Computer Enclave
The government decisions for withdrawal and reduction of duties on computer software and hardware imports respectively could not have come a day later. In fact, these should have been already in place given the heightened computer popularity in Bangladesh which can be our stepping-stone to the 21st Century.
Despite the constraints of availability and unaffordability for many, a genuine craze for computer possession and literacy has simply broken loose leaving a fertile ground for a silicon valley of our own to be set up here. There is not only a local market for it but also a huge potential for export which when fully exploited could give us a high-tech image almost magically overnight.
This government deserves full credit for prioritising the agenda of computer industrialisation and providing definite fiscal concessions for its initiation in the country. But the whole range of incentives being offered for import, industrial enterprise and training in this sector would seem to be taken away if their actual delivery turned elusive owing to procedural bottlenecks.
Principally these will be of little avail if we fail to attract sufficient quantities of foreign and local investments to this sector. The BOI's 'one-stop service', on actual materialisation, will be a very useful tool in giving shape to the process. We understand the laws on intellectual property rights need some fine-tuning and that banking support will have to be kept ready.
Let heads be put together in a focused manner to get things moving in this sector on a crash basis.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel.
Comments