Internet services across the country were shut down during the quota reform movement as per the advice of Sheikh Hasina, said former State Minister for ICT Zunaid Ahmed Palak on Thursday. Palak revealed this information during an interrogation at the safe house of the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) investigation agency on Thursday, said ICT prosecutor Tajul Islam while talking to reporters. While testifying before the ICT investigation agency, Palak admitted that the internet shutdown was an attempt to suppress information about the July-August mass killings. The order to shut down internet services came directly from former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, he said. Zunaid Ahmed Palak hospitalized while on remand He clarified that the internet was not shut down due to accidents or fires during the uprising. All domestic and international internet gateways were closed under Sheikh Hasina's directive to prevent information about the genocide from spreading, Palak added. On December 12, the ICT approved the interrogation of Palak about the shutdown of the internet during the July-August quota reform movement. Menon, Inu, Palak sent to jail after remand in murder case Zunaid Ahmed Palak was arrested by the Detective Branch (DB) of police from Nikunja on August 14, and was later shown arrested in 46 cases, and the court granted him a 31-day remand in various cases. He was last remanded in a case filed by Jatrabari Police Station on November 9.  

State Minister for Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology Zunaid Ahmed Palak has announced 'Smart' service points will be set up in 500 post offices across the country. He made the remarks while talking to reporters after a meeting with ambassador of the European Union (EU) to Bangladesh Charles Whiteley at the Secretariat on Tuesday. “We have 500 post offices in the district and upazila headquarters of the country, which are in very excellent positions. We will set up smart points there alongside the government's post office services. We want to make smart service points there as public and private service providers. This service will be provided at 500 points. Which is a project of only Tk 49 crore,” said the state minister. Complications with birth registration servers have been going on for a long time. Asked whether a solution is coming to overcome this problem, he said, "We have given all the proposals and suggestions in this regard. Now that the new government has been formed, we will sit with Local Government Minister Tazul Islam. We will follow up on our suggestions and suggestions and try again.” “One is to provide quick service and the other is to ensure the security of information. Both were interrupted. We will discuss the matter soon," he added. Asked when the problem will be resolved, he said, "I will tell you in seven days." Regarding the meeting with the EU representative, the state minister started off by saying the European Union has stood by the government in this sector with all-out support, including technology and knowledge transfer. "It still is," he insisted, adding: “In the new vision of the new government, we are working in a new way. We will get financial assistance from the European Union to establish a Smart government to implement Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's Vision 2041 of Smart Bangladesh. They will invest here, they will also support their technology and knowledge.”

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

State Minister for ICT Zunaid Ahmed Palak today (September 11, 2022) requested Russia to open offshore campuses of its technical universities in Bangladesh – to develop the IT sector here and upskills youths. He made the call at a meeting with Russian Ambassador to Bangladesh, Alexander Mantytskiy, at the former’s office at ICT Tower in Dhaka’s Agargaon area. During the meeting, they discussed various issues, including cooperation in cyber security capacity building and introduction of inter-operable digital transaction (IDTP) system between Russia and Bangladesh Also read: 80% of travel market remains unexplored: Palak Besides, business and investment by Russian technology companies in robotics, machine learning, AI, AR and VR, land allocations for Russian companies in hi-tech parks here, arrangement of Bangladesh-Russia investment summit, participation of Russian IT companies in Digital World Summit here in December, and start-up exchange programs came up for discussion in the meeting. The Russian ambassador assured full cooperation in these sectors, expressing hope that the bilateral relations between the two countries in various fields including ICT will be strengthened in the near future. ICT Senior Secretary NM Zeaul Alam, Managing Director of Bangladesh Hi-Tech Park Authority Bikarna Kumar Ghosh and Director General of Digital Security Agency Khairul Amin were present, said a PID handout. Read: Nagad becomes world's fastest-growing fintech company after conquering local market: Palak

ICT State Minister Zunaid Ahmed Palak has said Bangladesh has only explored about 20 percent of its travel market while the rest of it remains unexplored. "Many foreigners and tourists are unaware of the beautiful destinations here. I hope that with the growth of ShareTrip and Startup Bangladesh, the tourism industry of the country will grow at the same pace," added. Palak was speaking at a programme in Dhaka Sunday night, marking online travel agent ShareTrip's third anniversary. Also read: Hi-tech parks to help Bangladesh become knowledge-based economy: Palak At the event, ShareTrip handed over awards to market players for their contributions to the travel and tourism industries during 2020-2021. Sami Ahmed, managing director of Startup Bangladesh, also attended the event as a special guest. ShareTrip Co-Founder and CEO Sadia Haque and founder Kashef Rahman were present. Sami said: "I am excited to announce Startup Bangladesh's investment in ShareTrip. Startup Bangladesh proudly welcomes ShareTrip to the family, an organisation that has accumulated 50 percent of the country's online travel market in only three years." Also read: Judiciary to be fully digitized within 2 years: Palak Sadia said: "We are an active changemaker in the travel ecosystem. We aim to revolutionise the domestic hotel industry, which is still at a very nascent stage in Bangladesh."

Nagad as a mobile financial services provider in Bangladesh has not only challenged the local market but also become the world's fastest-growing fintech company, State Minister Zunaid Ahmed Palak said Sunday. The state minister said this after inaugurating Bangladesh Technocity and Felicity IDC in Kaliakoir at Bangabandhu Hi-Tech City. Read: Mobile Phone Consumers' Association calls Ookla, OpenSignal reports on Bangladesh dubious About the country's ICT sector, Palak said: "We are witnessing an IT revolution for the last 13 years. But to avoid making the same mistakes as the apparel industry, Prime Minister's ICT Affairs Advisor Sajeeb Wazed Joy drafted a comprehensive ICT policy." "This high-tech city is a part of it. While it took the neighbouring countries 30 to 40 years to construct a hi-tech park, Bangladesh's hi-tech city was constructed in only 13 years."  

