The country has become a safe haven for investment due to its demographic dividend, lower production cost, and geographical location, Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal said on Sunday.
"Bangladesh is situated in the middle of two largest economies in the world -- China in the east and India in the west. They will soon become the largest and third largest economies in the world, making Bangladesh a hotspot for investment," he said.
Urging the foreign investors to invest in the country, the minister said they can take the advantage of demographic dividend of the country, as 61 per cent of its population is in working age group and the cost of industrial production is still low here.
Mr Kamal was speaking as the chief guest at the inaugural session of the two-day international conference titled 'Harnessing Blockchain Technology for Development: Unleashing the Potential of Bangladesh for Blockchain Applications'.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) organised the event at the Bangabandhu International Conference Centre (BICC) in the city, with ADB Country Director at Bangladesh Resident Mission Manmohan Parkash in the chair.
Prime Minister's Adviser for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Dr Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury addressed the event as the special guest and Economic Relations Division Secretary (acting) Farida Nasreen also spoke.
Mentioning that the 4th industrial revolution is knocking at the door, the finance minister said robotics, artificial intelligence, biotechnology and nanotechnology will play a central role in this industrial revolution.
Thriving innovative technologies such as blockchain will help shape the 4th industrial revolution around the world, resulting in losses of many traditional jobs as well as creation of new ones, he added.
Mr Kamal also expressed the hope that the country would see a double-digit economic growth within the next five years, as once the Padma Bridge is completed, the GDP will grow by 1.0 per cent every year.
"Bangladesh has been witnessing a tremendous growth over the last ten years. If this trend continues, the country would soon achieve a double-digit growth rate," he added.
"As per the purchasing power parity (PPP), the country will become the 26th largest economy in the world by 2030 when no hungry or destitute people will be found even after making a search using a telescope," said the minister.
Speaking on the occasion, ADB Country Director Manmohan Parkash said, "Blockchain is a cutting-edge, high-level creative technology that can revolutionise many areas of modern life by improving transparency, accountability and efficiency in service delivery, governance, finance sector, industries, trade and other areas."
Through this international conference, ADB wants to introduce the blockchain technology, inspire dialogues among stakeholders, and identify areas where the technology can be used to unleash the growth potential of the country, he said.
He also said the burgeoning IT industry, well-educated youths, vibrant private sector as well as the government can immensely benefit by the early adoption of home-grown blockchain technology solutions to resolve technology related problems.
The technology will also create new start-ups and jobs, attract investments from tech companies, and develop world-class business environment, he added.
In a technical session of the conference, different aspects of blockchain was discussed by Blockchain Australia Chief Executive and Managing Director Nick Giurietto, Civic Ledger Co-founder and Co-Chief Executive Officer Katrina Donaghy, ChromaWay CEO Henrik Hjelte, IBM Executive and Blockchain Practice Leader (India & South Asia) Jitan Chandanani, ConsenSys Managing Director Ramesh Babu and Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Principal Advisor Sunil Bajpai.
Blockchain is a data structure that makes it possible to create a digital ledger of transactions and share it amongst a distributed network of computers. It uses cryptography to allow each participant on the network to use the ledger in a secure way without the need for a central authority.
Cryptography is a method of protecting information and communications through the use of codes so that only those for whom the information is intended can read and process it, according to TechTarget, a US-based data-driven marketing service provider.
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