Foreign Minister Hasan Mahmud has invited Irish investment in Bangladesh, particularly in agro-processing, pharmaceuticals and IT sectors. He also thanked Ireland for hosting a few thousand Bangladeshis and requested the Irish Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Simon Coveney to ease the visa process to enable more Bangladeshi students and IT professionals to pursue higher studies and work in Ireland. The Foreign Minister thanked the Irish Minister for visiting Bangladesh to further strengthen Bangladesh-Ireland bilateral relations. He suggested further enhancement of bilateral trade in goods and services through new initiatives and sought Ireland’s support for EU’s EBA trade preferences to Bangladesh until 2032 and GSP+ benefits beyond 2032. Minister Simon Coveney met with the Foreign Minister at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on March 18. Foreign Minister requests visiting Irish Minister to ease the visa process The Irish Minister congratulated the Foreign Minister on his new appointment. Highly praising Bangladesh’s sustained high economic growth, he suggested exchange of visits of delegations with special focus on bilateral trade and collaboration in the areas of technology, pharmaceuticals and energy. He also assured Irish support in favour of Bangladesh’s appeal for extension of EBA facilities until 2032 and GSP+ facilities beyond 2032. Referring to the migrant-friendly policy of the Irish government, the Irish Minister welcomed more Bangladeshi students and professionals to Ireland. The Irish Minister hoped for an early solution of the Rohingya crisis and added that an additional Euro 1.5 million humanitarian assistance would be provided to the Rohingyas in Bangladesh. The two ministers shared their views on the war in Gaza and expressed deep concern over the killing of people, particularly women and children. They agreed that the two-state solution can bring lasting peace in the region. Earlier, the Irish Minister officially opened Ireland’s first Honorary Consulate in Dhaka, which is seen as an “important milestone” in the relations between Bangladesh and Ireland. In its desire to further expand the bilateral relations with Dhaka, Ireland has recently appointed Cosmos Group Deputy Managing Director Masud Jamil Khan as its Honorary Consul in Bangladesh. Ambassador of Ireland to India, Kevin Kelly, and Masud Jamil Khan, among others, were present during the opening ceremony. The Irish Minister arrived in Dhaka on Sunday on a two-day official visit aimed at boosting bilateral trade and investment. FM thanks Ireland for opening its Honorary Consulate in Dhaka On the occasion of St Patrick’s Day, the National Day of Ireland and official opening of the Honorary Consulate of Ireland in Bangladesh, Masud Jamil Khan and Kate Khan hosted an Iftar-dinner at a Dhaka hotel on Monday. The Irish Minister, Irish Ambassador to India, former Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen, diplomats stationed in Dhaka, senior officials at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, business leaders and journalists were present at the event.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of Bangladesh on Tuesday (November 28, 2023) signed a $100 million loan agreement to improve computer science, software engineering, and information technology (IT) programs in three universities in Bangladesh. Md. Shahriar Kader Siddiky, Secretary, Economic Relations Division (ERD), and Edimon Ginting, Country Director, ADB, signed the loan agreement on behalf of Bangladesh and ADB, respectively, at a ceremony at ERD in Dhaka. “This project will help accelerate fourth industrial revolution technology adoption, realize the vision of Digital Bangladesh, and enable the country to reap the demographic dividend by creating digitally qualified young human resources and entrepreneurs,” said ADB Country Director Edimon Ginting. “This new initiative builds on ADB’s ongoing skills development support through industry partnerships to increase competitiveness and foster innovation,” he said. Read: ADB to provide $200 million to promote energy efficiency, transition in Bangladesh The Improving Computer and Software Engineering Tertiary Education Project will upgrade the computer science and engineering, software engineering, and information technology degree programs of the leading public universities in Bangladesh. The universities receiving the funding are: Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), University of Dhaka (DU), and Jashore University of Science and Technology. These programs will adopt blended learning techniques and integrate the latest technologies such as artificial intelligence, robotics, and internet of things. These programs will seek international accreditation to ensure that students get updated curricula that adhere to international standards. Read: ADB to lend $336.5 million to Bangladesh to help develop vaccine production ADB will support the establishment of modern classrooms and laboratories, collaboration and start-up spaces, and auxiliary facilities in the three universities. These facilities will incorporate climate- and disaster-resilient designs, energy- and water-saving features, and will include women-friendly amenities and services. The universities will develop capacities of teachers to be proficient in new instructional approaches and emerging digital technologies. The students and teachers from the three and other universities will also work with industry partners to come up with innovative solutions through joint research and development. Mandatory internship opportunities, career counseling, and industry placement will be provided to undergraduate students, particularly for women. Read: ADB provides $90 million for clean water, sanitation services in the Hill Tracts

State Minister for ICT Zunaid Ahmed Palak has urged Japanese IT entrepreneurs to invest more in Bangladesh, taking the opportunity of the country's "competitive strengths and policy incentives." He was speaking at the webinar "Investment Opportunities in Hi-Tech Parks in Bangladesh" hosted by the Embassy of Bangladesh in Japan, UNIDO ITPO Tokyo, and the Bangladesh Hi-Tech Park Authority (BHTPA) hosted Thursday. More than 100 Japanese companies attended the event. Palak said Japan could be a very good market for the local IT and ITES industry in the coming years. Bangladesh has a huge potential in hardware manufacturing too, as nationwide infrastructures are being built to support heavy manufacturing as well as technology manufacturing, he added. "Bangladesh offers cost-effective solutions for technology and services, making it an attractive destination for international companies looking to outsource or establish a presence in the region. It has a young and educated population that is eager to adopt and use technology, creating a large potential market for ICT services and products," Palak said. Bangladesh Ambassador to Japan Shahabuddin Ahmed said: "Japan is a very potential country for Bangladesh in terms of trade, business, investment and bringing skilled human resources. The Embassy of Bangladesh in Japan will provide all possible support to Japanese investors in starting and expanding business in Bangladesh." Khandoker Azizul Islam, managing director of the BHTPA, said the BHTPA is committed to providing necessary services to investors in hi-tech parks through its one-stop services, various incentives such as exemption of taxes and duties are also available for investors. Yuji Ando, country representative of JETRO Dhaka, said Japanese companies consider Bangladesh a promising country for business. "According to the latest JETRO survey, 71.6 percent of Japanese companies want to expand their business in Bangladesh." Read more: Japan wants to invest more in Bangladesh: Ambassador

