Japan holds great potential for Bangladesh's ICT sector, with the Fareast nation on course to generating a lion's share of the government's export target of $5 billion by 2021, said entrepreneurs yesterday.
Within the next five to 10 years Bangladesh might be the main driver of Japan's ICT market if the local companies can maintain the relationship and supply orders according to the contracts, said Rashad Kabir, managing director of Dream71.
Kabir's comment came in a discussion on the second day of the 15th edition of the BASIS SoftExpo, currently taking place at International Convention City Bashundhara.
The exposition's organisers -- BASIS and the ICT division -- kept several sessions on Japan with the view to harnessing the potential the country holds.
Currently, at least 10 Bangladeshi companies are earning over $100 million a year from Japan, according to Kabir, also the chairman of a BASIS-Japan focus group.
Kabir's company Dream71 has entered into a joint venture agreement with a Japanese company named Dream in Pocket.
“We even found some Bangladeshi companies that are earning 40 percent of their revenue from that market.”
Japan is also giving Bangladeshi companies huge importance, he said while moderating an experience-hearing session.
Yuko Baba, chief marketing officer of DataSoft Japan Inc., sister concern of local tech giant DataSoft, said their company was doing very well.
The company has established 10,000 smart homes in Tokyo using the next generation Internet of Things (IoT) technology.
Infocrat, another local software company that opened an office in Japan in 2015, said they were handling big data for some Japanese companies and were getting good business there.
“Japan is a very important market for us and that's why our chief executive officer primarily works from there,” said Md Mahadi Hasan, Infocrat's chief of Bangladesh operations.
This year, 13 Japanese ICT companies are participating at the BASIS SoftExpo.
On the other hand, 29 Bangladeshi companies will attend the Japan ICT fair in May.
“Our business volume in Japan is growing at a satisfactory rate,” said Mahboob Zaman, managing director of DataSoft Systems, who was the first to test the waters in Japan. BASIS has opened a dedicated Japan desk.
