Bangladesh has offered an international standard business facilities and financial incentives including tax exemption for 10 years to allure foreign investment in its newly established Hi-Tech Park.
The main of objective the Hi-Tech Park, which is still under construction, is to introduce Bangladeshi hardware manufacturers in the global market.
Kaliakoir Hi-Tech Park, first of its kind, is located at Kaliakoir upazilla in Gazipur district.
The proposed park, which is only 40km away from the capital, is now set to be accomplished on a-232 acre land with a cost of over US$207m.
Summit Technopolis will develop 2nd and 5th block of the project under Public Private Partnership (PPP) within next 40 years.
Meanwhile, the government has decided to allocate the 3rd block to Bangladesh TechnoSity Limited for expediting its construction and development works. A deal is scheduled to be signed between Bangladesh Hi-Tech Park Authority and Bangladesh TechnoSity Limited today in this connection.
An official of Hi-Tech Park Authority stated that Bangladesh TechnoSity Limited along with IRIS Corporation Berhad – Technology Park, Malaysia would jointly develop the project.
Initially, TechnoSity will initially invest US$25m for the construction works and if necessary, the investment might also be increased by 10 to 12 times.
The park is aimed at attracting investment especially from the foreign investors in the country’s emerging IT sector as Bangladesh has vast potential of young educated and technically skilled work force.
“Investors at the Hi-Tech Park will enjoy all kinds of facilities including financial and infrastructural with minimum cost as the motto of the project is to materialise ‘Vision 2021’ to make Bangladesh a digital one,” HosneAra Begum, managing director of Bangladesh Hi-Tech Park Authority, told the Dhaka Tribune.
She also said, “We want to make Bangladesh a hardware manufacturer country and the park is an initiative to make the dream true.”
Elaboratingthe offered incentives, she said, “The investors from home and abroad will enjoy 10 years tax holiday, exemption of income tax for expatriate professionals, 10 years accelerated depreciation permissible, exemption from import duties, 100% exemption of taxes for all exports, 100% equity is allowed for FDI companies.”
Hi-tech park will be equipped with available gas, electricity connection, high-speed internet, separate custom bonded offices, single window agency to fasten business process and a separate power plant with capacity of 150 megawatt, she added.
The park management will provide cost effective options of multi tenanted and tailor–made buildings or land lease, self–sufficient township with five star hotel, serviced apartments, dormitories, educational institution and recreational facilities untouched from any kind of unrest and one-stop services for clients, she added.
“As Bangladesh has opted for becoming a hardware manufacturer country, Kaliakoir Hi-Tech Park will be the ultimate destination for the global manufacturers,” Abu Reza Khan, managing director of Summit Technopolis told the Dhaka Tribune.
He said, “We’ve already started our marketing process for attracting global IT giants to invest into the hi-tech park.”
He also expressed his optimism in getting quick and positive responses from the global IT leaders. Meanwhile, the government has undertaken steps to upgrade the existing railways to a high–speed railway link to connect the park with the capital, and to set up power stations and establish fiber optic connectivity.
“The offerings extended by the park authority undoubtedly is an attractive package for any investors from home and abroad,” said Uttam Kumar Paul, secretary general of BASIS.
According to a research of National Centre for Geocomputation (NCG), a research centre of Ireland, salary of programmers in Bangladesh is 50% of that in India, 40% of Philippines and 70% of the Vietnam, Rent for office space in Dhaka (Capital) is below 20% of that in Delhi while 40% of Manila.
The government has declared IT sector as a ‘High priority’ sector as software entrepreneurs have high potentials to achieve the target, as 70,000 professionals, mostly graduated from information technology, are involved with the industry, said the sector people.
As per BASIS data, there are over 908 registered software companies in the country, along with a few hundred unregistered small and home-based software and IT ventures doing business in both local and international markets. Domestic Software Company also will get a privilege in hi-tech park.
According to latest data of Export Promotion Bureau (EPB), Bangladesh’s software exports have witnessed nearly 3% rise to $109m in July-April period of the just concluded fiscal year.
In July-April of the last fiscal, Bangladesh earned over $109m, exporting computer services, which is 2.95% higher compared to $106m in FY2013-14 when Bangladesh fetched around $125m from the IT sector.