ICT Minister Zunaid Ahmed Palak said Bangladesh would become a world’s one of the digital device manufacturers in next 2-3 years in a shift of status of being a user country only.
“Smartphones and laptops will be assembled in the Hi-tech Park now under development,” he said while announcing a three-day ICT expo from tomorrow at a press conference yesterday.
Styled as “Bangladesh ICT Expo 2016”, the event will be held at the capital’s Bangabandhu International Conference Centre. This is the second after last year’s expo.
Planning Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal will inaugurate the event. The expo will showcase technology-based innovations and new tech products. It is intended to unlock economic potentials of the country’s IT sector, say organisers.
The expo will remain open from 10am to 8pm every day. The government’s ICT Division, in collaboration with Bangladesh Computer Samity (BCS), is organising the event, expecting nearly 400,000 visitors this year. Some government organisations and trade bodies will also participate.
ICT Division Secretary Shyam Sunder Sikder said the government had laid emphasis on building a manufacturing ecosystem and setting up a research and development unit to boost Bangladesh’s ICT sector.
BCS President AHM Mahfuzul Arif and Microsoft Bangladesh’s Country Manager Sonia Bashir Kabir, among others, were also present.
Organisers said a robot developed by the Shahjalal University of Science and Technology students will welcome visitors at the inauguration.
A drone made by Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology students will also fly over the audience attending the function.
The exposition, one of the biggest ever expositions in the ICT sector of the country, would be assemblage of local and international experts who will share and exchange knowledge on ICT advancement and challenges in the seminars to be organised during the event, said AHM Mahfuzul Arif, President of BCS.
