Bangladesh Wants In On IT

["Irfan Khan" <khania2@super.net.pk>]

[from the banglaICT mailing list]


Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2003 04:35:14 -0000
   From: "Sayeedur Rahman" <bangla_ict@yahoo.com>
Subject: Bangladesh Wants In On IT


Bangladesh Wants In On IT

Siliconeer, Staff, Jun 18, 2003 
http://news.ncmonline.com/news/


There's much more to Bangladesh than natural calamities. The country 
is embarking on a new drive to raise its profile in the global 
information technology market. Expatriate Bangladeshis and a visiting 
delegation from Bangladesh's governemnt announced that with the help 
of a World Bank loan,they will open a new office in Santa Clara, in 
the heart of California's Silicon Valley, to drum up investment in 
the country's budding software and information services sector.  

Although it lags behind India and Pakistan in getting in on the 
Silicon Valley action, the country is increasingly becoming a 
sophisticated player.  

Enayetur Rahman, an expatriate Bangladeshi engineer with over 19 
years experience in the Silicon Valley semiconductor industry under 
his belt, will lead the Bangladesh Information and Communications 
Technology Center. The center boasts a 2,000-sq. ft. office with an 
annual budget of $400,000 supported by the World Bank and 
Bangladesh's Commerce Ministry.  

Bangladesh Commerce Secretary Suhel Ahmed, who played a key role in 
snagging World Bank funding, sought help from other expatriate 
Bangladeshis in opening the office. Silicon Valley entrepreneur and 
philanthropist Kamran Elahian and The Indus Entrepreneur president 
Sridar Iyengar promised support, and local officials including Santa 
Clara County Board of Supervisors member Pete McHugh, Santa Clara 
Mayor Patricia M. Mahan and former Milpitas Mayor Henry Manayan were 
on hand at the ceremony last month announcing the new office.  

There are about 200 software companies in Bangladesh, and at least 30 
export abroad to the United States, Europe, Japan and Australia. Its 
exports include software, medical transcription, graphics for Europe 
and cartoon animation for Canada and Australia. Internet is catching 
on: Bangladesh has around 2 million Internet users, and will have 
fiber optic Internet connectivity by the end of 2004. With 5,000 
computer science graduates each year, is well poised to catch the 
next wave of information technology boom, Bangladeshi officials said. 
 
Rahman, the head of the new center, said the facility will function 
as a shared business office which will showcase the best Bangladeshi 
companies. Iyengar, who is president of TiE, a global non-profit that 
encourages entrepreneurship, said he has already told Rahman that he 
is eager to work with him to open a new TiE office in Dhaka, the 
Bangladeshi capital. 

http://news.ncmonline.com/news/view_article.html? 
article_id=0e674908d5605cee2f01a45d5c81a272