They also urged their Indian counterparts to assist Bangladesh in winning a larger share of the global IT business.
Bangladesh has a huge shortage of skilled IT professionals as the educational institutions in the country cannot produce the expected number of skilled people, said Mustafa Jabbar, president of Bangladesh Computer Samity (BCS), the national association of ICT companies.
The IT institutes only provide training to the professionals, which Jabbar said is not enough.
He spoke at a press briefing after a seminar on “ICT development in Bangladesh: opportunities and challenges” organised by the BCS, Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS), and India-Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Entrepreneurs and analysts from both the countries attended the discussion at Cirdap auditorium in the city.
Abdul Matlub Ahmad, president of the India-Bangladesh Chamber, said, “We want to go for joint ventures with Indian companies.”
Bangladesh’s IT sector has the potential to become the second largest foreign currency earner after garment, Ahmad said.
Bangladesh now exports garment products worth $21 billion a year, while earnings from software exports stand at around $100 million.
Utpal Das, managing director at Gazelle Information Technologies, a Kolkata-based training institute, said India has formed a Rs 500-crore fund a couple of years ago to provide training to its IT professionals.
“The Bangladesh government will have to be proactive and India is ready to provide training to Bangladeshi IT professionals,” he said.
He also suggested Bangladesh should ensure women’s participation in the sector in a bigger way.
Utpal called upon Bangladesh not to depend on others, rather create its own resources as well as opportunities.
In a technical session, PM Sundararajan, chief executive officer of SunSmart Global Ltd, a London-based software firm, advised Bangladesh to showcase its products and skills globally to get more business.
India took 20 years to reach the current position but the industry trends are changing fast and new opportunities will arise for new players, he said.
Sundararajan said the entire IT business of India is only 30 percent of the total business of Microsoft in the US; so business opportunities are always there.
He suggested Bangladesh should now concentrate on mobile and tablet related software or application as the era of desktop computers or laptops is fading. In the inaugural session, Bangladesh’s ICT Minister Mostafa Faruque Mohammed said the event will increase business opportunities for the entrepreneurs of both of the countries.
Indian High Commissioner Pankaj Saran said his government will provide training scholarships to Bangladeshi businesspeople and ensure hassle-free business visas.
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Quelle/Source: The Daily Star Online, 25.08.2013
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