Bangladesh stood at bottom 18th of a global ranking on digital environment and support systems for entrepreneurs, owing to poor opportunities and lack of congenial atmosphere for them to thrive in, said ADB.
An index of digital entrepreneurship systems report, developed by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), said Bangladesh was ranked 96th among 113 economies and scored less than Sri Lanka and India.
The index measures the quality of the environment for digital entrepreneurs by looking at the level of digitalization in eight areas: culture, institutions, market conditions, infrastructure, human capital, knowledge, finance, and networking.
Stakeholders and experts attributed it to inadequate policy measures including fiscal and, poor and centralized digital connectivity in Dhaka and Chittagong.
Four-fifths of the developing Asian economies were placed toward the bottom in the ranking of digital environments and support systems for entrepreneurs, said the report, released on Wednesday as part of the Asian Development Outlook (ADO) 2022 update.
Seventeen of the 21 developing Asian economies are ranked toward the bottom, underscoring the need for many of them to nurture digital entrepreneurship.
Singapore has the world's best digital environment and support system for entrepreneurs, followed by the United States second and Sweden third among the 113 economies.
Digitalization offers big growth opportunities for the businesses in Asia and the Pacific, it said, adding that it was a driver of innovation, which is the key for economies striving to achieve high-income status.
It can also make economies more resilient, as seen when digital technology helped many businesses survive the Covid-19 pandemic, and it can promote inclusive growth by lowering the cost of starting a business, as per the report.
The report also suggested investing in digital infrastructure such as broadband networks and seeking the government's need to promote political stability, reliable legal systems, open and competitive markets, and strong property rights.
An ADB analysis shows that strong rule of law has a positive effect on enterprise innovation, while less corruption in a society is correlated with an increase in the entry of new entrepreneurs in the market.