State Minister for Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Zunaid Ahmed Palak has said Hi-Tech park will turn the Khulna industrial area into a technology-based zone and create huge employment opportunities for its youths. He said this at Khulna Hi-Tech Park foundation stone laying ceremony in the city on Tuesday. The State Minister and Khulna City Corporation Mayor Talukder Abdul Khaleque  jointly laid the foundation stone at Tutpara . Also read: PM urges South Korea to invest in Hi-tech Park The Hi-Tech Park in Khulna will be constructed on four acares of land at a cost of Tk 170 crore under the Hi-Tech park construction project at district level by the ICT Ministry funded by the Indian government. The Hi-Tech park which is expected to be completed by two years will provide training to 1,000 youths and jobs to 3,000 youths. Addressing the even Palak said it will have significant contribution in building a smart Bangladesh from a labor-dependent economy to a knowledge-based, developed economy. Also read: Hi-tech park to be developed in Keraniganj Among others present on the occasion were Khulna-2 MP Sheikh Salahuddin Jewel, Information and Communication Technology Department Senior Secretary NM Ziaul Alam, Managing Director of Bangladesh Hi-Tech Park Bikarna Kumar Ghosh, acting Assistant High Commissioner of India to Khulna Asim Kumar Santa and officials concerned of the ICT division.

State Minister for Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Zunaid Ahmed Palak has said the country's judiciary system will be made fully digitized within the next two years. ‘E-Judidicary’, a project with a budget of Tk 2,224 crore is being undertaken aimed at making the judicial system fully technology dependent and making the process more cost friendly and time saving for people as well as making the process easier for judges and lawyers, he said. Palak said this while attending the inauguration programme of online cause list, judicial monitoring dashboard and My Court App in the city arranged jointly by the Law and Justice Division and UNDP Bangladesh. Also read: Present world is not of competition but collaboration: Palak He said, “Around 2,000 courtrooms will be digitized through this project and there will be an audio recording pool system at them. Besides, 14 central jails will be made digital. Camera trial rooms will be installed in 64 district jails so that inmates can participate in the hearing virtually.” Palak said state owned web-based video conferencing platform ‘Boithok’ app will be used to ensure confidentiality and a four tier data center will be established at the Supreme Court to ensure the sovereignty of judicial information. Also read: Palak asks youths to be self-employed in IT sector He said 2,000 laptops would be provided to judges, desktops for office staff and 75,000 lawyers and judges would be trained to ensure a digital justice system. In addition, a cyber cafe will be set up in each bar association with a video conferencing system. The state minister said the maximum use of technology in the Department of Judiciary and Health will be ensured in the current fiscal year after the construction of these infrastructures by A2I, UNDP and ICT departments.

Over the next 20 years, Bangladesh will have to cope with rapid changes in agriculture, education, health, transportation, communication and the way the country's people work and conduct businesses, said State Minister for ICT Zunaid Ahmed Palak. He was delivering a keynote on the second day of Huawei APAC Digital Innovation Congress 2022 Friday. Palak said: "We have achieved the Digital Bangladesh – Vision 2021. Now our goal is to become a 'Smart Bangladesh' – an innovative, knowledge-based advanced economy by 2041." Also Read: Palak visits Microsoft firm in USA "The Smart Bangladesh Vision 2041 has set specific targets for different indicators. We aim to reach a per capita income of $12,500 from $2,594, making Bangladesh the 23rd largest economy in the world by 2041." The Huawei APAC Digital Innovation Congress, jointly held by Huawei and the ASEAN Foundation, has gathered over 1,500 government officials, experts, researchers, partners, and analysts from more than ten countries in the Asia-Pacific to explore the future of digital innovation and the digital economy. Topics include ongoing advancements in ICT, speeding up digital transformation across industries, as well as green and low-carbon development.    

State Minister for ICT Zunaid Ahmed Palak has said Bangladesh wants to work as a knowledge partner with Tripura in making ‘Smart Tripura’ alongside building Smart Bangladesh by 2041. “Since Bangladesh and Tripura share similar climate, environment and culture, if they want they can formulate policies together on smart education, healthcare, agriculture and environment in building innovative nations,” he said. The state minister made this remark while chairing the 'Digital Bangladesh IT Business Summit 2022' held at an Agartala hotel in the Indian state of Tripura on Thursday, said a PID handout on Friday. Read: Abul Kalam Azad to be conferred with Japan's second-highest civilian award Chief Minister of Tripura Biplab Kumar Deb was present as the chief guest at the IT summit, organised jointly by Bangladesh Hi-Tech Park Authority of the ICT Division and Bangladesh mission in Agartala. Highlighting the objectives of the summit, Palak said Sajeeb Wazed Joy, the Architect of Digital Bangladesh, has created opportunities for the talented youths of Bangladesh. The employment for some 2 million youths was created in the IT sector of Bangladesh, he said. Within only 13 years, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina transformed Bangladesh into a middle-income digital Bangladesh with her honesty, foresightedness and courage, he said. Read: Roads better than ever, BNP lost their way: Obaidul Quader Palak said Bangladesh and India share a cordial, friendly and trustable relationship. Bangladesh wants to move forward together by making the relationship closer and stronger, he added.