Information Technology companies from Bangladesh have huge untapped scopes for investment in the burgeoning IT sector of Bhutan, Maldives and various Sub Saharan African nations, a group of high level government delegations from overseas have said recently.
Bangladesh, which itself has gone through significant digitisation of its systems and procedures in recent years, can offer valuable experience for other developing nations, they opined.
Such optimistic observations came from a number of ministers and other high level overseas representatives who were in Dhaka recently to visit the Digital World 2017 that ended in the capital Saturday.
"In the digital sphere, Bangladesh has galloped quite fast", said D.N. Dhungyel, who is the Information and Communications Minister of Bhutan during an interview with the FE.
"Information Technology sector in Bangladesh is in much better shape now than what I saw just three years ago. IT companies from here are now also making their mark in international arena", the Bhutanese Minister said while visiting the office of a leading local IT company, Dohatec in the capital this weekend.
Deputy Minister for the Ministry of Defense and National Security of Maldives Thoriq Ali Luthufi as well as the Principal Adviser to the Prime Minister of Congo Dieudonne Kalombo Nkole were also with him during the visit to Dohatec office.
"I think we all need to learn from Bangladesh", said Thoriq Ali Luthufi, who was previously also the Deputy
Minister of Transport as well as State Minister of Health for the government of Maldives.
"Digitisation in Bhutan started just a decade ago but in recent years, there have been substantial growth in our IT industry", Dhungyel told FE.
"We already have one or two Bangladeshi IT companies who are working in Bhutan but there are scopes for many more to invest", he added.
One of the biggest achievements for Bangladeshi IT companies in Bhutan came recently when Dohatec was selected for developing the Electronic Government Procurement (e-GP) system for the Bhutanese government.
In addition, Southtech Limited-another top IT firm from Bangladesh also has a strong presence in Bhutan's Information Technology arena.
"Electronic Government Procurement is something that is also in line with our state philosophy of Gross National Happiness", said the Bhutanese Minister.
"Because one of the major pillars of Gross National Happiness is good governance", Dhungyel said "And to ensure good governance, you have to guarantee transparency, efficiency and accountability and that can be achieved through a transparent and efficient government procurement system".
The Bhutanese Minister also observed that his country offers some unique competitive advantages for the Bangladeshi IT companies.
"Such advantages include visa free travel, Bhutan's political stability as well as cheap and adequate supply of electricity", he added.
Dhungyel also observed that Bangladesh's demographic dividend and its abundance of talented, well-educated young population means that the country has long term potential in the ICT arena.
"There are actually immense potentials for Bangladeshi IT companies to invest in Maldives. I really hope that the two countries will work in close partnership to identify the possible avenues", said Thoriq Ali Luthufi, the Deputy Minister from Maldives.
