Govt urges Japanese tech firms to invest in Bangladesh

Bangladesh has urged Japanese tech companies to invest in the country and build an IT training centre for the mutual benefit of both nations.

This proposal was made during a meeting between Zunaid Ahmed Palak, the state minister for ICT, and Yasutoshi Nishimura, the economy, trade and industry minister of Japan, at the Sonargaon hotel in Dhaka yesterday.

After the meeting, Palak told journalists how the ICT industry and startups of both countries can benefit from what was discussed during the meeting.

There are many institutes in Japan for human resource development that prepare fresh graduates for industry by training them for three to six months.

"To meet Japan's huge human resource shortage in artificial intelligence, robotics, microchip designing and cybersecurity, we propose Japan to set up a Bangladesh-Japan IT Training Incubation Centre at the Bangabandhu Hi-Tech City in Kaliakair upazila of Gazipur," he said.

"We will also provide 50 acres of land to set up the Japan Exclusive IT Zone in Kaliakair for Japanese IT companies to invest in Bangladesh," he added.

Palak also said there have been discussions about the potential investment of Japanese hardware manufacturers in Bangladesh.

How brands such as Hitachi, Toshiba, Toyota, Nissan and Kawasaki can invest in Bangladesh by opening research and development centres in the country were also highlighted in the meeting.

The government will focus more on the Japanese market as it is the sixth biggest exporting country for Bangladesh in the software sector.

Also, how to provide services to Japanese companies in Bangladesh by making many more big software companies was also discussed.

Bangladesh has increased its capacity so that Japanese companies can open R&D centres in the country as they did in the Philippines and Thailand, Palak said.

Later, experts in a panel discussion said collaboration in the ICT sector would unlock many opportunities for Bangladesh and Japan as the south Asian country is producing a large pool of ICT manpower at a time when the Island nation is suffering from a shortage.

They spoke at a summit on "Bangladesh-Japan economic relations for the next 50 years: For the industry upgradation of Bangladesh".

The Japan External Trade Organisation (Jetro), Bangladesh Investment Development Authority and Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry joint organised the daylong summit at Pan Pacific Sonargaon in Dhaka.

A survey of the Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS) finds that Japan currently has a manpower shortage of 8.50 lakh in ICT.

So, Bangladeshi ICT firms have high potential in the Japanese market, said Russell T Ahmed, president of BASIS.

Ahmed proposed building an IT Institute in Bangladesh jointly by Japan and BASIS.

Bangladesh exported $125 million worth of information technology to Japan in fiscal year 2021-22, accounting for about 8 per cent of Bangladesh's total annual IT exports, according to BASIS.