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Industry profile
According to BASIS survey, there are over 800 registered and ITES companies in Bangladesh. There are another few hundred of small and home-based software ventures doing business for both local and international market.
30000+ Professionals
The software segment is relatively new in the market; however, the segment is showing healthy growth in terms of export earnings. According to Bangladesh Bank sources, export earnings from Software and ITES was 250 US$ million in 2009-10. The software companies in Bangladesh mainly focus on servicing the IT/ITES needs of the local
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Software industry of Bangladesh in international market leading sectors like Garments, Banks and Government. At the same time, leveraging the global nature of the software business, the local entrepreneurs are always looking for international opportunities. Thanks to these efforts, Bangladesh now has become one of the most potential outsourcing destinations in the world.
Export
According to the Bangladesh Bank source, export earnings from Software was 27.01 million US$ in the fiscal year 2005-06, registering a high growth of 113 per cent from year (2004-05). The following chart shows the Bangladesh software export earning for year 2006-11. 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 Software export Yearly growth 26.08 -3.44% 24.09 -4.83% 32.91 32.59% 35.36 7.44% 45.31 28.14%
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Labor force
Bangladesh enjoys a clear competitive advantage in its IT labor force. The most significant advantage of the Bangladeshi workforce is the low wage rates. The salaries for
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Software industry of Bangladesh in international market IT professionals could be as low as USD 75/month. On the other hand, the higher salary ranges at approximately USD 1,000-1,200/month. The quality of the graduates coming out of various institutions is satisfactory. Bangladeshi students have proved their potentials in the international competitions by winning a number of programming contests.
Infrastructure
Bangladesh has been building its infrastructure support for the IT industry over the years. The country ensured global connectivity by connecting to the submarine cable. Highspeed Internet connectivity through fiber optic cables costs about USD 2.67/per month for 128 kbps connection. The existing VSAT backbone will continue remain the major Internet infrastructure until the new Backbone (Submarine Cable Connectivity) operates 100 per cent. There are as many as 150 ISPs in the country and the competition among Internet service providers has resulted in significant improvement in their services. Most of the ISPs are now providing 24/7 on-site technical support.
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Software industry of Bangladesh in international market Government developed a hi-tech park at Kaliakoir, about 40 k.m. from Dhaka city in an area of 119 hectares (with additional 55 hectares available for future expansion), which is envisaged as an integrated and ultra-modern techno-township, The duty free trade access to the first world countries also provides an attractive incentive for Bangladesh to merge into the international market with huge potential. Added to special policy benefits for the ICT sector, the favorable investment policies for FDI should encourage companies from other nations to venture into the Bangladesh ICT industry.
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Focus on factors beyond low labor cost that drive outsourcing decisions in favor of Bangladesh the human factors and soft skills: Focus for the most part stuck on the cheap labor aspect of Bangladesh with little consideration for sound and professional business practices and communications. Awareness campaign (industry associations and government) - this issue demands much more attention as Bangladesh finds itself a beginner in the global e-Commerce game, and it is not the only player banking on a cheap and plentiful labor force. Identify singular, marketable strength Programs that provide technical assistance in defining business skills and communicating and demonstrating their importance (industry associations). IT Training target qualified labor over cheap labor: Introduce training options that are beyond question international standards with success measured externally. Allow market to determine an institutes viability and quality decrease government involvement. Expatriate Bangladeshi experts should be encouraged to set up software development companies. Good governance reforms and increased transparency: It would enable marked improvements in this area and remove some of the obstacles to successful growth in not only the ICT sector, but other sectors as well. Training the trainers by non-resident Bangladeshis (NRBs): Build local capacity for quality training by limiting level of involvement by NRBs or any outside experts to the initial phase only.
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Government incentives to companies for on-the-job training Shift away from government lead and toward greater private sector role in initiating activities such as internships, mentorships, and reality adjustments for trainers Secure the funding for ICT program Create a transparent mechanism for reliable distribution of funds. Build private sector advisory group to formulate additional options. Form neutral Placement Cell to act as hub for activities. Establish clear demand: numbers and skills sets: Work to further establish numbers on demand side, especially international markets. Search for specialized, standardized curricula that suit the needs of industry at home and abroad. Send Marketing Missions to North America / E. U. consisting of Members from IT Associations and EPB, on a regular basis. Empower Export Promotion Bureau to ensure regular participation in all major International Exhibitions / Fairs for IT products and services.
Conclusion:
Bangladesh has a huge potentiality in ICT sector. The existence of a strong and vibrant Software & ITES Industry is necessary for attaining growth as this is the one very important force which can drive other sectors in achieving their objectives through efficiency, accountability, and transparency. In addition to generating significant number of employment for educated youths, this sector can add important value to the country by making other sectors viable, productive, and efficient. Currently, more than 800 registered software companies in the country are employing more than 30,000+ high skilled professionals. It should be noted that the local value addition for software export earning is 100% whereas other big export have only 10% to 15% value addition. Bangladeshs strength lies with its people its workforce. The inputs required by the software industry are that of manpower, intelligence. These factors clearly point out that the software industry has the opportunity to grow into the leading industry of the country. There is a large scope for software market expansion. The domestic market and the volume of exports of software products could be raised to Tk. 70 billion by 2014 if the government gives proper attention and support to the sector. If the government can provide the industry with right environment like adequate power facility, the ODCs can come up quickly resulting in employment generation, branding, reaching new technological skills and facilitating outsourcing
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