Industry claims local IT, software save Tk500cr annually
Local information technology and software service providers yesterday claimed that they were helping Bangladesh to save Tk 500 crore foreign currency annually.
Most of the large exporters, particularly in readymade garments, knitwear, pharmaceuticals and leather sectors, are using local software and IT-enabled services making the software a significant contributory factor for national export earning, they said.
“If local companies could not deliver the required software and services, it would have to be purchased from foreign companies at higher price,” Rafiqul Islam Rowly, president of Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS), told a press conference in Dhaka on the eve of the BASIS SOFTEXPO 2008, an annual fair.
“We also earned over Tk 180 crore (US$26.8 million) from export of software in FY2006-07,” TIM Nurul Kabir, a director of BASIS and convener of this year's exposition, told reporters.
With the theme 'get, gain, grow', the 5-day fair kicks off today and will run until February 18 at the Bangladesh-China Friendship Conference Centre. Chief adviser Dr Fakhruddin Ahmed is expected to inaugurate the technological extravaganza.
“We've a huge market in the growing local industries. The annual business, which is now around Tk 500 crore, could turn to a several thousand crore,” Shoeb Chowdhury, senior vice-president of BASIS, told The Daily Star.
However, he admitted that there was no study on the potentials of the local market. “This is our assessment,” he added.
More than two hundred local and international exhibitors will take part in the fair, with top management, chief executive officers and directors of some of the world's leading companies attending.
Visitors will be able to explore the latest technology and service provided by Bangladeshi companies in various countries, industry people said.
One of the major goals of the event is to present Bangladesh ICT market potentials to the local and international players in the field such as service providers, foreign investors, development agencies, policy makers and ICT associations etc.
The exhibitors will represent different sectors of the ICT industry, such as IT training institutes, consultancy firms, developmental companies, government departments and financial service providers. Seminars and workshops will keep visitors busy, organisers said.
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