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Rejaul Karim Byron

The Daily Star

Publication Date : 19-02-2013

The Bangladeshi government will soon start implementing two projects worth 7.94 billion Bangladeshi taka (US$98.8 million) to create large-scale employment and diversify exports in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector.

The projects, with most of the funds coming from the World Bank, were placed at a meeting of the executive committee of the National Economic Council on Tuesday.

One of the projects involve providing training 10,000 graduates on software development and another 20,000 on ICT servicing, under the supervision of the Bangladesh Computer Council.

The project will also help expand the national data centre, set up a disaster recovery centre, introduce 'cloud computing' and provide ICT training to government officials.

The scheme, expected to take off this year for completion in January 2018, will cost 5.72 billion Bangladeshi taka, of which the WB will provide 5.71 billion Bangladeshi taka.

The other project entails developing an IT park at Kaliakoir in Gazipur at a cost of 2.22 billion Bangladeshi taka.

Of the total cost, the WB will provide 18.5 billion Bangladeshi taka as loan and UK's Department for International Development will extend grant of 2.5 billion Bangladeshi taka.

Though the IT park was set up on 232 acres of land between 2006 and 2010, it is yet to become operational due to a lack of amenities, said a planning ministry official.

“The project is aimed at developing the support infrastructure of the park, such that an export-oriented IT industry can be set up through public-private partnership,” the official said.

The project is expected to be complete in June 2016.

*US$1=80.2 Bangladeshi taka