The Power and Participation Research Centre (PPRC) on Saturday held an episode of its Ajker Agenda virtual series titled “Hi-Tech Parks: What is the Mission? What is the Reality?”, bringing together industry leaders, former officials and policy experts to assess the performance of Bangladesh’s High-Tech and Software Technology Parks.
The discussion focused on why, despite the establishment of dozens of parks and rising budget allocations, the sector has yet to deliver results comparable to similar initiatives in other countries, and what is needed to bridge the gap between the parks’ original mission and their performance on the ground.
Dr M Rokonuzzaman, professor of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at North South University, said Bangladesh established 39 High-Tech and Software Technology Parks between 2009 and 2023 on the assumption that infrastructure alone would drive investment and create a hi-tech boom.
“Bangladesh built 39 High-Tech and Software Technology Parks between 2009 and 2023 on the assumption that infrastructure alone would trigger a hi-tech boom and investment without effective focus on a supportive ecosystem, availability of skilled labour, and industry-academia linkage. Results so far clearly show that the assumption was not the right one, as the examples of Taiwan, South Korea, Malaysia and Singapore attest,” he said.
Mohammad Mohidul Islam, managing director of Ongsho, gave a critical assessment of the Jessore High-Tech Park, established in December 2017.
“The 40 companies currently housed in the park struggle independently for survival without effective ecosystem support. The authority treats them as tenants rather than as entrepreneurs. Trained manpower quickly leaves. Maintenance of the facility is very poor, and the costs of utilities are high,” he said.
Engr Md Ashafuddoza Shishir, co-founder and chief operating officer of Netro Systems Ltd and Telzen at Hi-Tech Park Rajshahi, offered a more positive assessment of the Rajshahi experience. He pointed to the growth of technology ventures that emerged from a 2016 incubation centre and have since developed international operations.
He, however, said: “The tangible benefit for companies in the Rajshahi Hi-Tech Park remains confined to tax exemptions, as direct authority support for startups is largely absent.”
Farhana A Rahman, chairperson and CEO of UY Systems Ltd, drawing on her experience with BASIS, said the country remained caught in a cycle of ambitious promises without sufficient progress on the ground.
“We remain trapped in a loop of grandiose promises about high-tech parks, yet despite the building of so many parks across the country, real progress on the ground remains absent. The Kaliakor Hi-Tech Park offered land plots but no supportive services, so that many later surrendered their plot allocations,” she said.
Rafel Kabir, managing director of DNS Software Ltd, attributed many of the sector’s shortcomings to government policy and sensationalist media coverage. He contrasted the light-touch regulatory environment that allowed services such as Uber and Foodpanda to expand with the top-down approach taken in developing the parks.
“Rather than relying solely on export tax incentives, High-Tech Parks should have targeted foundational technology manufacturing, like motherboard and chip fabrication, while delivering complete, EPZ-grade infrastructure,” he said.
Faiz Ahmad Taiyeb, former special assistant to the Chief Adviser of Bangladesh at the Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology, reflected on his experience overseeing the sector and identified the location of the parks as a major factor behind their limited impact.
“The core failure of Bangladesh’s High-Tech Parks stems from placing heavy physical infrastructure in regions lacking a viable local economy,” he said, adding that the challenges extend beyond physical infrastructure to the credibility and effectiveness of the training ecosystem.
Summing up the discussion, moderator Hossain Zillur Rahman, executive chairman of PPRC, said: “Long-term success requires shifting focus from building physical real estate to cultivating soft infrastructure, skilled human capital, and industry-driven training.”
The discussion concluded that Bangladesh does not necessarily need to abandon the High-Tech Park model but must strengthen the foundations on which the parks operate, including reliable utilities, accountable governance and effective support systems that treat companies as partners rather than tenants.
