Roadshows to draw foreign funds in hi-tech parks
Bangladesh Hi-Tech Park Authority is set to organise roadshows in different cities around the world from September to attract foreign investors, including non-resident Bangladeshis.
The decision was taken yesterday at a meeting of the parliamentary standing committee on the ministry of posts, telecommunication and information technology, said Hosne Ara Begum, managing director of the park authority.
BHTPA plans to organise three separate programmes, including seminars and other activities, aiming to promote the three hi-tech parks.
Sylhet Electronic City will be the first to be completed, so it will be promoted first, said Begum, who is also a secretary to the ICT division.
Sylhet Electronic City, which is being built at a cost of Tk 187.13 crore on 162 acres of land, is scheduled for completion this December.
About 50,000 new jobs will be created at the park, according to government estimates.
There is a sizeable Sylheti diaspora in the UK and the government's target is to attract them, according to Begum.
The park authority is also developing the country's first hi-tech park, the Bangabandhu Hi-Tech City, in Gazipur's Kaliakoir on 355 acres of land.
The project will be completed by June next year, but few parts of the park might be inaugurated by the end of this year, according to Begum.
BHTPA is also developing the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Hi-Tech Park in Rajshahi for Tk 238.25 crore. Construction work for the 10-storied multipurpose building is already on way.
The government has also selected land in 28 districts to build IT parks and ICT incubators; BHTPA also wrote to the commissioners of the remaining 36 districts for suitable land to set up such parks there, Begum also added.
The initiative comes as part of the government's target to earn $5 billion from ICT exports and generate 20 lakh jobs by 2021.
