ICT entrepreneurs demand specific budgetary allocation

Information technology entrepreneurs have urged the government to specify allocation in upcoming budget for connecting Bangladesh with another submarine cable and setting up a hi-tech park.
The proposed budget has focused on some prospective measures for ICT sector. However in terms of allocation the budget was a bit unclear to the entrepreneurs.
The industry people have been raising these two demands for the last few years, but the budget did not earmark any fund for this purpose.
The entrepreneurs suggested allocating money from the Tk 1,600 crore Bangladesh Infrastructure Development Fund. This infrastructure fund is part of the Tk 3,000 crore public private partnership fund, as per the proposed budget.
They said it was really surprising that the government plans imposition of VAT on e-commerce industry when the industry is yet to launch services in Bangladesh properly.
Three major IT industry organisations -- Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS), Internet Service Providers Association Bangladesh (ISPAB) and Bangladesh Computer Samity (BCS) raised their demands from a joint press conference at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre in Dhaka.
Bangladesh was connected with an undersea cable in 2005. The ICT entrepreneurs repeatedly demanded an alternative cable, as the undersea cable has been facing frequent cuts since its launch.
The cabinet at a meeting recently approved the Bangladesh Hi-Tech Park Authority Bill 2009 and decided to set up a hi-tech park to fulfil the Awami League's electoral pledge to build a Digital Bangladesh by 2021.
The park would be built on 232 acres of lands at Kaliakoir in Gazipur. The land ministry has started the infrastructure development work for the park at a cost of Tk 25 crore.
"We want a specific budgetary allocation for the hi-tech park and a second submarine,” said Mahbub Zaman, the BASIS president.
He said government has proposed allocation of a Tk 3,000 crore fund for projects under the PPP, but the ICT sector has been overlooked.
According to ICT Policy 2009, (action plan no-100), the government had to allocate 5 percent of the total annual development programme and 2 percent of the total revenue budget.
Mostafa Jabbar, the BCS president, said the proposed budget allocated only Tk 112 crore for the ICT sector development, although it should be Tk 3,800 crore as per the ICT policy.
He welcomed the proposed Tk 200 crore allocation for Equity Entrepreneurship Fund.
However, he said earlier ICT sector had less benefited from the fund due to difficulties of releasing the fund.
Regarding e-commerce he said before flourishing, the government should not impose value added tax on such a promising sector.
Aktaruzzaman Manju, president of ISPAB, urged the government to withdraw VAT (15 percent ) on internet use. He said such tax will hinder the industry's growth.