Govt stresses on four pillars to build Smart Bangladesh: Palak

State Minister for ICT Zunaid Ahmed Palak has said four main pillars should be strengthened to build a Smart Bangladesh.

"Prime Minister's ICT Affairs Adviser Sajeeb Wazed Joy asked to give importance to four areas; Smart Citizen, Smart Economy, Paperless Smart System and Inclusive Smart Society. The present government is working towards this purpose," the state minister said while speaking as chief guest at the Shilpakala Academy of Chattogram on Sunday.

He said hi-tech parks will be set up in 12 locations of the country with a loan from India's Exim Bank and joint funding from the government.

"The government will provide Tk300 crores for the project worth about Tk2,000 crores. The remaining amount will be financed through loans. Under the project, the hi-tech park will be constructed at a cost of Tk175 crore on 9.5 acres of land in Chattogram," he added."

The parks will also be built in Keraniganj, Rajshahi, Cumilla, Rangpur, Jamalpur, Cox's Bazar, among other locations, which would help create 1,000 jobs annually.

Mentioning the country's first university campus-based IT business incubator set up at Chittagong University of Engineering and Technology (Cuet), he said, allotment papers will be handed over to 17 companies Sunday.

"The facility will house research and innovation centers. Additionally, a Bangladesh-India Digital Service Employment and Training Centre will be set up at six locations in the country. Cuet students can get six months of training in technology, including AI and block chain."

Also present at the event, Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Pranay Verma said, "After the transformation of Digital Bangladesh, we are now moving towards the goal of building Smart Bangladesh. Hi-tech parks are being constructed as a part of this. Out of the 12 locations of the project, the construction work is going to start in 8 of them. The rest will also start by June next year. I hope that the project will contribute to the development of the technology industry in Bangladesh in the future."