Basis SoftExpo 2020 concludes

"Ten crore internet users in Bangladesh are served by 1,700 internet service providers," said Minister of State for Information and Communication Technology Division Zunaid Ahmed Palak.

He stated this yesterday at the closing ceremony of the 16th installment of the Basis SoftExpo 2020 held at the capital's International Convention City Bashundhara. The event was organised by the Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (Basis).

"Eleven years ago, the country had only 56 lakh internet users. But in the last 11 years, the number of internet users increased to 10 crore," the minister said.

"Just 11 years ago we earned USD 26 million from exporting software and other tech-related services. But now, we have reached the USD 1 billion export earnings mark.

"Foreign IT institutions will be more interested in receiving software support from us when we can meet the local demand," he added.

Bangladesh is projected to have a demand for software worth Tk2,000 crore in the next few years.

Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi attended the event as the chief guest.

At the event, the commerce minister launched a new website for Basis members – one that will provide information about government projects and companies that work under a ministry.

Syed Almas Kabir, president of Basis, emphasized that Bangladesh needs to be digitised with the help of local IT and software-related firms.

The expo concluded with a prize-giving ceremony where four IT companies were awarded under different categories.

Additionally, at the expo, five universities were rewarded by Basis for best innovations in IT.