State Minister for ICT Zunaid Ahmed Palak has urged the US IT companies to investment in Bangladesh’s information technology (IT) sector availing themselves of attractive incentive packages for investing in the country’s IT parks.

Palak made the call at a roundtable discussion held at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York on Friday, according to a message received here from New York on Monday.

High officials and trade body leaders of Bangladesh and the investors and representatives of US IT companies joined the roundtable organised by Bangladesh Hi-tech Park Authority in collaboration with the Embassy of Bangladesh in Washington, DC.

The function was coordinated by Business Council for International Understanding (BCIU), a prominent think tank founded by US President Dwight Eisenhower in 1955.

Palak replied to a volley of questions raised by inquisitive potential US investors and the representatives of IT and technology giant companies during a question-answer session of the function.

Highlighting various initiatives taken in line with its plan to build ‘Digital Bangladesh’ as envisioned in the Vision 2021, the ICT state minister said the government has been establishing 12 IT parks across the country. “The implementation of the Jessore Software Park is about to complete while the building of Kaliakoir Hi-Tech Park on 332 acres of land is progressing fast.”

The ICT infrastructure and internet facilities have been expanded up to rural level when an attractive incentive package has been offered for the investors in the hi-tech park creating an enabling environment and attractive destination for the investors, Palak added.

He urged the US investors and representatives of IT companies to take advantage of the lucrative incentive packages and liberal investment climate prevailing in Bangladesh.

In an instant response, some of the participating companies which have already invested in Bangladesh renewed interest to invest and indicate their readiness to benefit from the liberal investment climate prevailing in Bangladesh.

On the sidelines of the event, two memorandum of understandings (MoUs) were signed- one between Bangladesh Computer Council (BCC) and American Association of Bangladeshi Engineers and Architects (AABEA), and another tripartite MoU between GAP, BCC and BASIS for cooperation in building up start-ups in Bangladesh in the ICT sector.

Zunaid Ahmed Palak, Executive Director of BCC S M Ashraful Islam, Policy Adviser of Access to Information (A2I) Programme Anir Chowdhury, Consul General of Bangladesh in New York Md Shameem Ahsan, President of Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS) Shameem Ahsan, Project Director of Support to Development of Kaliakoir Hi-Tech Park A N M Shafiqul Islam, AABEA Washington DC Chapter President Mr Golam Mowla were, among others, present.