Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Pranay
Verma today said digital connectivity is a rapidly emerging dimension of
India-Bangladesh partnership going beyond trade, transport and energy
connectivity.
He made the remark when jointly laid the foundation stone of the Knowledge
Park at Chattogram being built with Indian government’s concessional Line of
Credit, said a press release issued by Indian High Commission here.
The envoy hoped that it would propel economic and technological partnership between the two countries to newer heights.
Highlighting the project’s importance in India-Bangladesh cooperation in ICT
sector, Verma also mentioned that the recently launched India-Bangladesh
Startup Bridge to connect the Startup communities of India and Bangladesh, as
well as proposals to link digital payment systems of the two countries.
The IT Park at Chattogram is part of the project for establishment of IT/Hi-Tech Parks in 12 districts of Bangladesh under the government of India’s concessional Line of Credit worth nearly US$ 250 million.
The project will also advance the goal of Digital Bangladesh and the vision
to transform from Digital to Smart Bangladesh by 2041.
High Commissioner Verma expressed confidence that these IT parks will go a
long way in promoting the IT industry and IT-enabled services in Bangladesh
by helping in establishing standards, creating hubs and incubation centres,
developing entrepreneurship, and building capacity in new and emerging
technologies like Internet of Things, machine learning, robotics, artificial
intelligence, extended reality and other advanced and cutting-edge subjects.
The IT Parks will nurture a technologically-skilled workforce that is crucial
for rapid growth and development of our economies in the 21st century, he
added.
Each Park is expected to generate direct employment for 3,000 people and
train over 1,000 people every year.
The direct and indirect benefits from the parks will, therefore, be
transformative. It is also notable that this project will involve
construction of Green Buildings, which are energy efficient and
environmentally friendly.
Source: Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha