The top IT trade body Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS) on Sunday said the proposed budget did not reflect the industry’s demands for the development of the sector.
“The budget of the IT sector did not reflect BASIS’s proposal as expected,” vice president of the BASIS Abu Daud Khan said in a post-budget press conference in the city.
The allocation for the IT sector in the budget has increased by 16.69 per cent or about Tk 274 crore as compared to last year’s revised budget.
“However, there was no clear indication as to which projects or sectors the money would be spent on and how it would benefit the IT industry and its entrepreneurs.”
“At the same time, to encourage start-up entrepreneurs, the budget is exempting start-up entrepreneurs from all types of reporting obligations except filing income tax returns,” he said.
“We applaud the timely step taken by the government.”
“In order to encourage foreign investment in the IT sector, we had proposed extending the tax exemption from 2024 to 2030, but this was not taken into account in the budget,” Khan said.
On the other hand, local software and technology-based services (ITES) are now subject to a 5 per cent withholding value-added tax at the business level.
In addition, BASIS also proposed allocating at least 10 per cent of the budget for the internal development of all ministries and their affiliated agencies for the purchase of software and ITES.
“But we did not see any specific guideline in this year’s budget.”
Vice president for finance at BASIS Fahim Ahmed and Director of BASIS AKM Ahmedul Islam Babu were present at the press conference.
The Bangladesh Association of Call Centers and Outsourcing (BACCO) recently organised a day-long workshop on 4th Industrial Revolution in BPO Industry under the auspices of ICT Business Promotion Council (IBPC).
The workshop aims to enhancing the efficiency of the staff of BACCO member with 4th Industrial Revolution in BPO Industry.
Associate Professor of Dhaka University of ICT department Dr. BM Maynul Hossen conducted the workshop while BPO staff member attended the workshop.
Commerce Ministry additional secretary and Business Promotion Council Coordinator Abdur Rahim Khan was present as chief guest.
General Secretary of BACCO Touhid Hossain, Director Abu Daud Khan and Fazlul Haque spoke at the workshop as special guests.
Proper time management is important in this situation, as it is now extremely easy to participate in a variety of meetings and events as well as work from home with the help of technology.
A two-day long boot camp titled ‘Hardware Manufacturing Plan Readiness & Preparation’ was held at a resort in the district on Tuesday.
ICT Business Promotion Council (IBPC) and Bangladesh Computer Society (BCS) jointly organized the training session.
BCS General Secretary Kamruzzaman Bhuyian gives welcome speech in the function.
BCS president Engineer Subrata Sarkar inaugurated the camp.
Among others, BCS Vice-president Rashed Ali Bhuyian, Sony Corporation Managing Director Habibur Rahman, PC Garden chief executive Ahsanul Alam, Sinoco BD Director Zillur Rahman Sohel, Halima Group Chairman Abul Kalam Hasan Tagar, Kemen Indo Bangla Cable Private Limited Director Ashik Kumar and Raka Industries Private Limited Managing Director M Nazrul Islam spoke in the function.
Three-day “Blockchain Olympiad Bangladesh-2022” is going to begin today (Monday, June 6, 2022) with the theme “Inspiring Empowerment and Innovation.”
Planning Minister MA Mannan is expected to inaugurate the Olympiad as the chief guest on June 6 at 10 am at Krishibid Institution (KIB) auditorium.
Bangladesh Computer Council (BCC) informed this at a press conference held at the BCC auditorium, ICT Tower in the city’s Agargaon on Sunday.
The three-day event will include awards ceremony, and seminars on blockchain.
State Minister for Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Zunaid Ahmed Palak will be the chief guest at the closing ceremony to be held on June 8.