Under the umbrella of the Bangabandhu Hi-Tech City in Gazipur, Bangladesh is going to be an electronics device manufacturing country for local and foreign hardware companies.
Till now, the Bangabandhu Hi-Tech City in Gazipur has already been able to attract 120.76 million US dollar investment as the government provides incentives for Investment in technology sector, official data shows.
Meanwhile, local and foreign brands have established factories reaping benefits of the government policy to promote local manufacturing.
“The government led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has reduced tax on import of around 100 spare parts related to electronics to attract foreign companies to local assembling,” said Zunaid Ahmed Palak, state minister for ICT.
The State Minister for ICT said, “At least 39 hi-tech parks are being developed across the country. Bangladesh plans to launch eight new hi-tech parks this year and tap Tk 12 billion investments by 2023.”
Official sources said, in joint venture with foreign investment, two local tech conglomerates named Summit Tehnolopolic and Tecnocity led by Fibe@Home developed infrastructures for the investors.
Besides, some local and foreign companies --Samsung, Xiaomi and Nokia have already started assembling smart phones in the ICT park area.
BHTPA has allocated 187 acre spaces to 70 companies of which 7 companies are operational.
Shafiqul Islam, a director of Bangabandhu Hi-Tech City, said the government has invested Tk 10 billion for the development of the parks as the economic hub for the hi-tech industries.
“Currently, there are eight parks in operation while eight more parks will be opened by this year to support the local manufacturing industry. Now we can meet 75 percent of local market demand of smart phones through manufacturing locally,” he said.
According to the officials, Sheikh Kamal IT Training and Incubation Centers will be established in all 64 districts of the country to develop skilled workforce to meet the future demand.
Five more such parks including Bangabandhu Hi-Tech City across the country are ready to receive investment, the official said.
Barendra Silicon City in Rajshahi and Sylhet Electronic City in Companiganj are focusing on manufacturing of hardware electronics outside the capital Dhaka.
Besides, BHTPA authorities allocated plots to foreign and local software firms in Sheikh Hasina Software Technology Park in Jashore and Janata Hi-tech Park in Dhaka. Major local and international companies are opting to invest in the parks.
Korean smart phone brand Samsung, local firms Summit Technopolis, Walton, Chinese state-run organisation SinoPharm and Oryx are among the leading companies who got allocation of space.
Oryx Biotech recently announced a mega-investment worth $300 million to establish a plant at Bangabandhu Hi-Tech City injecting serial investments in biotechnology.
The firm will develop plant at Hi-Tech City to reach annual production of 1,200 tonnes of plasma which will be used in medicine for many deadly diseases.
Besides, local company DataSoft is assembling smart wrist bands and two types of laptops at its plant in Bangabandhu Hi-Tech City in Gazipur.
The company acclaimed global attention by exporting Internet of Things devices to Saudi Arabia from the plant.
