PM opens Digital World Expo-2017

Staff Correspondent:  Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday inaugurated the four-day Digital World Exposition-2017, the biggest ICT exposition in Bangladesh, at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre with the slogan ‘Ready for Tomorrow’.

In her speech, the prime minister said, "We have wielded the youths with latest IT technology. So the whole world in their fist now and I hope that they will take the country forward and make the dream of Bangabandhu true".

Sheikh Hasina hoped that the ICT sector would be one of the largest contributors to country's economic development by 2021 as promising youths have already showed off their capacity in this field.

"Bangladesh's economy is progressing fast with 7.28 percent annual growth. We won't need to have a look at any other sector if we can exploit the potentialities of the ICT," she said.

Bangladesh's foreign exchange earnings would reach US$ 5 billion a year by 2021 which is now one billion dollar, the prime minister said.

Sheikh Hasina urged all irrespective of political thoughts and opinions to come forward for building a prosperous digital Bangladesh to be enriched science and information technology sector.

State Minister for Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Zunaid Ahmed Palak, Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Post, Telecom and Information Technology Ministry Imran Ahmed, BASIS President Mostafa Jabbar and Secretary of the Information and Communication Technology Division Subir Kishore Chowdhury were present at the inaugural session.

ICT Division in collaboration with Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS) has organised the exposition.

Official sources said around 400 exhibitors from Bangladesh and abroad including policy makers, senior government officials and ministers, industry leaders, civil society spokespersons, investors and multinational software vendor are taking part in the event.

A good number of ministers from different countries, including Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, the Philippines, Congo and the Maldives, are attending the fifth edition of Digital World.
Some 170 companies, including Google, Facebook, Motorola and Qualcomm, have signed up for the exposition.

It will remain open from 10:00am to 8:00pm every day.



risingbd/Dhaka/Dec 6, 2017/Yeamin/Mukul