DHAKA, June 24, 2021 (BSS)- State Minister for Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Division Zunaid Ahmed Palak today said the digital economy is being built through the joint efforts of government-private sector and academia.

"Bangladesh will attain the status of digital economy through the joint initiative of government-private sector and academia. ICT exports have already reached 1 billion US dollar. By 2025, it will be increased to 5 billion US dollars," he said.

He was speaking as chief guest at the concluding session of a three-month training course for Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of IT organizations, on a virtual platform, jointly organized by the LICT Project of Bangladesh Computer Council (BCC) under Information and Communication Technology Division and the Institute of Business Administration (IBA) of Dhaka University (DU), an official release said.

He said the government has formulated a growth strategy titled 'Mission 5 Billion Dollars' for the IT industry with a view to achieving 5 billion US dollar growth by 2025.

The government wants to achieve this goal with the support of the private sector and academia, he added.

He called upon the CEOs of IT companies to play their due role in this regard.

With DU Institute of Business Administration's Professor and Director Dr Syed Ferhat Anwar in the chair, the programme was attended, among others, by BCC Executive Director Parthapratim Deb, Professor Sheikh Morshed Jahan and Bangladesh Association of Call Center and Outsourcing (BACCO) Director Rashed Noman.

Policy Advisor of the Leveraging ICT for Growth and Employment of the IT-ITES Industry (LICT-2) Project Sami Ahmed conducted the session.