship and digital skillsets among the country's youth.
To promote app development, BD Apps is bringing the country's first wizard-based Android app development solution.
"We are also delighted to announce that BD Apps is launching a seed funding programme for its developers to facilitate their initial marketing investments," Ghosh said.
"We request our government to allow tax waivers for these amateur, young and qualified developers to accelerate these start-ups and create a nationwide wave for an innovation-centric economy," he added.
Ahmed Arman Siddiqui, executive vice president of VAS and new business for Robi; Anamika Bhakta, executive vice president or corporate affairs and media communications; and Sharif Shah Jamal Raj, vice president of public affairs, were also present.