State Minister for Information and Communication Technology Zunaid Ahmed Palak laid the foundation stone of Sheikh Kamal IT Training and Incubation Center at Dinajpur Government College Campus. Dinajpur-3 MP Iqbalur Rahim was present at the time.
On Tuesday a discussion meeting was organized on the occasion at Dinajpur Government College campus following the hygiene rules. Speaking as the chief guest on the occasion, State Minister for ICT Palak said, "Sheikh Kamal IT Training and Incubation Center is a unique gift of the Prime Minister for the people of Dinajpur. IT Business Incubators and Specialized Labs are being set up in various universities to work with high technology including IoT, robotics, cyber security to meet the challenges of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.”
“In just 13 years, under the leadership of Adviser to the Prime Minister on Information Technology, Sajeeb Wazed Joy, the export earnings from the technology industry stood at about 1.4 billion. We want to make 5 billion by 2025. We hope that the construction of this IT training center will be completed soon and we will start operations here in two years. From here, one thousand young people will be able to arrange their employment with training every year,” he said.
These young people will earn dollars by working in various marketplaces in Europe and America while sitting in the remote area of Dinajpur; There is no need to migrate abroad to earn dollars. This is Sheikh Hasina's Digital Bangladesh, he added.
State Minister Palak further said that now is the right time to build a sustainable high-tech manufacturing ecosystem in Bangladesh, where high-tech parks can play a leading role. A labor-dependent economy is not enough to survive the competition of emerging economies to overcome the post-Covid-19 global recession. In the current context, countries that are focusing on developing knowledge-based and technology-based industries will be able to attract FDI (foreign direct investment). Realizing this reality, high-tech park authorities need to work on developing technology-based infrastructure. The local IT market has gained unimaginable prominence during the Covid-19 epidemic. During this epidemic, the economic activities of the country have been kept active by using information technology.
Speaking at the groundbreaking ceremony, Iqbalur Rahim, Member of Parliament for Dinajpur-3 constituency, said the ICT industry has opened up the global employment market. Bangladesh is no exception. Information and communication technology has opened the door to huge possibilities to solve the problem of educated unemployed in our country. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has taken various steps to expand the ICT industry in the country to create employment opportunities for our youth. As part of this, the work of setting up Sheikh Kamal IT Training and Incubation Center in Dinajpur started today. If this project is implemented, on the one hand such unemployment will be eliminated, on the other hand our youth will become self-reliant by earning foreign currency through freelancing.
In his welcome speech, the managing director of Bangladesh Hi-Tech Park Authority (Grade-1) Dr Bikarna Kumar Ghosh said the Bangladesh High-Tech Park Authority is setting up Sheikh Kamal IT Training and Incubation Centers in 64 districts of the country to create skilled human resources in the IT sector as per the directions of the Prime Minister.
As part of this, the foundation stone was laid in Dinajpur today.
Apart from Dinajpur, Sheikh Kamal IT Training and Incubation Centers are being set up in 10 more districts (Narayanganj, Bhola, Joypurhat, Kishoreganj, Kushtia, Bandarban, Sirajganj, Chandpur, Manikganj and Meherpur) under this project. The project will be implemented in 11 districts at a cost of Taka 799 crore with the own funding of the Government of Bangladesh and under the overall supervision of Bangladesh Army.
Bangladesh Diesel Plant Limited Managing Director Brigadier General Syed Mohammad was present as a special guest at the ground breaking ceremony. Rafiqul Islam; AKM Abdullah Khan, Project Director, Establishment of Sheikh Kamal IT Training and Incubation Center (11 districts); Dinajpur Deputy Commissioner Khaled Mohammad Zaki; Superintendent of Police Mohammad Anwar Hossain; Learning and learning project director. Humayun Kabir; Dinajpur Government College Principal Professor. Abu Bakar Siddique and Dinajpur District Council Administrator and District Awami League General Secretary Azizul Imam Chowdhury. Bangladesh High-Tech Park Authority and local administration officials were present at the ground breaking ceremony.
