ICT expo starts amid high hopes

Bangladesh ICT Expo-2015 kicked off in Dhaka yesterday to showcase the country's achievements in information communication technology.

The country's biggest three-day exposition is being co-organised by Bangladesh Computer Samity and the ICT Division. President Abdul Hamid inaugurated the event yesterday at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre in Dhaka.

More than 100 local and international exhibitors are showcasing their products and services at the expo, where 10 foreign delegates from different countries will deliver speeches in seminars and technical sessions.

After the inauguration, students' questions on VAT on e-commerce, supplementary duty on mobile use as well as VAT on private university tuition fees were answered by State Minister for ICT Zunaid Ahmed Palak.

Palak also responded to queries on the mobile network, 3G coverage, VAT on internet use and payment systems on exporting e-services.

By June 2017, all the union parishads will be covered by fibre optic cables so that users can enjoy high-speed internet countrywide, Palak said. Currently, 290 upazilas are covered by 3G networks. By December, all 488 upazilas will come under the network, he added.

“We are trying to introduce the popular online payment system Paypal in the country.”

Bangladesh earns around $250 million by exporting IT and IT-enabled services, compared to $5 million five years ago, said Palak.

“We aim to raise it to $1 billion by 2018.”

Earlier in the day, Hamid said the expo will expedite efforts to promote the country's IT sector by exhibiting ICT innovations.

“The government is relentlessly working to build a middle-income country by 2021 by materialising the dream of a Digital Bangladesh.”

“Notable progress has been made in the field of ICT as the government took initiatives to produce a skilful IT workforce and ICT-based public services are helping to establish governance.”

Highlighting the government's success, Hamid said the government is close to finalising a deal to centralise some 25,000 government offices of 58 ministries at districts and upazila levels under the national network.

All communication in public services will be carried out easily through e-services at the government offices then, Hamid added.

Some 14,700 people have been trained under the 'Learning and Earning' project, with an aim to develop the earning capacity of the youth through ICT in urban areas, he said.

The government will provide training to an additional 55,000 youth through the projects, he added.