November 13, 2014

Some 11,000 entrepreneurs of over 4,500 "Digital Centres" joined a mega conference titled "Digital Centre Entrepreneurs Conference" arranged by the Bangladesh government on Tuesday. The Digital Centres have been creating a digital revolution in the country by making accessible to the remotest parts the benefits of Information and Communications Technology (ICT). The event was attended by the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who called upon the youths to become IT entrepreneurs and create jobs for others. In a related development, the government has decided to set up separate IT support centers in all public universities aiming to foster young entrepreneurs.

Bangladesh government on Monday signed a US$ 1.1 billion agreement with the Chinese company, Sonohydra Corporation Ltd, for the river training works of the Padma Bridge project. Padma Bridge Project Director Shafiqul Islam and Deputy Chief Engineer of Sonohydra Corporation Ltd inked the agreement on behalf of their respective sides at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre in Dhaka. The Padma Bridge is among the six projects that are under direct supervision of the Fast Track Project Monitoring Committee headed by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

In its latest report on Least Development Countries (LDCs), the World Trade Organization (WTO) has hailed Bangladesh’s export growth for acquiring significant share in the global market for manufacturing and service products. The report showed that Bangladesh tops the LDCs for manufacturing exports, earning over $29.1 billion in 2013. In service exports, Bangladesh achieved substantial growth with more than $1.87 billion in earnings. The report noted that Bangladesh’s ICT sector would be a major source of export earnings in coming days in addition to the RMG sector.

In line with its success from the previous six years, the government is all set to distribute 330 million school textbooks to 44.5 million students on 1st January 2015, the start of the next school year in Bangladesh. In the current academic year, Bangladesh created a world record by supplying 300 million free schoolbooks to 37 million school students on 2nd January 2014 as part of “Textbook Festival Day”. This policy of the AL government has not only contributed to increasing primary enrolment rate to 100% but also substantially cut down drop out rates.

Japan has proposed to invest in hybrid bamboo plantations in Karnaphuli Paper Mills (KPM) areas of Bangladesh aiming to boost production of paper through uninterrupted supply of raw materials. KPM is the largest paper-producing factory of the country. The proposal came from the former Foreign Minister of Japan, Tetsuro Yano as he met with the Bangladesh Industries Minister on Sunday.

Bangladeshi President Abdul Hamid recently attended the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)’s CEO Summit 2014 held in Beijing, China. While addressing the summit, the Bangladesh President reiterated his country’s interest to become a member country of the APEC. He expressed hoped that the APEC would consider soon lifting its existing moratorium on including new members. APEC is a forum for 21 Pacific Rim member economies that seeks to promote free trade and economic cooperation throughout the Asia-Pacific region.