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Developing ICT in Small Businesses in Bangladesh

10 June 2004

Pierre Berthelot, Deputy Director of the Secretariat's Special Advisory Services Division
"This project is part of CFTC's support to member countries in strengthening their enterprise competitiveness"
More than 100 participants from the public and private sectors in Bangladesh involved in information and communications technology (ICT) attended a Project Initiation Seminar in Dhaka on 6 June 2004 under a Commonwealth Fund for Technical Co-operation (CFTC) initiative to promote the development of small business ICT strategies for Bangladesh.

This project aims to provide a competitiveness strategy for the sector, which includes an ICT development plan.

Speaking at the opening of the seminar, Dr Abdul Moyeen Khan, Bangladesh's Minister for Science and Information and Communication Technology, said: "This project, a first for Bangladesh, is vital to our country's economic development activities as ICT is one of our core thrust areas. The novelty of this project is that it attempts to integrate the commercial and socio-economic advantages of ICT development for Bangladesh. We are grateful to the Commonwealth Secretariat for their commitment to Bangladesh's economic development through the initiation of this project."

Participants at the seminar, hosted by Bangladesh's Ministry of Science and Information and Communication Technology, were informed of the CFTC project plan and schedule for commencement in July 2004, with the first phase, followed by full implementation by March next year.

Pierre Berthelot, Deputy Director of the Secretariat's Special Advisory Services Division, said: "This project is part of CFTC's support to member countries in strengthening their enterprise competitiveness, particularly at the Small and Medium Enterprises level, through the development of appropriate sectoral strategies. By initiating this workshop, the Government of Bangladesh has shown a great degree of commitment towards the success of the initiative."

The seminar was also attended by representatives from the donor community, which included the Asian Development Bank, the UK Department for International Development, Swiss Contact and USAID, who have pledged support for the ICT project.

 

CNIS - the Commonwealth News and Information Service Issue 187      9 June 2004

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