Indian-origin IT executive Sriram Krishnan is “helping out” Twitter’s new owner Elon Musk as he makes changes to the social media platform. At the Silicon Valley venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, Krishnan is a general partner, according to an NDTV report.   Krishnan tweeted, “Now that the word is out: I’m helping out @elonmusk with Twitter temporarily with some other great people. I (and a16z) believe this is a hugely important company and can have a great impact on the world and Elon is the person to make it happen.” Read: Musk fires Twitter's board of directors becomes board's sole member Krishnan invests in early-stage consumer startups, and, according to his profile on Andreessen Horowitz’s website, he sits on the boards of Bitski, Hopin, and Polywork. Krishnan held a number of senior product positions before joining a16z, and according to his profile, most recently he “led core consumer teams at Twitter where he was responsible for products including the home timeline, new user experience, search, discovery, and audience growth”. According to his profile, he previously established and directed a number of mobile ad products for Facebook and Snap, including the Facebook Audience Network, one of the biggest networks for display advertising, and Snap’s Direct Response advertisements business. Read: Musk says Twitter blue tick being revamped

Munshi Sohag Hossen, who once peddled a van and worked in a shop to pay for his studies, has now turned into a young IT entrepreneur in Magura. Sohag, a 24-year old youth, still lives with his family at a Gucchagram house in Hazrapur Union under Magura Sadar. He went to India to pursue graduation in IT in Gujarat Technological University getting Indian ICCR scholarship in 2016. After completing graduation in India, he returned home in 2020 with a dream to be self-reliant by working in the IT sector as the digital sector of Bangladesh witnessed an impressive progress in recent years. To meet his dream, he developed a firm named ‘Pollitechs’ in Magura Sadar, which changed his life. While talking to Sohag recently, it was learnt how a permanent house helped his study and the digital revolution made him an IT entrepreneur. His family led a refugee life, losing their home and all assets in river erosion in Noakhali in the early 1980s. Then they shifted to Magura in 1986. His mother Shakhina Begum finally got a house in ‘Gucchagram’ made for homeless families in the 1990s.

Bangladesh and Mauritius will collaborate on potential areas to boost trade and investment to elevate bilateral ties. Both sides particularly mentioned the pharmaceutical, tourism and IT sectors. Also read: Romania to send Consular team to Dhaka for 3 months Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen, now on an official visit from February 13-15 February, paid a courtesy call on Mauritius Foreign Minister Alan Ganoo and his counterpart Haymandoyal Dillum where the whole gamut of bilateral issues was discussed.  

The `Hire and Train’ model, introduced by the government to create skilled human resources on frontier technology to utilise the potentials of Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), has ensured ‘80% job placement’ in IT companies, officials said. They said the beauty of the training model is that 80 percent or 856 of the 1070 trainees get jobs in different IT companies immediately after completion of the training that concluded last month. Leveraging ICT (LICT) Project of Bangladesh Computer Council (BCC) under ICT Division engaged 32 companies to provide training in `Hire and Train’ model on frontier technologies like AI, IoT, Blockchain to the 1070 persons. The training was part of the Fast-Track Future Leader (FTFL) programme of the Project. “When the government is working to develop a quality training model to ensure jobs for the trainees the `Hire and Train’ model has set a unique example by providing 80% job placement in IT companies,” said State Minister for ICT Zunaid Ahmed Palak adding that this model could be replicated in other training programmes of the ICT Division. Palak said the government has taken various programmes, including organising training, establishing Sheikh Hasina Institute of Frontier Technology (SHIFT) and Centre of Excellence (CoE) to create skilled manpower on frontier technologies which are expediting the emergence of 4IR. “We’re taking preparations to face challenges as well as utilise potentials of 4IR,” the ICT State Minister said.    When contacted, Senior Secretary of ICT Division NM Zeaul Alam said the government cannot sit idle at a time when frontier technologies are set to play a pivotal role in accelerating the fourth industrial revolution and boost the digital economy. The government will not only continue to provide training on frontier technologies, but also help provide financial assistance to the potential startups based on frontier technologies like AI, IoT, blockchain, Augmented Realities, Virtual Realities, he said. Project Director LICT Project Tarique M Barkatullah stressed the need for developing the best quality curriculum to ensure quality training and taking steps to introduce it in the educational institution. “Otherwise, we’ll be lagging behind in creating skills to be required to face the challenges of 4IR,” he added. IT-ITES Policy Adviser of LICT Project Sami Ahmed who played a key role in introducing `Hire and Train’ model, said this model has proved to be very much effective as it ensures 80 percent job placement in IT companies.  The training held on 22 different tracks on frontier technologies, including Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), Blockchain, Data Science, Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), Internet of Things (IoT) on hire and recruitment model, he said. Sami said the country’s 55 IT companies -- 35 of Dhaka and 20 of Jashore Sheikh Hasina Software Technology Park -- which are desperately looking for frontier-tech skilled manpower have benefited directly from this training.

Dhaka, Oct 14 (UNB) - World Information Technology and Service Alliance (WITSA) Secretary General Dr James Poisant has highly appreciated Bangladesh’s progress in the ICT over the last couple of years.