Can tech powerhouses emerge from
Bangladesh?
Technology also contributes to
growth by increasing competition. It is estimated that in the US, online goods
are on average 10% cheaper than those sold by traditional bricks and mortar
stores. This is partly because of increased price transparency and the ability
of consumers to use online price comparison tools to find the cheapest
products. Secondly the Internet e-commerce platforms, most famously Amazon,
offer massive economies of scale.
Ebay auction sites were also a
disruptive technology in retailing space by making the sale of used products
and new goods much easier, again putting downwards pressure on prices.
So Internet markets are argued to be
more efficient due to the ease of information transmission, which leads to
lower transaction costs. Different pricing and selling mechanisms, such as
online auctions, also contribute to increased efficiency.
We have already seen a rapid growth
of e-commerce in Bangladesh with the Digital Bangladesh initiative continuing
to encourage the expansion of this sector. Recent initiatives by Bangladesh
Bank to allow e-payment facilities online, using credit cards such as by enabling
Paypal in Bangladesh, will help the growth of the sector even further. In a
country like Bangladesh, where supply chains are not that efficient, ICT will
reduce the scope for price distortions and manipulation by unscrupulous
middlemen to ensure that consumers receive fair prices.
To the extent that we accept that
the effective utilisation of technology can have a transformative impact on the
economy, it is important to determine what steps policymakers should take in
Bangladesh. Firstly, they should ensure world class digital infrastructure and
networks at competitive prices. In this area, the Bangladesh government has
made major progress in recent years with the dramatic fall in broadband prices,
the rapid rollout of 3G services, and the prospects for fast introduction in
the near future of 4G and LTE.
Secondly, the government can
encourage the development of a strong local IT ecosystem. Thirdly, expanding
the IT skills base is critical with more vocational colleges to increase the
supply of programmers and IT management and marketing professionals. Effective
use of ICT can also play a key role in female empowerment by bringing more
women into the workplace and allowing them greater flexibility in working from
home/working hours that enables greater balance with family commitments.
It is also important that the
government ensures a stable and supportive regulatory framework both in terms
of avoiding regulatory volatility and inconsistent or negative taxation
policies for the IT sector.
The government has committed to
establishing 12 new technology parks in Bangladesh, with the first being the
238 acre park in Kaliakoir near Dhaka. But there are some other encouraging
initiatives from the private sector in the pipeline. Sajeeb Wazeb Joy, ICT
Advisor to the Prime Minister, noted in his speech at the Digital World 2015
that: “One of the problems is financing. In America, new innovations don’t get
support from the government. They get their funding from the private sector.”
In this context, the announcement in
November that Fenox, a Silicon Valley venture capital firm, was raising a $200m
fund for Bangladesh IT, is especially encouraging. Kyle King from Fenox noted:
“Bangladesh has a large, young
population, an outstanding Internet and mobile growth with an unexplored
entrepreneurial system which all make Bangladesh a place for innovation,
discovery, change, disruption, creation, and investment … For Fenox, Bangladesh
qualifies as the right country to be a part of in terms of developing the
world’s most influential startups.”
Sajeeb Wazed Joy also stated: “I
want companies like Google and Facebook to emerge from Bangladesh.”
On the face that may sound like
wishful thinking. But in fact technology is levelling the competitive playing
field so fast that in our generation it is definitely conceivable, perhaps even
likely, that a boy from a Bangladeshi village has the potential to create a
company with a disruptive technology as powerful as Google or Facebook.
To paraphrase NY Times columnist
Thomas Friedman. Technology is the primary driver of such “flattening” of the
global economic landscape.
In conclusion, we believe that ICT is every bit
as important as energy and infrastructure investment in raising the trend
growth rate. Effective implementation of Digital Bangladesh may yet prove to be
the single most important weapon in poverty alleviation allowing Bangladesh to
achieve its potential as the fastest growing economy in Asia
Digital
World 2015, the recently concluded four-day conference, was the fourth
largest ICT event in the world, with 120 private companies and 100
governmental organisations from 25 countries. It also featured
representatives from leading technology companies, most notably Google,
which sent a broad range of executives, as well as Facebook and
Microsoft, among others.
While the primary focus of the event was to highlight the advances of
the “Digital Bangladesh” initiative of the current government as well
as potential growth opportunities in the ICT sector, in this long form
we want to discuss some of the broader potentials of technology as a
catalyst for economic growth
- See more at: http://www.dhakatribune.com/long-form/2015/feb/25/digital-bangladesh-engine-economic-growth#sthash.1EyFe3OG.dpuf
Can tech powerhouses emerge from Bangladesh?
Can tech powerhouses emerge from Bangladesh?
Can tech powerhouses emerge from Bangladesh?
Can tech powerhouses emerge from Bangladesh?
Can tech powerhouses emerge from Bangladesh?
Can tech powerhouses emerge from Bangladesh?
Can tech powerhouses emerge from Bangladesh?
Can tech powerhouses emerge from Bangladesh?
Can tech powerhouses emerge from Bangladesh?
Digital
Bangladesh as an engine for economic growth - See more at:
http://www.dhakatribune.com/long-form/2015/feb/25/digital-bangladesh-engine-economic-growth#sthash.1EyFe3OG.dpuf
Digital
Bangladesh as an engine for economic growth - See more at:
http://www.dhakatribune.com/long-form/2015/feb/25/digital-bangladesh-engine-economic-growth#sthash.1EyFe3OG.dpuf
