His Excellency Mr.
Harry Keels Thomas Jr., Ambassador of the United States
of America,Mr.
Syed Marghub Murshed, former Chairman of BTRC,Brig.
General (Retd) Md. Zakir Hossain, Chairman, BEPZA,Dr.
M. Fouzul Kabir Khan, CEO of Infrastructure Development
Company Limited (IDCOL),
Distinguished
guests,
Excellencies,
Ladies and gentlemen,
I am delighted to be here at the signing ceremony
of the Supply Agreement of DNS Satellite Earth Station
Project. I would like to thank the organizers for
inviting me.
Ladies and gentlemen,
The revolutionary advances in the area of information
and communication technologies have transformed the
economic and social matrix of the world, today. It
has provided a pervasive input to almost all areas
of human activity. It is making remarkable contributions
to the socio-economic development of the entire world
- developed and developing countries. However, in
bridging the digital divide that now exists among
countries, the developing countries must have affordable
access to relevant technologies. Governments, the
private sector, donors all have a role in creating
an effective digital environment. Such positive cooperation
will enable many developing countries to leapfrog
stages of development.
Ladies and gentlemen,
The present Government
of Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia is trying to elevate
the quality of life of the mass people by eliminating
poverty and achieving robust economic growth. Infrastructure
building, particularly in the area of information
and communication technology, is key to achieving
these goals. Keeping this in view, the Government
has liberalized the communication sector and is promoting
private investment in this sector. This has helped
us in narrowing the digital divide and in creating
employment opportunities.
Our Government is pursuing an active policy for the
development of IT sector. The policy primarily aims
at developing an efficient IT infrastructure and a
large pool of professionals to meet the needs of local
and global markets. Steps are already underway to
modernize the telecommunication sector, the backbone
of IT infrastructure.
Our mobile communications
sector is already a success story and a role model
for other developing countries. Telecom regulatory
commission has also issued several licenses for private
PSTN operators, which I believe will bring about a
big change in our social and economic environment.
Bangladesh is going
to be connected with the information super highway
through submarine cable, later this year. It will
bring revolutionary changes in the ICT sector as it
will increase international circuit and Bandwidth
for internet use. Bangladesh has the potential to
serve as a miniature silicon valley, if the programmes
of the government could be successfully implemented.
Ladies and gentlemen,
We are doing everything
possible to promote private sector investment in IT
sector .
We are encouraging donors, non-government organizations
and other development partners to help in necessary
capacity building. Government is providing Equity
and Entrepreneurship Fund (EEF) with a view to encouraging
the investors to invest in new and risky but otherwise
promising sectors, like, software. I would like to
thank the Infrastructure Development Company Limited
(IDCOL) for providing major loan to this particular
project and taking the lead by arranging the financial
support from other financial institutes. I would also
thank Prime Bank Limited and Janata Bank for their
support to the DNS project. Bangladesh Export Processing
Zones Authority (BEPZA) deserves appreciation for
providing land in Dhaka EPZ for the satellite earth
station project.
I am happy to learn
that Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission
has permitted DNS SatComm to operate overseas in addition
to domestic services.
I am also happy to know that world -renowned companies
like iDirect of USA, Cambridge Broadband of UK, Makeena
Corporation of Malaysia are supplying technology and
equipment for the SatComm Project. As I welcome the
representatives of these Companies to Bangladesh,
I assure them of our government's full support. I
also welcome the presence of His Excellency, the Ambassador
of United States and His Excellency, the High Commissioner
of UK in our midst, today. This not only symbolizes
the importance of global partnership in IT sector
but also the beginning of a long-term relationship
between DNS and the foreign companies.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The project DNS will
incorporate technology and equipment to build a comprehensive
and composite information infrastructure to offer
information communication services by using satellite
communication system, wireless broadband and fiber
optics.
I believe, this infrastructure would play a vital
role in our IT development. I wish the project all
success.
I thank you.
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