Prime Minister’s Economic Affairs Adviser Dr Mashiur Rahman has said the present government has always been a business-friendly government and will continue to do so.
He said semiconductors and high-tech already are and will remain highly demanded items in the foreseeable future.
The Adviser was speaking as the chief guest at a seminar on ‘Hi Tech Opportunities in Bangladesh’ jointly organised by Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Dhaka (MCCI) and the veterans of the Semiconductor Industry from Silicon Valley, California, USA on Thursday.
PM's Adviser thanked MCCI for organising the seminar and assured that the government will always support any such initiative to come to fruition, reports UNB.
MCCI has been seriously working to develop an ecosystem for setting up the semiconductor industry in Bangladesh.
The country being one of the fastest growing economies in the world with rapid business expansion and development, it is now essential to critically consider diversifying the manufacturing base with high-tech, high-value-added production capturing future potentials of global businesses.
The primary objectives of the seminar were to know and further explore existing and potential knowledge sources on semiconductor industry, learn how to overcome the challenges for developing an ecosystem, gain knowledge of the best practices of other countries and how effectively those practices can be adopted in Bangladesh, and how best the Bangladeshi diaspora can be effectively involved in the journey.
NM Zeaul Alam PAA, Senior Secretary, Information and Communication Technology Division was present as special guest.
Habibullah N. Karim, Vice-President, MCCI moderated the seminar and Farooq Ahmed, Secretary General & CEO, MCCI was facilitator.
Panel discussants from MCCI were: Md. Saiful Islam, President, MCCI, Dr. Arif Dowla, Convener, Committee on Semiconductor, MCCI, Mohammed E. Rahman, CEO & President, ULKASEMI, M. A. Jabbar, Managing Director, DBL Group, Dr. M. Rokonuzzaman, Professor, Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, North South University.
Panel discussants from Silicon Valley were: Dr. Yusuf Haque, Chief Technology Officer and Co Founder, Exo Imaging, CEO, SliceX Inc., Managing Director, Maxim Integrated Products; Dr. Khandker Nazrul Quader, Chief Technical Officer and EVP, Sunrise Memory, President & CEO , SK Hynix Memory Solutions, Senior Vice president, Memory R&D; Global Memory Organization, SanDisk Corp; Mustafiz Choudhury, Chief Technical Officer, MIPS & Wave Computing, Partner at multiple Venture Capital Funds, Founder & VP Engineering, Silicon Spice, Founder & COO InSilica Inc., Co-led Development of 2 generations of Intel’s flagship processors; Dr. Syed Hossainy, Director Applied Bioengg at University of California, Berkeley Corporate Science Officer/Distinguished Science & Technology Fellow at Start Up & Public Co., Director and Sr. Research Fellow Abbott; Dr. Khalid Azim, Vice President, ASIC Engineering, Sigma Sense, Director of Design Engineering, Unipixel, Senior Director Touch Controller, Elo Touch Solutions; Dr. Sayeef Salahuddin, TSMC Distinguished Professor of Electrical Engr & Computer Science, University of California, Berkeley Co Director of Berkeley Device Modeling Center, Chair of IEEE Electron Device Society, 2014-2016.
MCCI President Md. Saiful Islam thanked the distinguished guests who attended the event either physically or virtually.
He emphasized the importance of hi-tech front where Bangladesh is still in infancy.
With LDC-graduation and loss of preferential tariffs in its export markets imminent, Bangladesh would do well to move away from its overdependence on readymade garments (RMG) in the export basket.
Exploring the semiconductor industry could be the start of the diversification of products that Bangladesh needs. He hoped that this seminar can be the start of the knowledge and guidance sharing that is required for success.
The discussants said it was a thought-provoking and believed that it will open new windows of opportunity for Bangladesh.
Anis A. Khan, Director, MCCI delivered the vote of thanks. He also thanked all the discussants and participants for making the interactions fruitful.
