SPECIAL GOVERNMENT POLICY FOR IT INDUSTRY IN BANGLADESH

Source: EB2000
Courtesy of  Atique Rabbani, basis@dhaka.agni.com 
Managing Director, The Computers Limited (TCL)
Secretary General, Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS)

• IT (Information Technology) declared a thrust sector
• Government speedily implementing the 45 recommendations of JRC high powered committee for IT industry
• Waiver of all taxes and duties from import of computer hardware and software thus increasing affordability and proliferation of PC use in general, a prerequisite for the IT powerhouse that Bangladesh of 140 million people with more than 30 million Science graduates wishes to become
• Tax holiday for Software and IT services companies
• Export over internet or other electronic media recognized under sales contract or agreement without any need for any LCs
• Simplified tax free export earning remittance procedures with 40% retention in foreign currency
• Special funds allocated by government for extending collateral free loans to IT entrepreneurs
• 100% remittance of profit and capital gains for foreign investors
• Deregulation of process of acquisition and use of VSAT to facilitate faster, cheaper and higher bandwidth connection and to encourage more widespread internet use than that being provided currently by 20 or so Internet Service Providers (ISPs)
• Telegraph and Telephone Department’s implementation of DDN (Digital Data Network) as incountry high speed (upto 2 Mbps) surface link in Dhaka and four other major cities of Bangladesh.
• Decision to link to global highway through submarine cable link by next two years.
• Intellectual Property Rights law approved by President. Expected to be enacted in the next Parliamentary session.
• Government’s decision for IT village within Dhaka and High Tech Park on the outskirts of Dhaka on 47 and 264 acres of land respectively already earmarked.
• Government sponsoring marketing missions abroad to help propagate Bangladesh’s positive image abroad.
• Government very supportive of Private Sector’s initiative and closely works with industry associations such as BASIS and BCS.