Telekomasia to invest $1b in hi-tech park
Telekomasia, a Singapore-based telecom services company, is keen to invest more than $1 billion in Bangladesh to make tech-related products.
The company, owned by Bangladeshi entrepreneurs, signed a deal with the government on Friday.
The firm is mainly interested in investing in four major segments of the telecom and ICT sector, according to its Chief Executive Officer Md Shafayet Alam.
“We want to establish a private hi-tech park in Bangladesh and for doing that, we need support from the government,” Alam told The Daily Star by phone from England on Saturday.
The deal was signed between Bangladesh Hi-Tech Park Authority and Telekomasia at an e-commerce fair in East London. A Bangladeshi company organised the two-day show, which was also attended by Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed.
The Hi-Tech Park Authority signed three other deals at the show that will be materialised within a short time, said government officials who participated in the event.
Telekomasia specialises in integrated and innovative communications systems for fixed line and voice over internet protocol (VoIP) telephony, broadband and data services, according to its website.
Alam said they have already taken 70 percent of their planned investment to Bangladesh as loans from three banks in Singapore.
“We are just waiting for a response from the government,” Alam said. “The government offered us an investment opportunity at the Rajshahi hi-tech park but we are interested in building our project in Chittagong.”
Alam said they want to assemble and make all types of telecom products that Bangladesh currently imports from China.
The company's revenue for 2014 stood at $19.77 million, up from $3.76 million in 2013, according to its financial statement.
It is also working with state-owned Bangladesh Telecommunications Company Ltd and some others in the country.
The three other deals that the Hi-Tech Park Authority signed were with Seamark (BD), TechShed and PayZaBD.
Hosne Ara Begum, managing director of Bangladesh Hi-Tech Park Authority, signed the agreements with the respective companies.
Seamark plans to invest more than $50 million and intends to make software and hardware.
They also want to establish an IT academy at the hi-tech park.
TechShed is likely to invest $5 million initially and will manufacture computer, officials said.
PayZaBD will create a platform for freelancers and provide an online payment solution in Bangladesh, but they did not disclose an investment figure.
In a press release, the ICT division said these four companies will invest more than $2 billion as foreign direct investment in Bangladesh.